NEOM, Amaala and… Murcia.
After Saudi Arabia announced the macro-projects of a futuristic city with an investment of 500,000 million dollars (about 425,000 million euros) in Tabuk, on its north coast of the Red Sea, and another ambitious tourism development on islands located 400 kilometers more to the south, reproducing Murcia in the middle of the desert does not seem unreasonable.
It's just not true.
What has led several Spanish media to announce that this Arab country "is building a perfect replica of Murcia in the desert"?
Perhaps a mixture of excess of enthusiasm for a nice news and professional laziness to check the original information (which did not say such a thing).
Capture of the headlines that appeared in different media.
The snowball began when
La Ventana
de la Cadena Ser noticed a news item published in the digital murciadiario.com.
This website of news about companies and the economy of the Region of Murcia echoed on the 13th of a large urban project in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, which it described as "the largest in the Arab country with the construction of more than 14,300 homes in 5 million square meters thanks to an investment of almost 700 million dollars ”.
So the SER called its director, Alejandro Romero, to ask him about the matter.
There were no Murcian companies, not even Spanish, involved.
What had caught their attention, explained Romero in
La Ventana
, was his name: "Murcia Project."
So they wanted to find the reasons for it.
As Murcians, they must have been greatly flattered by the mention on the promoter's website that Murcia was chosen because it is "one of the most beautiful tourist cities in Spain", poets such as Abu al Suri al Randi have spoken about it and it has buildings designed by Rafael Moneo.
From there, the digital was dedicated to poetry ensuring that
Saudi Murcia
would also have its version of Segura, although not a cathedral or bars, for obvious reasons.
What was a nice note from a commercial information on homes, prices and services, unleashed a small delusion.
The idea that "The government of Saudi Arabia and the world's largest construction company 'reproduce' the city of Murcia in the desert north of Riyadh," as the newspaper headlined, was too juicy to miss.
Other media wanted to echo, and guarantee the click that was undoubtedly going to ensure them.
They fell into the capital sin of journalists: not letting reality spoil a good headline.
Few bothered to even go to the project website to verify the information.
Promotional video of the Murcia urbanization.
If they had, they would have verified that yes, the Murcia Project was real and was underway.
But…
1) It is not a new city in the middle of the desert, but an urbanization in the Al Jawan neighborhood, very close to the airport of the capital.
In fact, phase 2 of the project is located in an area known in advance as Nasaj City.
2) Beyond
marketing,
the choice of name has little to do with the real Murcia.
Using place names with Andalusian or Spanish reminiscences is common throughout the Arab world.
In the Riad itself there is an urbanization called Granada and in Dubai there are also some “Murcia Villas”, very close to Al Andalus Golf States.
As for the reference to Moneo, it is "very forced", in the opinion of a Spanish architect who works in Riyadh.
Capture of the promotional video of the Murcia urbanization.
“Moneo makes a false facade with a very clear urban vocation in front of the square, and the houses [of the Murcia Project] simply recreate a non-alignment of holes in the facade, on the other hand, very common in modern architecture since the time of Le Corbusier, which serves to indicate the separation of the structure and the façade itself, that is, the façade walls are no longer load-bearing, that the structure is independent of that enclosure ”, explains this professional with several years of residence in the kingdom .
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The sudden interest in this urbanization has surprised Riyadh.
In a group of architecture students consulted through one of their professors, few were aware of the project and among those who were, it had not aroused much interest or curiosity.
"Although it is a large project, it is nothing known compared to the Sports Boulevard that connects the
wadis
with museums and open-air spaces for sports, leisure and culture, or the one in Qidiya, on the outskirts of Riyadh", he justifies the fountain.
Saudi Arabia has numerous urban developments underway to try to meet the huge demand for housing that has generated both its rapid urbanization and the youth of its population (two-thirds of Saudis are under 35 years old).
This pressure has made the purchase more expensive, just when the State was forced to reduce aid due to the decrease in oil revenues.
According to official figures, the kingdom has to build 1.45 million homes to meet pent-up demand, especially in the affordable segment.
Only Riyadh, which already has around 8 million inhabitants, needs 325,000 residential units.
Hence, the solution to the housing crisis is seen as key to the success or failure of the Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salmán's ambitious reform plans.
Hence also, that during his visit to China last February, he signed an agreement with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), one of the largest construction companies in the world, to carry out various projects in the kingdom, including the from an urbanization called Murcia, in the Jawan neighborhood of the Saudi capital.
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