New cities rise from Saudi desert

[[R_H]]

BBC

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has a vision which if successful could soon transform the Kingdom's economy and society.

Six major developments will be built across the Kingdom over the next 15 years, the centrepiece being King Abdullah Economic City, 100km (62 miles) north of Jeddah.

The new city is rising from the sands of the Arabian Desert and when complete it will stretch over 150 sq miles (388 sq km).

The developers say that by 2020 more than one million jobs will have been created, in a city that will be home to two million people.

"This is on a scale unheard of before in the world," said Fahd al-Rasheed the CEO of Emaar, The Economic City, which is developing the site.

"[The King Abdullah Economic City] includes one of the largest ports in the world, an education zone, a resort zone etc. It is the size of Washington DC and is being built in 15 years".

Diversification

With the price of oil showing no sign of weakening, the government of Saudi Arabia is planning for a future when the commodity will eventually run out.

The revenues that are being generated are enormous - every day more than 11 million barrels of oil are pumped. At current market prices that is worth well over $1bn (£510m) daily.

During the last oil boom, vast sums of money were spent by the government on projects that failed - Saudi Arabia famously tried to "make the desert bloom" with water-intensive agriculture schemes.

Now the Kingdom is trying to invest more sensibly in the future to solve several challenges:

* Diversification of the economy
* A booming population (40% of Saudis are under 15)
* Growing unemployment
* Improving skills and education amongst Saudis

"I think it is most important for Saudi Arabia to diversify," said Saad al-Dosari, the President and CEO of the Rabigh Refinery and Petrochemical Company, near Jeddah.

"You are not just talking about the economy and getting revenues. You are talking about creating job opportunities.

"You are talking about establishing an industrial infrastructure for the future generations".

Expatriate labour

The new industries will include the production of aluminium, steel, fertilizer and petrochemicals.

An army of foreign workers, mostly from South Asia, are building the infrastructure that is needed and the accompanying residential areas. The labourers are cheap and are prepared to do jobs that Saudis refuse to do.

For decades Saudi Arabia has been dependent on skilled and unskilled expatriate labour, but in recent years the government has been trying to get more Saudis into work with employment schemes like Saudisation. They have had mixed success.

Take the water bottling plant run by the Delta Marketing Company in Jeddah.

Just 12% of the workforce on the factory floor is Saudi, including 40 women. In the whole company, a fifth of the workers are Saudi, which meets the government quota but is still low by international standards.

"Low-educated Saudis have very few choices," said the Water Division manager, Nidal Abdul Kareem, who is Jordanian.

"[They can] work in the unskilful work with low salaries and compete with the expats. Or they can stay at home without work and some of them unfortunately like to stay at home without work. Sometimes you feel strange that they don't like to work."

Foreign influence

Despite the difficulties Saudi Arabia is undoubtedly in the process of enormous change, which is being fuelled by the oil boom and globalisation.

New shopping centres are being built, like the enormous Red Sea Mall in Jeddah. Satellite television and music from the West are also having an impact on the youthful population.

There will be several universities in the new economic cities, which reforming Saudis believe could be the catalyst for social freedoms.

"This is part of a Kingdom-wide change in philosophy whereby we are improving education systems," said Mr Rasheed.

"In KAEC we will have a global education system that aspires to have students graduate at a global level in terms of their understanding of the world, how they view the world and how they want to be a part of it."

In Saudi Arabia you need to read between the lines. Most reformers quietly suggest that the cities of the future will be much freer than the rest of the country.

But will women be able to drive in the new cities? Will men and women be able to mingle freely in the developments as they do in the West or in many other Middle Eastern countries?

No one including the King seems prepared to answer those questions directly just yet.

Reform is coming but in a country with a strong religious establishment it will be a gradual and slow process. The King Abdullah Economic City seems likely to be at the forefront of the change.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Make-work on a national scale, where the populace of spoiled sheep don't want to work. It'd be funny if this wasn't so Quixotic and pointless.

[CaptainZoidberg]

I'm not sure I really understand the philosophy here. It seems like it would make more sense to start with an industry where its decided that Saudi Arabia could be competitive, say, software engineering - and then build new infrastructure (technical schools, vocational programs, raw materials) around that.

But here it looks like they're building the infrastructure (residential areas, colleges, etc.) and then looking to see what industry will fit it.

I guess I don't understand how that approach makes sense.

[Shroom Man 777]

A lot of immigrants who will end up being abused or restricted by the native populace will take those jobs up! Yay Philippines

[cosmicalstorm]

Sounds like playing SimCity 3000 with the money hack

[Battlehymn Republic]

Might as well jump on the sniping cynical bandwagon.

Anyone want to bet on who will be bringing an end to these cities in a few decades' time? Will it be:

(a) A suitcase nuke from Wahhabi fundamentalists,
(b) American jets,
(c) Chinese jets,
(d) Israeli nukes, or
(e) Iranian nukes?

[Pelranius]

How about Peak Oil?

Though I'd think even the Saudis would probably end up buying pebble bed reactors from the Chinese or South Africans eventually.

[Ender]

I'm failing to see why everyone is so cynical about this. It strikes me as being very similar to the Raleigh Triangle here in the states - when you have a bunch of poor uneducated people, invest heavily in nice places to live and education. Allow entrepreneurship and holy crap it takes off, turning the area around. Frankly I'm glad to see a forward outlook from the King, it means that in 50 years it won't be a bunch of nutcases running around hating the EU for being wealthy but instead a stabilizing influence in the ME.

[Ender]

How about Peak Oil?

Though I'd think even the Saudis would probably end up buying pebble bed reactors from the Chinese or South Africans eventually.

If they are smart they will go solar for most of it - SA is well positioned for it, a simple collection mirror and boiling water system could do well there.

[Phantasee]

Old news, the bullet points are practically the same as what I remember.

[CaptainZoidberg]

I appreciate the effort by the king, but I still don't get why they don't center it around a specific group of industries. That would allow them to build their colleges and infrastructure around a central theme.

[Ender]

I appreciate the effort by the king, but I still don't get why they don't center it around a specific group of industries. That would allow them to build their colleges and infrastructure around a central theme.

Because a diverse and general economy is a lot stronger then a centrally planned one. And a general education allows for more freedom and greater adaptation then a specific one.

[Phantasee]

I appreciate the effort by the king, but I still don't get why they don't center it around a specific group of industries. That would allow them to build their colleges and infrastructure around a central theme.

I believe they're aiming for diversification. You don't really want to build a city based on one industry or group of related industries, it'd be better to have a diverse range. Eggs, basket, etc.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, I think the latter have a better chance at actually executing a diversification plan. Saudi Arabia moves at such a slow pace that even a snail can outrun it.

[CaptainZoidberg]

Between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, I think the latter have a better chance at actually executing a diversification plan. Saudi Arabia moves at such a slow pace that even a snail can outrun it.

Saudi Arabia is also a lot bigger than Dubai.

But I have to give Dubai major kudos. A very large chunk of the schools I applied to had a Dubai campus (CMU, RIT). That's saying a lot in their favor.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Between Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, I think the latter have a better chance at actually executing a diversification plan. Saudi Arabia moves at such a slow pace that even a snail can outrun it.

Saudi Arabia is also a lot bigger than Dubai.

But I have to give Dubai major kudos. A very large chunk of the schools I applied to had a Dubai campus (CMU, RIT). That's saying a lot in their favor.

More than that. Dubai has had at least a decade of development and diversification ahead of the Saudis, with a better financial sector, transport sector etc. with forward looking kings and princes, unlike Saudi Arabia which spends half its time playing with conservatism and what not instead of developing their economy.

Not to mention, a good portion of Saudis are dead poor and juicy fruit for the plucking for the extremists.

[Darth Yoshi]

Just a nitpick, Dubai is a city. The country is UAE.

[KlavoHunter]

Good to see that they've finally gotten off their asses and figured out what to do with all that oil money.

[Phantasee]

Just a nitpick, Dubai is a city. The country is UAE.

To add to this nitpick: Dubai is the one focused on diversification and sustainable future, while Abu Dhabi is dead set on becoming the next Las Vegas/Monaco/useless glitzy place.

[Sea Skimmer]

Actually Dubai is an emirate, which has a capital city with the same name. Seven emirates make up the UAE and each one retains very considerable autonomy.

[salm]

Heh, the Saudis. I´m currently working on a project for them. Fucking ugly architecture, i tell you. But the pay is halfways decent and working hours are good.
Also, you get to see a real sheikh every once in a while.

[Surlethe]

Make-work on a national scale, where the populace of spoiled sheep don't want to work. It'd be funny if this wasn't so Quixotic and pointless.

Can you explain why it won't work?

[Sidewinder]

Anyone want to bet on who will be bringing an end to these cities in a few decades' time? Will it be:

(a) A suitcase nuke from Wahhabi fundamentalists,

I doubt the fundies will get their hands on a nuke, but repeated terror attacks against government and civilian personnel, i.e., what those psychos are doing in Baghdad, will quickly depopulate the city, causing it to fall into disrepair and be lost to the sands of time. I believe this is the most likely scenario.

(b) American jets,

I doubt this will happen unless the fundies successfully overthrow the Saudi Royal Family and turn those cities into fortresses, and the President decides to restore the Royal Family to power.

(c) Chinese jets,

VERY UNLIKELY, except by accident, e.g., the pilot of an Airbus decides to let his son fly the plane, and the kid stupidly flies the damn thing into the city.

(d) Israeli nukes, or

Also unlikely, unless Saudi Arabia and Iran's situations are switched, i.e., fundies overthrow the Saudi government and loudly proclaim they'll exterminate the Jews, while reformists take power in Tehran. Besides, the Israelis have juicier targets for their nukes, e.g., Syria.

(e) Iranian nukes?

Also unlikely. The Iranians saw what happened when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Their governmental leaders know it's NOT a good idea to repeat Saddam Hussein's mistakes.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Make-work on a national scale, where the populace of spoiled sheep don't want to work. It'd be funny if this wasn't so Quixotic and pointless.

Can you explain why it won't work?

I think they should work on employing their existing workforce in existing cities. Reforming the universities so they do not produce vast majorities of Islamic Studies graduates and not purposefully importing cheap migrant labor to out-compete their domestic workforce. Once they show they mean business about that, they can go about creating new cities from scratch. I have not seen anything to indicate the fundamental flaws of the Saudi "state" (to call it a modern state is charitable) are actually going to be addressed. Call me a cynic, but I expect this to be another retarded golden palace to distract from intrinsic failure to reform and for marketing the nation to the foreign eye. It ranks up with UAE's would-be "green city" "powered" by hydrogen no doubt acquired from natural gas.