2 Development
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The first expansion of the Saudi Era took place in 1925 during the reign of King Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud. It included an integrated program for the maintenance of the Grand Mosque in Makkah that involved renovating, modernizing and expanding its area. Expansion of the Grand Mosque’ s operations continued after the death of King Abdul Aziz in 1953 and into the reign of King Saud( 1953-1964). Under King Saud growth took place from 1955-1961 and the total area of the mosque reached 152,000 square meters. While King Khalid reigned( 1975-1982), maintenance occurred and the Kaaba’ s main gate was renovated. The expansion continued again while King Fahd( 1982- 2005) held the crown. In 1988 he launched a project to develop external areas, the introduction of fire-extinguishing systems, flood drainage, and other services. All of the construction throughout the years has given the Grand Mosque an area that has now reached 356 thousand square meters.
Makkah has the most active real estate markets in Saudi Arabia
Recently, Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, formulated a series of objectives for the country, one of which was to expand the area of the Grand Mosque to one million square meters. This included expanding external areas of the mosque, corridors and tunnels. He was not done just focusing on the physical construction though, so development of the services, which include electromechanical stations for air conditioning, electricity and water also went under way. These additions transformed Makkah’ s real estate market into one of the most active real estate markets in the kingdom. The King’ s plan was to also rebuild slum areas that spread around the holiest of holy cities, continuing the major expansion which only added to the already enormous area.
Major Projects in Makkah
Makkah is remodeling itself into a huge workstation with several large scale reconstruction and development projects including the following:
King Abdul Aziz Endowment for the Two Holy Mosques
One of the largest architectural projects in the world is the endowment for the Two Holy Mosques. It is classified as the largest development project in the world where total land area is 1.4 million square meters. The project is located in Jabal Bulbul in Ajiad in a great location overlooking a direct view of the Grand mosque. The project includes giant residential and commercial complexes that cover all the necessary services for the visitors of the House of God. The project has residential towers, hotels, shops, parking lots and chapels spread throughout vast portions of the city.
The project has 6 residential towers plus the
The King’ s plan was to also rebuild slum areas that have spread around the campus, adding to the adoption of modern residential plots in the city
clock & hotel tower, which together constitute the seventh and tallest construction in the complex. Currently, the clock tower is a major landmark positioned on a 601-meter tower. The height of the clock, from its base to the highest point at the top of the crescent, is 251 meters. This makes it the tallest structure in Saudi Arabia, and the tallest clock in the world.
Jabal Omar development
This is the second largest project after the Grand Mosque expansion. The project, with a total area of 230,000 square meters, is located on the western side of the Temple Mount in slum areas adjacent to the Holy Mosque. It aims to rearrange the layout of the area after demolishing the old buildings and adding new, modern architectural designs. The city must keep pace with urban development and contemporary design, while at the same time balance expressing the original serenity and sanctity of Makkah.
The objectives of the project are to secure adequate housing for about 34,500 visitors, develop residential and commercial district models and provide new streets, plazas and pedestrian tunnels that will provide easy movement for pilgrims to and from the holy site. Furthermore, it aims to make way for 12,000 parking spaces, infrastructure development within the tunnel services( water, sanitation, electricity and telephone), the development of a public transport station, a chapel spread over the land, and provide sites for public services( police, civil defense, health clinics, and toilets).
Al-Haramain High Speed Rail project
The completion of this project is an urgent need due to the increasing number of pilgrims, visitors and residents who come to Makkah during the year. It will help to relieve stress, congestion and the loads of traffic on the road between Makkah, Medina and the province of Jeddah. The train project consists of the Two Holy created electrified rails between Makkah via Jeddah and Medina whose length exceed 450 kilo meters and are equipped with modern communications and signals.
Al-Shamiyah, North Haram project The region that lies to the north and the
Haram in 1952
54 DORCHESTER April- 2013