Today, creating destinations that thrive – places that connect, sustain, and entertain – is not a luxury but a necessity. Beyond bricks and mortar, developing a destination is about creating an ecosystem that fosters resilience in city design, addressing current needs while anticipating future growth and changes.
From vision to value, Saudi Arabia is a live example of this – infusing sustainability and livability within its infrastructure and urban developments. The Kingdom is charting a course for economic diversification, improving healthcare and education, and elevating the standard of living for all. Embedding sustainable practices includes designing neighborhoods with mixed uses thereby reducing the need to travel long distances for amenities such as grocery stores, schools, and healthcare facilities. Developing public transport systems that offer frequent, reliable, and well-connected options reduces the need for private vehicles. Underpinning the livability of those places where we live and work, and the surrounding transportation infrastructure, is an urban development program that integrates the culture and energy central to a thriving lifestyle – the parks, playgrounds, entertainment centers, and recreational areas within masterplans that ensure residents have easy access to nature and leisure activities. Saudi Arabia is striking a healthy balance between tourism, development and preservation of its environment.
Spearheaded by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, the country is undergoing a transformation through 11 vision realization programs that aim to meet objectives across a range of sectors. We have seen this at Parsons’ with our involvement in many of these projects and initiatives that are bringing these realizations to life. For instance, the Quality of Life program (QOL), targets driving investment across six sectors: culture and heritage, entertainment and hobbies, tourism, sport, urban design, and security.
Parsons’ projects, such as King Salman Park in Riyadh — a mega green project that blends the traditional urban fabric with modern city design practices across all QOL sectors — is quickly transforming into a vibrant destination for nature, culture, and community. In parallel, the Sports Boulevard is set to extend for 135kms across Riyadh, encompassing green spaces, special routes for cyclists, horse riding paths and designated sites for sporting activities. These projects aren’t just about creating green spaces and recreational opportunities; they are about fostering a sense of community and promoting healthy lifestyles, which is expected to catapult Riyadh within Euromonitor’s 100 Best Cities in the world. Projects like these are transforming the Kingdom’s capital city into a more sustainable and livable location that welcomes a large diaspora to live, work and play.
Everyone has likely heard about brilliant projects like King Abdullah Financial District, Diriyah Gate, Qiddiya and others like them. What’s lesser heard about is that Saudi authorities are thinking about the interconnectivity of these developments. City planners are no longer designing these cities in isolation but rather being asked to do so with the wider city in mind.
This means we are planning, or in some instances replanning, developments with concepts like the 15-minute city in mind and beyond that, must factor in how these developments will connect to one another; be it by public transport, like the brilliant new Riyadh Metro – the longest driverless metro in the world delivered in one phase or roads with advanced traffic management systems optimizing the movement of vehicles. We’re developing smart urban developments which stimulate growth for all sectors including QOL, from real estate and tourism to retail, art and culture, and beyond.
At the very core of Saudi Arabia’s transformation are advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) that enhance urban living and manage the cities infrastructure. From improving traffic control to energy management, these technologies play a pivotal role in driving seamless functionality and enabling sustainable living. For instance, AI-powered analytics provide real-time data that help city planners make informed decisions, while IoT devices connect various elements of the city, creating a cohesive and responsive urban ecosystem.
This can be seen in the advanced automated systems, including AI-driven technologies, that have been deployed to enhance traffic control and streamline movement across the city of Riyadh. Another pilar of sustainable design is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This can be achieved through renewable energy adoption, low-carbon transport, sustainable land use, eco-friendly construction, and sustainable production and consumption models. Carbon sinks can be enhanced through nature-based solutions including planting trees to create large pockets of parks and green space, restoring forests, wetlands and marshlands, maintaining soil health and protecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems. These factors can and should be included in urban planning and infrastructure development to deliver sustainable destinations.
Experienced partners and project managers can support clients in driving these sustainable and resilient design approaches. Projects require well planned integration between architectural firms, designers and construction companies to achieve this. While the path ahead for firms like Parsons is opportune, it can be challenging. Destinations of the future require the constant navigation of complexities backed by expert guidance and seamless execution.
Creating thriving destinations is an investment in our future, a commitment to our communities and a testament to our collective responsibility as global citizens. To really execute this, we must learn from the past but more importantly think differently about how we design and develop cities in the future, from planning urban forests to developing totally new cities, the way we plan our cities needs to be based on the way we want to live our lives, in sustainable, diverse communities that bring people together. The time for action is now.
