Saudi Arabia may be weighing in on plans for a 2-kilometer-tall, world’s tallest tower, for its 18-square-kilometer master-planned area in the capital city of Riyadh, the Interesting Engineering website revealed this week.
The proposed skyscraper will be more than twice as tall as Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which stands at 828 meters and is currently the tallest building in the world, according to the source.
“Contractors that have priced megatall towers in the region say that depending on the final design, a 2km-tall structure could cost about $5bn to construct,” said the report.
“A design competition with a participation fee of $1m is underway for the record-breaking tower.”
As per the sources, roughly eight companies have been asked to compete.
Some of the top architectural companies in the world are collaborating, and they were chosen for the project based on their previous work on iconic structures and megatall towers around the globe.
The projected tall tower in Riyadh is just one of many influential projects slated for the city’s northern peripheries, west of the existing King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
The feasibility assessment for the development was carried out by EY, a global consultant, which falls under the master plan of the Kingdom, stated the report.
Along the same line, a master proposal for an airport expansion was unveiled on November 28.
If it is finished on schedule in 2030, it will be called King Salman International airport and will have the highest passenger capacity in the entire world.
Saudi unemployment rates on rise
Based on estimates of King Khalid Foundation in Saudi Arabia, the unemployment rate among Saudis was 16.1% in 2015. However, unemployment among Saudis reached 25% by mid 2021.
The Foundation revealed that one out of four young people (15–24 years old) drops out of school and training option to join the labor market.
Thus, one million young people out of 3.92 do not receive any educational or training opportunities to be able to integrate into the labor market.
According to the study, 25% of Saudi young people do not complete their education and training, which means that an estimated 45 billion riyals are annually lost including unearned wages, unrealized social insurance contributions, and unpaid tax revenues.
Social media rage
This huge spending on unreal projects, while Saudi Arabia’s unemployment and poverty rate continue to rise, sparks widespread controversy in the Kingdom.
Some Saudi online users criticized MBS’s spending of billions of dollars on video games and mega projects that will never see the light, while Saudi youth cannot find work or housing.
