Proper planning plays a crucial role in the success of any development project and ultimately in the progress of a country.
Practicality and flexibility do not bind proper planning to any period of time. Proper planning is a continuous unfinished process in any society. This is the case that we are experiencing these days in the capital city Riyadh.
As a natural consequence of immense economic development, the city has witnessed significant expansion in a very short span. For example, when the road network was constructed in Riyadh more than a decade ago, external roads, called the ring roads, were constructed so as to facilitate the movement of traffic from one side of the city to another, without passing through internal traffic intersections and the main streets within the city.
As the name implies, external roads were planned then to serve as an orbit around the capital. Due to the massive expansion and steady increase in population, this ring has now become the center of Riyadh.
Given this fact, is this improper planning? Of course not, but it is planning that was linked to a particular condition and when that condition came to an end, the increase in development rendered this planning ineffective.
Today, Riyadh as a city is on the verge of a revolution in the field of roads and transportation, as the construction of Riyadh Metro, which is part of King Abdullah’s public transportation project, is under way. Six key subway lines will be established, which will penetrate the capital from all sides. The project worth $22.5 billion is scheduled for completion in 2018.
It is proper planning to cope with certain conditions in a given period of time, which needs development and modification due to traffic in this city. However, two decades after the completion of the project, we will be forced to think anew to address the issues of those days.
The question is: What will be the impact of Riyadh metro project as a whole and on the future of the city?
Undoubtedly, life as a whole will change for the better and everyone will feel the positive effects. How long the positive impact of this project will continue and when we will need a new plan?
The metro project is too ambitious but one day we will need different projects to improve the situation to cope with the increasing population and expanding economy. Sometimes, it feels like rotating around the same axis no matter what the distance is from the center.
But all of this does not hide the reality that proper planning and linking it with the future needs is very important but it is influenced by many factors that may make it difficult to predict.
