The New Murabba Project: Large Modern Downtown to Be Built in Riyadh

After the Saudi Arabian ruling family presented the mega projects “Neom” and “The Line” last year, Prime Minister and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz now announced the construction of a new, super-modern 19-square kilometer urban area. The highlight of the futuristic area will be a 400m x 400m x 400m cube-shaped building that will offer an immersive experience inside using the latest digital and virtual technologies. “The New Murabba” mega project is being undertaken by the newly formed New Murabba Development Company (NMDC), which is owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). The world’s largest modern urban center is to be built in a central location 20 minutes by car from Riyadh airport. In addition to office and retail space and a technology and design university, a total of 104,000 residential units and 9,000 hotel rooms are planned to be built. 620,000 square meters are designated for leisure facilities, where more than 80 entertainment and cultural facilities are to be built. These include an immersive theater and a museum.

The iconic cube-shaped building, known as the “Mukaab”, will comprise a total of two million square meters of floor space. This cube structure will house a spiral tower that will also offer accommodation, leisure and shopping facilities. The project will be immersive in its entirety, including the latest holography technologies. In addition to a futuristic and technological orientation, the focus of the project is to be primarily on an environmentally friendly design. Thus, “New Murabba” will provide numerous green spaces and paths for walking or cycling to encourage residents and guests to lead healthy and active lifestyles. The project, which is expected to also attract tourists to Riyadh, would contribute around 45,000 billion euros (SAR 180 billion) to non-oil GDP and create around 334,000 jobs. The New Murabba project is due to be completed in 2030. (eap)