Economic City

We took a trip to the Economic city which is about 15 minutes north of the campus. WOW..talk about an ambitious project. It is slated to be the third largest city in the kingdom with a potential population of a million and a half people. The city will be 1/8 the size of the country of Lebanon and boasts. a financial district, a port city, an industrial center in addition to resort amenities and residences. The timeline for the build-out is 20 years. The following link will take you to a website that gives you an overview. http://www.kingabdullahcity.com/en/InsideTheCity/CityOverview.html

As it was explained to us, one of the goals is to change the way real estate is held in the Kingdom. Right now if you buy a house it is handed down for generations. Unlike our society where you buy a starter home and then buy larger as your family grows and then downsize as you become empty nesters, that is simply not the way it is here. They would like to encourage real estate turnover as an economic stimulus and the residences in this city have all kinds of sizes and locations. It is also open to folks outside the Kingdom to purchase, another first. Jimmy Carter is supposed to visit in May along with other international types so we'll see what happens.

Anyway- thought you would be interested...fascinating project.