Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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in 1950, and the transfer of the government ministries during King Saud's reign, the D.Q.
represents one of the last measures to assure Riyadh as the unified Capital, the historical
house of Al-Saud, the founders of the nation-state (Figure 6.19-1).
Another major large-scale government project is the King Abdul-Aziz City for
Science and Technology (KACST). KACST was created in 1977 as a national research
center to "Conduct applied scientific research programs in the fields that serve the economic
and social development objectives of the Kingdom." 67 The KACST project was allotted
ninety nine hectares of government land. The large, fully-serviced project consists of three
major projects, comprising 374 residential units, a recreational center, schools,
kindergartens, mosques, and related facilities; primary infrastructure, utilities; as well as
laboratories and a research institute. The cost, estimated at the early time of construction,
was SR 400 million ($106.6 million). 68
Yet another example of large-scale government development was the transfer of the
employees of the Foreign Ministry to a new award-winning housing complex north of
Riyadh on 390,000 square meter of public land. It is a 612-housing unit project, equipped
with public utilities built at the cost of SR 679 million ($181 million). It includes a large
mosque, schools, and recreation clubs. The construction of a 612-unit housing project for
the recently transferred employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs constitutes another
example of government input into the modern built environment. The award-winning
housing complex north of Riyadh occupies an area of 390,000 square meters of public
land. It is equipped with public utilities and was built at the cost of SR 679 million ($181
million). It includes a large mosque, schools, and recreation clubs. The 35,000 student
King Saud University is another large scale development which covers an area of 9 square
kilometers of public land. The Ministry of Public Works and Housing's 7,755 housing
units contributed an area of more than 12 square kilometers to the city developed area. The
government subsidized industrial land use occupies 16.4 square kilometers.
Finally, in 1984, King Fahad A1 Saud dedicated the $3.5 billion King Khalid
International Airport, the largest in the Middle East and one of the world's largest airports,
35 kilometers north of the city, contributing an area of 225 square kilometers to the city's
total area of 928 square kilometers (including undeveloped land). It was built to replace
the in-town 'old' airport which was the second busiest airport in the Kingdom, serving 5.3
million passengers per annum. The new airport is equipped to serve 15 million passengers