Urban Landscape Saudi 2021, a two-day virtual event, came into the limelight as a follow-up of Saudi Arabia’s Quality of Life program and Vision 2030 that prioritizes to transform the Kingdom into every traveller’s dream destination and the most desired spots for urban living.
The event organized by Tradepass with Saudi Contractors Authority (SCA) as a strategic partner, witnessed a great turnout, comprising over 500 landscape experts and professionals who collaborated and shared valuable insights over the course of two days. The virtual event also had an amalgamation of keynote presentations, panel discussions, and fireside chats that threw light on some of the latest technologies and innovations which play a vital role in the evolving Urban landscape sector.
Below mentioned are the 5 key takeaways from Urban Landscape Saudi 2021, that came from some of the leading guest speakers:
1.
ENG. AHMED AL-ABOUDI, Deputy Governor & Chief Regulatory Officer, Saudi Contractors Authority (SCA)
As the Guest of Honour for the event, Eng. Ahmed Al-Aboudi while enlightening everyone about Vision 2030 and the related multi-billion-dollar urban landscape projects mentioned that “Those programs and those landscape projects will help the Saudi government in realizing the goals that are set in the Vision 2030 towards improving the life of the Saudi citizens”.
2.
JOHN PAGANO, Chief Executive Officer, The Red Sea Development Company and AMAALA
John Pagano gave a very insightful talk on the topic ‘Redefining Success in the Tourism Industry’ where he explained how people can live alongside nature. During his discourse, he even quoted David Attenborough from his recent movie ‘Life on our planet’. While talking about a sustainable tourism industry he stated, “Having a low or even zero impact is no longer enough, the development in tourism industries must positively contribute to enhancing the environment, they must become a force for regeneration, a force for good”.
3.
FADY NASSIM, Executive Head of Urban Planning, Jeddah Economic Company, Urban Planning Vision
Fady Nassim went in great detail about the green-energy saving solutions like District cooling, Sewage treatment plant and Water treatment and their importance in infrastructure. As an intrinsic part of Jeddah Economic City, he also explained the project’s key objectives where he said that, “The objective of Jeddah Economic City is to build this new urban model around the basic approach of having Diversity, Proximity and High Density”.
4.
OLIVER HANNA, Area Sales Manager, Zinco
Oliver Hanna got everyone’s attention through a very interesting and innovative topic of having green roofs in Saudi Arabia and its crucial role while tackling some of the Kingdom’s climate related challenges. He explained how it can make the modern Saudi Arabian city more attractive, cooler, bio diverse and that too while using no extra piece of land but just by utilizing the empty spaces on the roofs. He explained, “If we have green roofs in our cities, we will positively influence the city climate, we will reduce the heat island effect, we will improve the air quality as we will filter out all the dust that we have got in the air.”
5.
DR AMAL SHUQAIR, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing – KSA
Dr Amal Shuqair while talking about the future of Momra also threw light on the the splendid work that her Ministry had done in terms of providing housing units for the many Saudi families in need. She also explained the importance of urban landscape development where she mentioned, “Urban landscape development is very crucial and is something that will affect the citizens, the city and the future”.