Qiddiya Masterplan, Riyadh

Core idea

Entertainment/sports megaproject

Why it matters

Part of Saudi Vision 2030 metropolitan strategy

Description

Qiddiya is a state-driven entertainment, sports and culture megaproject planned on an escarpment site south-west of Riyadh, developed from 2018 by the Qiddiya Investment Company under Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The masterplan organises theme parks, stadia, motorsport facilities, arts venues and supporting residential and resort districts across a very large desert territory. It is conceived as a destination city at metropolitan scale rather than an extension of Riyadh's existing fabric.

Significance

Qiddiya exemplifies the state-capitalist megaproject urbanism of Saudi Vision 2030, in which sovereign wealth is deployed to build entire leisure economies from the ground up as part of diversification beyond oil. In planning history it sits alongside NEOM and other giga-projects as a test of whether spectacular, event-led urbanism can generate durable urban life. Critics question its environmental demands, financing and social accessibility; supporters see it as reshaping the metropolitan geography of Riyadh.

What shaped it

• The 15-Minute City (2016)
• The master plan (early 20th c.)
• New Urban Agenda (2016)
• Habitat III & New Urban Agenda (2016)

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiddiya_City
• https://blooloop.com/theme-park/news/qiddiya-master-plan-saudi-giga-project/