RIYADH — The Board of Directors of the Sports Boulevard Foundation announced on Thursday the launch of the urban design code for the areas located on Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Road in Riyadh. The foundation's board of directors is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense. The Sports Boulevard project is one of Riyadh's four major projects launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman on March 19, 2019, under the close care and follow-up of the Crown Prince. The Sports Boulevard project, which will be the longest longitudinal boulevard in the world with a distance of more than 135 km, is located on Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Road, linking Wadi Hanifa in the west of the city and Wadi Al-Sulay in the east, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Sports Boulevard project aims to place Riyadh as one of the best livable cities in the world and to contribute to achieving one of the most prominent goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. This is through promoting physical, psychological and social health and building a society whose members enjoy a decent life and a healthy lifestyle and an environment that provides a positive and attractive atmosphere for the residents and visitors of the city. The boulevard would consist of safe avenues for pedestrians, bicycles, and horses, in addition to many diverse sports facilities. It will include 4.4 million square meters of open green spaces, around 50 sites for various sports, and distinctive artistic landmarks in addition to several investment sites with a total area of more than 2.3 million square meters. The urban design code for the Sports Boulevard is an extension of the principles of Salmaniya architecture that was formed by monitoring the efforts and personal directions of King Salman based on both originality and modernity, and ensure raising the quality of urban design in parallel with highlighting the local architectural identity. The style is distinguished by its vitality and flexibility and is not restricted to limited elements and items. It facilitates architects and planners to innovate freely within the confines of tradition. Moreover, it does not include the literal copying of old urban vocabulary and its imposition on new projects but rather leaves the freedom for the architect and planner to launch new and innovative elements that draw inspiration and simulate the past with renewed developmental forms. The urban code aims to achieve a sustainable urban environment that enhances the quality of life by raising the quality of architectural designs, urban planning regulations, building systems, usage of the land, parking controls, advertisement placards, and environmental controls, in a way that unifies the urban fabric and stimulates the elements of investment and real estate development per the best standards. The importance of launching the urban design code will constitute a regulation that provides standards for engineering design, and a reference guide for all current and potential commercial and residential real estate owners, as well as real estate investors and developers, in a way that contributes to providing urban patterns in harmony with the Sports Boulevard's various tracks for pedestrians, bicycles, and horses to form a modern and sustainable environment for residents and visitors to the capital city of Riyadh. The foundation has allocated a website (www.sportsboulevard.sa/ar/design-code) for the beneficiaries and owners of real estate located within the scope of the project, where they can obtain more details about the objectives, standards, requirements of the urban design code and the mechanism of its application.
