Riyadh’s
original settlement was its potential cultivation hence its name al-riyadh, “the
gardens”. Situated in the heart of central Najd, on a sedimentary plateau 600 meters
above sea level. It has a very dry climate and rainfall, but a good underground water
supply makes it one of the few natural Fertile areas in the Kingdom outside the
south-west. It’s recovery by Abdul Aziz marked a turning-point in Saudi fortunes. It’s
governmental role forever transformed the city.
Riyadh Development Authority utilized a computerized urban intelligence system for
mapping, planning and anticipating in demography. In those days it was still a city in
search of it’s proper identity. But vigorous and coordinated planning and architectural
control told in the end and finally shaped the city. Planner’s and architect’s alike
created an elegant and efficient modern capital whose characteristics both in concept and
detail recalled Riyadh’s history.
The successful transformation of a traditional sedentary and nomadic society into a modern
urban one finds no more effective example than in Riyadh today.
As the capital, Riyadh has come to it’s own. It is no longer the “secret city” to
which intrepid nineteenth century travelers journeyed. It has its own radio television
production complex, satellite telecommunications facilities, the largest and most modern
university campus in the Kingdom, colleges, schools, hospitals, clinics and specialist
health care centers. The 170 meter television transformation tower at the Ministry of
Information is major landmark of the city. The conference Palace in Al Nasiriyah is the
largest in the middle east.
In 1983 commercial traffic was transferred to the new King Khalid International Airport.
Among the world’s largest. It is designed to cater for 15 million passengers by the year
2000, and its air cargo facilities are the most modern in the Middle East, able to handle
140,000 tonnes of cargo per year. Traffic systems include a 93 kilometer, six-lane road
which gridles the city and links it to the inter-peninsula high-ways have put an end to
Riyadh’s traditional isolation.
As an important world capital, Riyadh receives an annual stream of heads of state and
public figures form the Western, Arab, Islamic and developing countries further
underlining the city’s increasingly pivotal role in Arab affairs generally. |
