Riyadh

Riyadh
/ree yahd"/, n.
a city in and the capital of Saudi Arabia. 450,000.

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City (pop., 1992: 2,776,096), capital of Saudi Arabia.

Located in the east-central part of the country, it was chosen as the capital of the Saūd dynasty in 1824. It remained the centre of Saʽūdī rule until 1881, when the Rashīd family took control of the region. In 1902 Ibn Saūd regained control, and it became the centre for his conquest of the Arabian Peninsula. When the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed in 1932, Riyadh became the capital. Discovery of immense petroleum deposits in the kingdom in the 1930s transformed the old provincial town into a showplace of modern technology. The old city walls were demolished in the 1950s to make room for rapid expansion. In addition to its administrative role, Riyadh is the kingdom's commercial, education, and transportation centre.

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Introduction
Arabic  Al-Riyāḍ 
 city and capital of Saudi Arabia. The city's name is derived from the plural of the Arabic rawḍah, meaning gardens or meadows, so named for a natural fertility provided by its location at the juncture of Wadis Ḥanīfah and Al-Baṭḥāʾ. The spectacular sight of Riyadh from the air, illuminated in the evening by city lights, is reminiscent of its eponymous meadows; a bright sea of lights dot the desert as if fluorescent flower gardens have suddenly blossomed among its dark contours.

      The city is located in the Minṭaqat Al-Riyāḍ, one of the country's 13 provinces, and is situated in the central portions of both the country and the larger Arabian Peninsula. Few of the world's cities have transformed as rapidly as Riyadh, which grew from a small, fortified desert village in the 17th century into a modern metropolis of several million inhabitants in the 20th century. Area city, 600 square miles (1,550 square km). Pop. (2004 est.) city, 4,087,152.

Character of the city
      Life in Riyadh is concentrated around the city's more than 4,000 mosques (mosque) and its numerous busy shopping centres. The city's central core and its many souks (marketplaces) attract heavy pedestrian traffic, emphasizing the city's intense feeling of vitality. As residents of a major city in a mainly Muslim (Islāmic world) (see Islam (Islām)) country, Riyadh's inhabitants adhere to a number of social norms that include segregation of the sexes and the need to protect the privacy of the family. Recreational activities are often a family affair, and large public gatherings are mainly restricted to male attendants. However, many activity centres allow women and families to attend at special times or in reserved areas.

      Riyadh's physical layout is dominated by its street system—a highly defined grid made up of 1.25-mile by 1.25-mile (2-km by 2-km) square blocks—which provides a network across the cityscape. This grid system is navigable, but it is also considered by some to be confining, because of its regimented compartmentalization of the city's communities and neighbourhoods.

Landscape

City site
  The city of Riyadh is located approximately 1,950 feet (600 metres) above sea level in eastern Najd (“Highland”)—a region largely dominated by a rocky plateau landscape—in the centre of the Arabian Peninsula. Najd's broad, mountain-studded plateau gives way in the centre and east to a series of escarpments arching from north to south, including Al-Khuff, Jilh Al-ʿIshār, and, the longest and highest of these, the Ṭuwayq Mountains. With a length of some 800 miles (1,300 km), the Ṭuwayq Mountains constitute the backbone of the most densely settled part of Najd, of which Riyadh is a part; the topography of Riyadh itself, however, is relatively flat. Soils in and around the city are made up of an alluvium of gravel, sand, silt, clay deposits, and a limestone subsoil.

Climate
      Riyadh's climate is characterized by extreme heat in the summer, with average temperatures reaching the low 100s F (low 40s C), and coolness in the winter, with lows averaging in the low 50s F (low 10s C), though there is a large difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. Because of the distance from major bodies of water and the general scarcity of precipitation in the city, humidity in Riyadh remains low throughout the year, especially during the summer. When precipitation does occur, it is largely confined to the months between November and May.

City layout
      Riyadh itself is an amorphous expanse of neighbourhoods and subdivisions bounded by wide roads lined with commercial strip development. Two of the city's dominant tower buildings are Al-Fayṣaliyyah (Al-Faisaliah) centre, which contains office space, a number of restaurants, and a luxury hotel, and the Markaz Al-Mamlakah (“Kingdom Centre”), which offers an expansive complex of office, retail, dining, and accommodation spaces located within and around its landmark tower.

      The form and structure of the city has been reinforced by a number of large-scale construction projects undertaken in the latter half of the 20th century and in the early 21st century, including the establishment of the Diplomatic Quarter, where embassies and the offices of international organizations are located, and the redevelopment of the Qaṣr Al-Ḥukm (“Justice Palace”) district, which houses most of the central shops. Other important projects have included the Government Centre, King Saʿūd University, the Islamic University of Imam Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd, the King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Historical Centre, and the creation of “industrial cities”—centres where land leases and utilities are available for reduced rates and the development of various classes of industry is encouraged.

People
      Between 1930 and the early 21st century, the population of Riyadh grew from about 27,000 to more than 4,000,000, a dramatic increase rooted in high birth rates coupled with the rapid economic growth of the 1970s and '80s. During these years Riyadh also experienced an influx of immigrants, including foreign labourers. This influx contributed to a continuing, pervasive societal dependence on expatriate labour; by the beginning of the 21st century, Saudis accounted for only about two-fifths of Riyadh's workforce. In addition to foreign labourers, a large number of Saudis from elsewhere within the country moved to Riyadh during the 1970s and '80s, many of them from rural areas. This trend reflected the general migration of Saudis from rural areas to urban locations within the country that contributed in part to a massive reversal of the urban-to-rural ratio. While throughout Saudi Arabia in the early 1970s there existed one urban dweller for every three rural dwellers, by 1990 it was nearly the opposite, and the populations of urban areas (urbanization) such as Riyadh swelled dramatically. At the beginning of the 21st century, tens of thousands of Saudis continued to move from rural areas to the city of Riyadh each year.

      Saudi nationals constitute about two-thirds of the city's population. Among the non-Saudi population, Asians (among whom Indians and Pakistanis predominate) represent about one-half, and Arabs (among whom Egyptians and Yemenis predominate) constitute about two-fifths. Small proportions of Europeans and Americans also reside in the city. On the whole, Riyadh's population is quite young; more than half of the residents are younger than 20 years old, and less than one-fifth are older than 60. Males constitute about half the city's Saudi population but more than two-thirds of the non-Saudi population, as many expatriate labourers come to work in Riyadh without their families. The average family size is large, with Saudi families averaging more than six members and non-Saudi families averaging approximately five members.

      Within the country, religious activities aside from the practice of Islam are prohibited by law, though non-Muslim foreigners have been permitted to worship in private. As a result, Riyadh is in effect an almost wholly Islamic city. Each day begins with the call to dawn prayers (ṣalāt al-fajr; see ṣalāt (salat)) issued from loudspeakers at nearby mosques; worshippers pray four more times during the day and into the evening, attending the city's ubiquitous mosques or choosing other locations where they can perform their ritual ablutions and prayers.

Economy

Manufacturing, finance, and other services
 As the country's capital, Riyadh hosts numerous government ministries and public services headquarters, making the public sector the city's largest employer. The government employs more than one-third of the city's workforce and is the source of approximately half of Riyadh's total production of goods and services. Saudis account for more than nine-tenths of total government employees—a stark contrast to some of the other employment sectors, which are dominated by foreign workers. In the private sector, more than two-fifths of the workforce is employed in services, about one-fourth in construction, more than one-fifth in trade, and about one-tenth in industry.

      Riyadh is an important financial, business, and manufacturing centre. A number of banks are headquartered in the city, including Saudi Arabia's central bank and several national banks; numerous private companies are also located there, and every publicly quoted company is compelled by law to have an office in the city. About one-third of the country's factories are located in Riyadh, producing machinery, equipment, metallurgical goods, chemicals, construction materials, food, textiles, furniture, and publications.

Transportation
      Riyadh is served by the King Khālid International Airport, which is located about 22 miles (35 km) north of the city and handles both domestic and international flights. There are thousands of miles of paved roads in Riyadh, including the King Fahd (running north-south) and Mecca (Makkah; running east-west) highways, which constitute the two main axes of the city. With its grid system of wide thoroughfares and expressways, modern Riyadh was designed as an automobile-oriented city. Taxis are a significant form of transportation in Riyadh; local buses are also available, but their main function is to transport lower-income workers from their living quarters (normally in and around the city centre) to workplaces in other parts of the city. Riyadh is connected with Al-Dammām (Dammām, Al-), an eastern seaport, by rail.

Administration and society

Government
      The city of Riyadh is located in the Riyadh province, one of 13 in the country, each of which is administered by a governor, a deputy governor, and a provincial council. The province of Riyadh is further divided into governorates, and Riyadh is itself made up of a number of branch municipalities. The chief administrator of the city is its mayor, who is appointed by the king of Saudi Arabia, and the major functions of the city government are similar to those of many other metropolitan cities.

      The High Commission for the Development of Riyadh sets forth policies for the city's development formulated by its executive branch, the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA). The ADA, which is responsible for the socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental development of the city, devises plans and procedures to improve the standard of services and facilities provided for city residents. The ADA does not rely upon the national budget for its funding.

Municipal services
      Riyadh is served by an advanced infrastructural framework that includes modern networks of transportation and communications (including abundant wireless services), as well as a number of electric power stations. Roughly two-thirds of the city's fresh water is drawn from desalinated seawater brought to the city from plants on the Persian Gulf, while much of the rest is derived from local artesian wells.

Health
      Riyadh offers its residents advanced and accessible medical care. Throughout the city, public medical centres and hospitals provide free health care services, and there are a number of private clinics as well. Specialized medical services are available to treat patients with rare or extreme conditions. A number of procedures to surgically separate conjoined twins have been performed in Saudi Arabia, the majority of them at facilities in Riyadh; in some cases, patients travel from abroad to receive these services.

Education
      Riyadh's numerous educational institutions accommodate students at all levels of learning. King Saʿūd University (1957) and Islamic University of Imam Muḥammad ibn Saʿūd (1953) are both national universities. In addition, there are a number of military academies, including King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Military College (1955), King Khālid Military College (1982), and King Fahd Security College, originally established in Mecca in the mid-1930s. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were about twice as many male as female students enrolled in Riyadh's universities. The educational system for women has been developed gradually in response to the country's social and economic needs; as a result, there are a number of schools registered in Riyadh for female-only education at all levels.

      Also located in Riyadh is the King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz City for Science and Technology (KACST), which carries out research designed to promote the enrichment of Saudi society through technological development. KACST is linked to some of the world's preeminent scientific and technological centres, with whom a number of cooperative projects—including the establishment of a national observatory and an aquaculture research centre—have been undertaken.

Cultural life
 Riyadh was selected as the cultural capital of the Arab world in 2000 by UNESCO. The city contains numerous cultural centres. Among them is the King ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Historical Centre—a collection of restored buildings including a mosque, library, and conference hall. The centre, created on the grounds of the old royal palace compound, was designed to display the history of the kingdom's foundation and development and that of the Arabian Peninsula. A number of other cultural facilities are located in Riyadh, including the National Museum, which houses a variety of cultural works, including documents and antiquities, and the National Library. The city is adorned by a number of squares, markets, and public parks, and restaurants offering Arabic and various international cuisines are abundant.

      Al-Jinādiriyyah, a national heritage and culture festival, is a major event held annually near Riyadh. One of the largest cultural festivals of its kind in the Arab world, Al-Jinādiriyyah hosts Arab, Muslim, and international celebrities participating in panel discussions, intellectual forums, and poetry sessions. In addition, Al-Jinādiriyyah offers exhibitions, shopping, cultural shows, and camel races. The festival, organized by the National Guard and held during the month of February, attracts a large number of visitors and participants.

History
      The history of Riyadh dates back several centuries. The city was established in the Yamāmah region on the ruins of the old city of Ḥajr, which long served as a centre for the trading caravans that traversed the various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. Surrounded by many valleys, the development of the city was enhanced by numerous wells, palm groves, and green areas.

      Mid-17th-century Riyadh has been described as a small fortified village that belonged to a chain of settlements along Wadi Ḥanīfah, a low valley located at the western edge of the city. The wadi played a significant role in shaping the initial location and layout of the settlement: the availability of water and fertile land in the wadi was invested in the farming of dates and other crops, while village development was relegated to the plateau toward the east. In 1824 Riyadh was chosen as the capital of the Saʿūd dynasty, and it remained the centre of Saʿūd rule until 1881, when the Rashīd family of Ḥāʾil extended its influence over the central Najd region. In 1902, however, Ibn Saʿūd regained control for his family and used the city as the centre for his conquest of Arabia, which he completed by 1930 with the assimilation of ʿAsīr (Asir), the Red Sea coastal plain along the west of the Arabian Peninsula. When the unified Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed in 1932, Riyadh was designated as the capital (see Saudi Arabia: The Wahhābī movement (Saudi Arabia); Saudi Arabia: Second Saʿūdī state (Saudi Arabia)).

      The physical structure of Riyadh has undergone significant transformations from its early layout. In 1920 the city spanned an area of less than one-half square mile (1 square km) and was encircled by walls, within which a central mosque, a souk, houses, and palaces were located. By the 1930s Riyadh housed less than 30,000 inhabitants, with the city still enclosed within fortified walls. By the end of the 1940s, however, much of the original city wall structure had been demolished, and the urban area had grown to about 2 square miles (5 square km), with a population of 83,000. Many of the patterns of Riyadh's early physical development—including narrow streets, courtyard houses, well-defined open spaces, and a community structured around the local mosque—held much in common with traditional Islamic cities across the Middle East.

      In the late 1960s a Greek city-planning firm was contracted to develop the first master plan for the city. The Doxiadis Plan (later revised by a French consulting group) introduced a linear development concept along a central spine running in a north-south direction, thus avoiding encroachment of the city on the Wadi Ḥanīfah system to the west, the boundaries of which have been the prime determinant of Riyadh's present form and structure. A second distinctive feature of the plan was the pervasive grid street pattern, made up of 1.25-mile by 1.25-mile (2-km by 2-km) square blocks. As a result, the local scale of communities and neighbourhoods is largely composed of this flat, repetitive grid pattern; these blocks have mainly contained villas (often made up of two stories), built to the maximum plot coverage and surrounded by high walls to ensure much-valued privacy. The city has expanded to the north, and, contrary to the Doxiadis Plan, it has also grown toward the east and west. The grid-based road network created wide barriers between neighbourhoods, acting largely as a hindrance to integrating the city into a cohesive structure.

      Both the population and the land area of Riyadh continue to expand, applying increasing pressure on the city's infrastructural networks and spatial capacity. Facing these challenges, the ADA completed in 2002 its Metropolitan Development Strategy, in which it detailed a long-term vision for the city's future as well as strategic plans and an implementation program for its shorter-term goals. In 2007 King ʿAbd Allāh launched a sweeping range of development plans for Riyadh, including nearly 2,000 projects designed to improve the city's financial, medical, educational, telecommunications, and utilities infrastructures.

Tschangho J. Kim

Additional Reading
General introductory books on Riyadh include Anthony Guise and Chris Gent, Riyadh, rev. ed. (1997); and Arab Urban Development Institute, Riyadh: The City of the Future, trans. from Arabic (1984?). Overviews of the history, geography, people, and development of the social and economic life of the city are provided by the London Centre of Arab Studies, Ar-Riyadh: History and Development (1999). An overview of the development of Riyadh is provided by Abdal-Majeed Ismail Daghistani, Ar-Riyadh: Urban Development and Planning (1985). Socioeconomic statistics of Riyadh are well documented in Ar-Riyadh Development Authority, The Investment Climate (annual). Details of the national historical centre located in Riyadh can be found in Arriyadh Development Authority, The King Abdulaziz Historical Centre (2000).Tschangho J. Kim

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Universalium. 2010.

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