Almost 400 hectares of land will be swallowed by this mega-project planned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Old, tattered, run-down buildings go in, and in six years the plan is to produce a district built according to the highest, most exacting standards the World has to offer; the latest in municipal infrastructure technology, public transport and social services will be brought in and integrated into this billion-dollar project.
This district has seen numerous landmark events take place, including the signing of agreements that lead to its meteoric rise to global economic power during the ‘oil epoch’. Now that same district is to be renovated to far beyond its former glory, with plans for several skyscrapers’ surrounding a beautiful lagoon off the Red Sea as the centrepiece of the project.
Announced in 2008, Qasr Khozam will include a range of shopping and entertainment centres, not to mention the state-of-the-art public services and facilities to be opened including business centres, hospitals, schools and housing. With all this development, KSA aims to create a globally recognisable centre for business in Qasr Khozam, which is in turn at the heart of the city of Jeddah.
However, the development of the land is not the only aim of the project as the development and the uplifting of the people of the district is just as important, if not more so. The land acquisition process has been done in the fairest and transparent manner, with any person or family who is to be displaced, provided with all necessary support to relocate them to their new home provided by the KSA in the suburbs of Jeddah.
An added benefit of this project is its proximity to the Holy City of Makkah just over an hour’s drive east and inland from Jeddah. As the most holy city in Islam, visiting Muslims will no doubt be keen on making a trip to it and, while there, will find all their expectations of a star-class Makkah hotel met, and even exceeded by, the Raffles Makkah Palace, one of the best Mekkah hotels there is, directly opposite the Masjid-al Haram and within the Abraj Al Bait complex.
