The King Salman Park project is one of Riyadh’s Four Megaprojects launched by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, on 19 March 2019. The project will be a milestone that contributes to fulfilling a key goal of the Saudi Vision 2030 to promote Riyadh’s position among the world’s top 100 most livable cities.
Covering over 13 square kilometers, King Salman Park will be among the biggest city parks worldwide. It will be five times larger than London’s Hyde Park and four times larger than Central Park in New York. It will combine a wide variety of environmental, cultural, recreational and sports activities that will significantly enhance the life quality of all Riyadh residents. The project will also host many facilities including a royal art complex, a national theater, an opera house, art academies, museums, and galleries. Furthermore, the park will feature extensive green areas, plazas, sports compounds, and an 18-hole royal golf course. To complement these amenities, great incentives would be offered to the private-sector investors to build recreational, residential, commercial, business and hotel facilities.
The park occupies a strategic location downtown Riyadh and is accessible via six main roads and highways, in addition to 5 metro stations (Riyadh Metro Green Line) and 10 bus stations (King Abdulaziz Project for Riyadh Public Transport).
Project Elements
Environmental Elements
- Green areas and open spaces covering over 9.3 million square meters and featuring an Islamic style garden, vertical gardens, a maze garden, and bird and butterfly sanctuary.
- Various gardens covering over 400,000 square meters
- Circular pedestrian walkway extending for 7.2 km
- A valley area of over 800,000 square meters
- Various water features totally covering over 300,000 square meters
Royal Art Complex
The Royal Art Complex will occupy an area of more than 400,000 square meters and include:
- A national theatre with a seating capacity of 2500
- 5 museums of different sizes
- An outdoor theatre with a capacity of 8000 audience
- A complex with 3 cinema halls
- 4 art academies
- An educational center for children
Cultural Facilities
- 7 different museums including: Aviation Museum, Astronomy and Space Museum, Science Museum, Museum of Plants, Virtual Reality Museum, Architecture Museum
- Plazas to host different events (total area of 40,000 square meters)
- Artworks and landmarks
Sports and Entertainment Facilities
- A Royal Golf Course covering an area of 850,000 square meters
- A sports complex over an area of 50,000 square meters
- Virtual reality court
- A sky diving center
- An equestrian center
- Running and biking routes
- A 100,000 square meter amusement park
- A 140,000 square meter aquapark
- A family amusement center
- A tower and a skybridge
Visitor Center
Western Entrance Plaza
- An environmental, cultural, and educational center covering 80,000 square meters, that will feature interactive shows, multi-purpose halls, a meeting room, a plant nursery, coffee shops and restaurants.
Housing, Hospitality and Business
- Residential compounds providing 12,000 housing units
- 16 hotels with a total of 2300 rooms
- 500,000 square meters of retail spaces
Public Facilities
- Mosques, police, healthcare, educational and social facilities
- Public libraries
- 280,000 square meters of parking spaces
- Main and service roads
- Walkways and pathways