Jeddah Central: Contemporary culture by the sea

Celebrating the past while focusing on the future, a 20-billion modern city is taking shape on the banks of the Red Sea

Backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Jeddah Central is one of the biggest leisure and tourism developments in the region, presenting an open canvas for investment in the historic city. Ahmed A. Al-Sulaim, CEO of Jeddah Central Development Company, shares his vision of the incredible development.

With phase one set for completion by 2027, what progress has been made in achieving the main goals of the exciting development?

Jeddah Central Development is a contemporary interpretation inspired directly from the layout and design principles of Jeddah's UNESCO heritage old town, AlBalad. A simple and powerful premise of learning from the past appreciating the present and inspiring the future. Jeddah Central stretches along 9.5 kilometers of waterfront in the center of the city, enjoying over 2.1 kilometers of public sandy beaches. It will be home to 17,000 new residential units, 2,700 hotel rooms, innovative office and retail space and a thriving cultural metropolis with an opera house, industrial museum, a FIFA-compliant football stadium and an oceanarium revealing the secrets of the Red Sea. Strong progress has been made with site preparation at its peak and the largest haul of construction contracts Jeddah has seen, to be awarded soon.

What are some of the main targets the development aims to achieve in terms of its scale, size and impact on the local economy?

The first phase will be fully open in 2027 and by 2030 Jeddah Central is set to create 25,000 direct and indirect jobs with over $12-billion gross value added to the economy. Jeddah is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia, with a temperature rarely below 15°C or above 40°C, making it a welcoming, waterfront haven for leisure visitors and locals. As the gateway to Makkah, Jeddah already welcomes 12 million Umra and Hajj pilgrims a year, a figure predicted to grow to 30 million, all eager to discover more and stay a little longer.