Construction has begun on Banan City, a sprawling new 10 sq km municipality northeast of Riyadh, as Saudi Arabia prepares for World Expo 2030.
The ambitious project will feature over 20,000 smart homes for 120,000 residents within a gated community, according to the website of the Saudi Talaat Moustafa Group, a real estate developer involved with the project.
On Saturday, Talaat Moustafa Group announced that construction work has commenced in the Al-Fursan suburb. Operations are ongoing around the clock, adhering to construction schedules and plans, with heavy equipment fully deployed to speed up the process and deliver the units as soon as possible.
The project is also under the patronage of the housing minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hagail and the National Housing Company (NHC).
"The effort is part of [NCH's] commitment to achieving the goals of the Housing Program, one of the initiatives under Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to raise the homeownership rate for Saudi families to 70%," said the Talaat Moustafa Group in a statement on its website.
According to the group, the plan aims to create a balanced lifestyle with various housing options including apartments, villas, and family homes. The design will incorporate essential services such as shopping malls, healthcare facilities, schools, and recreational areas to meet the diverse needs of Saudi society.
"The city has a total of eight educational institutions, with four male schools and four female schools along with nurseries," said the company on its website.
Banan City will integrate smart city technologies such as "security and surveillance systems, sensors for various dangers, renewable energy solutions by integrating solar panels and smart grids, along with smart irrigation services, intelligent lighting, waste collection and separation services," it added.
Potential buyers can choose from six types of villas ranging from 216 to 413 sq meters. There are also plans to build four apartment blocks with one- to three-bedroom units.
According to specialized news outlet Construction Briefing, the foundation for the project was laid in May. Saudi news outlet Asharq Al-Awsat reported that on July 9 the Talaat Moustafa Group told the Egyptian stock exchange that Banan City had achieved unprecedented sales and surpassed its year one target in just two months.
Hesham Talaat Moustafa, chairman of the group, projected the development's revenue at around 40 billion Saudi riyals ($12 billion), with a total investment cost estimated at 31.4 billion riyals ($8.4 billion).
While a specific completion date has not been provided, the project's proximity to the future World Expo 2030 site suggests that the aim may be to make units available before the end of the decade.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Anezka Pichrtova
Quelle/Source: Newsweek, 24.07.2024
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