King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) is a megaproject announced in 2005 by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the then king of Saudi Arabia. With a total development area of 173 km² (66.8 sq mi), the city is located along the coast of the Red Sea, around 100 km north of Jeddah, the commercial hub of the kingdom, the city will also be approximately an hour and 20 minutes away from the holy Islamic city of Mecca and 3 hours from Medina by car and an hour away of all Middle Eastern capital cities by plane. The total cost of the city is $86 billion (around SR 207 billion), with the project being built by the Tadawul-listed company Emaar Properties, a Dubai-based public joint stock company and one of the world’s largest real estate companies, and SAGIA (Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority) which is the main facilitator of the project. The city is divided into six main components: Industrial Zone, Sea Port, Residential Areas, Sea Resort, Educational Zone, and a Central Business District (CBD) which includes the Financial Island.
The Industrial Zone is estimated to cover 63 km². The 4,400 hectares (11,000 acres) of land will be dedicated to industrial and light manufacturing facilities—identified as key growth drivers for the Saudi economy—and can now host 2,700 industrial tenants. The jobs created estimated to be in industrial and light industries (330,000); research and development (150,000); business and office (200,000); services (115,000); hospitality (60,000) and education and community services (145,000). The “Plastics Valley” planned within the zone will use raw materials readily available in Saudi Arabia to produce high-end plastics used in automotive, biomedical, construction and food packaging industries.
Residential areas @ kaec.net
King Abdullah Port (KAP) is estimated to cover 13.8 square kilometers, it will be the largest in the region with a capacity of over 10 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers per year. (Target to 20 million) OPUS Terminal™(Terminal Operating System of CyberLogitec.co. Ltd)operates King Abdullah Port. The port will have facilities to handle cargo and dry bulk, and will be equipped to receive the world’s largest vessels. Another key component of the Port will be a custom-built Hajj Terminal with a capacity to handle up to 300,000 pilgrims on their way to Mecca and Medina, the holy Muslim cities. The port is the kingdom’s first to be owned and funded by the private sector.
The Residential Area is planned to include 260,000 apartments and 56,000 villas. It will be divided into smaller residential, commercial, and recreational areas. Parks and green spaces will be used extensively throughout the residential area. The area is estimated to be home for around half a million residents, and another ten thousand tourists. Each district would feature its own public amenities, such as mosques, shops and recreational venues.
The Sea Resorts Area will be designed to feature services and amenities, hoping to draw both local and international tourists. Set to become a major destination on the map of Saudi Arabia and the map of the Middle East as a whole. It will include hotels, shopping centers and other recreational facilities. The number of hotel rooms and suites are proposed to be 25,000 hotel rooms in more than 120 hotels. Among the tourist draws at the resort is an 18-hole golf course, with training facilities and driving range. An equestrian club, yacht club and a range of water sports will also be constructed.
The Educational Zone is a part of plan to bring the Saudis capabilities and aspirations in technology to globally competitive levels. The Educational Zone is planned to consist of multi-university campus flanked by two Research & Development parks. The multi-university campus is designed to accommodate 18,000 students, and a 7,500 faculty and staff members. The king inaugurated the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The university is 20 km away south of the city in the village of Thuwal. It opened in September 2009.
The Central Business District (CBD) is planned to offer 3.8 km² of office space, hotels and mixed-use commercial space. The Financial Island, within the CBD, has now been doubled in area to cover 14 hectares (35 ac) of land, which will be the largest regional financial nerve center for the world’s leading banks, investment houses and insurance groups.
