One of King Salman bin Abdulaziz’s grand visions for Riyadh has moved a step closer to realisation this month with the award of four contracts worth SAR 2,48bn to begin construction of phase one of the Sports Boulevard.
The boulevard will stretch for 135km across the city, from Hanifah Valley in the west to Al Salai Valley in the east. It will contain 220 km of routes for both professional and recreational cyclists and 123km of horse trails, as well as sites for sports activities including 16 football pitches, 30 courts for basketball, tennis and volleyball, and a high-rise Sports Tower.
If you’re more of a stroller than a fierce competitor, there will also be 48 public green spaces with a combined area of 3.5 sq km, enlivened by public artwork installations.
The scale of this project can hardly be understated. The Sports Boulevard will be like a green ribbon running through over 100,000 sq metres of building space for arts venues; a sunken waterway to help green the city; urban oases; an outdoor cinema and amphitheatres; and major new landmark buildings.
The Sports Boulevard is just one of four Wellbeing Projects planned for the city as part of the ambitious Saudi Vision 2030 Quality of Life Programme. These include the creation of a huge public art programme; the world’s biggest city park, which will include an opera house, national theatre and art academy; and the Green Riyadh project in which 7.5 million trees will be planted.
