News

When officials in Saudi Arabia's second city unveiled ambitious development plans this week, Abdul-Kadeer Batargi and his neighbours found it hard to get caught up in the euphoria.

For low-income residents in Nuzla and other poor districts in central Jeddah, the city authority's determination to turn the Red Sea port into a glass-and-high rise vision like Dubai means they will be turfed out of their homes.

"Where will we find water and electricity? Where will we find schools? Where will we go?" Batargi said, sitting outside his home.

"All of the Nuzla residents disapprove of this. This is our land and our families have been living here for over 100 years."

The development of the downtown area of Jeddah, announced on Saturday, includes 15 million square metres of residential units, luxury hotels and shopping malls to be completed over five years, developer Dar al-Arkan said.

Kingdom Holding, owned by entrepreneur Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, plans to build a tower more than 1 kilometre high, in an effort to outdo a tower in the booming city of Dubai on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula which is now the world's tallest.

Residents of the poor districts have up to 12 months to get out the way. They will be compensated if they can present title deeds to the local authorities, which may be a problem for some.

Nuzla and the other districts, collectively known as Khozam, are home to 100,000 people, but over the years they have become a centre for illegal immigrants and crime such as drug dealing.

One of the few renovations allowed for in the Jeddah redevelopment plan is the Khozam Palace, which belonged to Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdul-Aziz.

Locals believe they will receive no more than 2,000 riyals per metre ($533), which will not be enough to buy a new home or flat in light of rocketing real estate prices.

Abdul-Aazak al-Najiri, the former mayor of Nuzla, said residents will have no choice but to find cheaper housing in desert towns outside Jeddah. "We do not oppose development but we want compensation," he said.

Saudi Arabia has seen a real estate boom in recent years as world oil prices shot up to over $100 a barrel. Wealthy developers have focused attention on luxury projects in Mecca and Jeddah, while ordinary Saudis have difficulty getting access to bank loans amid a lack of housing for the middle class.

Newspapers have reported incidents of local residents clashing with police in Mecca over the past year over plans to remove them to make way for construction.

"This project is a good endeavour but it should not be built at our expense, at the expense of the people," said Hamza Dhiban. "All of the people who live here, go to school here, work here and earn their living here — where will they go?"