The inaugural Cityscape Saudi Arabia opened in Jeddah today, participated by more than 100 companies.

Prince Misha'al bin Majed bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Jeddah, officially opened the event at the Jeddah Center for Forums and Events.

The show, which runs from June 14-16 June, covers 10,000 sq m and organiser IIR Middle East is expecting more than 5,000 participants over three days.

“Launching Cityscape Saudi Arabia highlights the strength of the Saudi Arabian real estate sector as well as confidence in the wider economy. Saudi developments have been carefully planned and regulated. As such the Kingdom has managed to avoid certain pitfalls that have affected projects elsewhere in the Gulf, such as short-term investment speculation,” said Deep Marwaha, event director of Cityscape Saudi Arabia. 

A study carried out by Dubai-based Proleads research house for Cityscape, was released on the occasion.

The report shows that of the 812 active projects in the real estate, leisure and entertainment and infrastructure sectors with a total budget of $543 billion, only 4 per cent by value have been put on hold or cancelled in the kingdom.

Of the 812 projects studied by Proleads, 460 of them with a total budget of close to $289 billion are already in construction. Most of the rest are either in active planning, study, design or bidding stage. A further 30 projects (1 per cent by value) have been cancelled and only 25 (3 per cent by value) are on hold

“Compared with other parts of the Gulf, the Saudi Arabian civil construction market is in a much healthier state because it reflects more closely local population demand and growth,” said Marwaha.  

The study also shows cash flow in Saudi Arabia on real estate projects maintains a tighter balance with that on infrastructure, seen as a stabilising factor by most analysts. Demand in Saudi Arabia comes primarily from the domestic population, rather than expatriates with estimates suggesting only 35 per cent of Saudis own their own homes and 1.5 million new housing units will be needed in the coming five years to meet the demands of a large and young population.
 
“While civil construction in other Gulf countries has been dominated by a volatile domestic real estate sector, in Saudi Arabia it has been more balanced with the government’s budget for infrastructure keeping pace with that of real estate,” Marwaha added.

Cityscape Saudi Arabia is aimed at regional and international investors, real estate developers, government and development authorities, architects, designers, consultants and senior professionals involved in the real estate industry. It will also be an arena to showcase projects and network with investors and developers from around the world. - TradeArabia News Service