Green Riyadh Project: Al-Urubah Park is underway
A green lung for the city of Riyadh, combining innovative design with intelligent water resource management.
The Saudi Vision 2030 project to drive Riyadh into the top 100 most livable cities is getting underway. On March 10th, the Royal Commission for Riyadh City officially started the construction of the new Al-Urubah Park, the largest green project to emerge in the heart of the city, designed by LAND in collaboration with Manens.
Al Urubah Park will cover approximately 75 hectares, an urban oasis aimed at enhancing the city’s sustainability and quality of life through innovative design and promoting the smart use of resources.
This is the first phase of the Green Riyadh Project, a groundbreaking intervention for the country that will also have a significant global impact as the largest urban green system in the world. The plan involves a series of interventions to increase Riyadh’s tree coverage from the current 1.5% to 9.1% by 2030, achieved by planting 7.5 million trees. Once completed, the park system is expected to reduce the city’s average temperature by about two degrees Celsius and will use over one million cubic meters of treated wastewater daily for irrigation, ensuring sustainable water resource management for the city.
Al-Uruba, in particular, marks the starting point of this systemic project and is the first park in the city with green-blue infrastructure of this scale. A truly multidisciplinary project that has already engaged highly skilled and competent professionals.
From technologies to sustainability aspects and water resource management, the design has fully integrated engineering, technology, and the environment to offer a new open space meant to be enjoyed by the entire community.
The approximately 10,000 trees planted in the park create shaded pathways along the water feature within the green area. Enclosing the park, a large service and refreshment area blends into the environment, interacting and merging in thanks to the 2.7 km panoramic walkway on the covering boulevard. Its attractions also include an urban beach, a sports area, an amphitheatre for cultural events and four themed gardens; each designed to engage visitors in activities suitable for all ages, with technologies such as AR enabling immersive experiences in nature.
Manens brought its expertise in MEP design, working in synergy with Montana on the design of the stormwater management system and related engineering plants: a complex system collecting the water from underground streams, often overflowing due to increasingly frequent extreme events. Manens has also developed the irrigation system, outdoor lighting and lighting design, fire safety and security system, the air conditioning and power supply systems for the Park’s main building.
This collaboration with mixed disciplines and firms of such calibre makes us incredibly proud to participate in this project, bringing our experience to this international table.
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Render Credits: © LAND
