Land development projects in the Middle East are more important now than ever before. The devastating effects of climate change have hit Middle Eastern and North African nations very hard. The economic damage is matched by the humanitarian crises that have emerged in the region, including food and water insecurity. Middle Eastern countries are now investing considerable resources in innovative new approaches to offset climate change damage and diversify their economic bases.
A Different Kind of Land Development
Many Middle Eastern nations have been investing heavily in land development projects that seek to reclaim barren land for agricultural use. However, a different sort of land development project has emerged as a major part of many countries’ efforts to diversify their economies.
The United Arab Emirates, a regional leader in agricultural development, has led the charge in a new area. The nation is transforming barren sand into commercial and tourist centers. This is an attempt to use land development as a source of wealth creation. Dubai’s economy has exploded over the last few decades to an astounding figure of $100 billion. A serious part of this growth is due to the increase in tourism resulting from commercial land development.
Kuwait has put together an interesting plan that combines economic land development with environmental concerns. The XZERO project is a 1,600-hectare development in the southern region of the gulf nation. The plan is to build 30,000 residential housing units. These units will include so-called environmentally friendly “eco-lodges” that will promote sustainable tourism.
Saudi Arabia may have the most ambitious land development project in the entire region. Referred to as “The Line,” it is a planned 169-kilometer-long ultra-modern city set to be built in the northwest of the Kingdom. The Line will run exclusively on renewable energy and produce zero carbon emissions. The city will be only about 200 meters wide and contain no roads or automobiles. Instead, a proposed high-speed rail service will take residents from one end of the city to the other in around 20 minutes. The Kingdom expects the city to house 1.5 million people by 2030. The project will reportedly cost hundreds of billions of dollars to complete.
Egypt Looks to the Future
With over 100 million citizens as of the most recent census, Egypt is the most populous nation in the entire Mideast region. It is not the wealthiest nation in the Middle East, however, and it has been adversely affected by outside events than the richer Persian Gulf countries. The Ukraine War and the overall global economic slowdown have hurt Egypt’s economy and caused hardship for its people. The nation is looking in new directions to grow and diversify its economy.
Despite its huge population, 93 percent of Egypt’s land consists of unpopulated deserts. Egypt’s government has been investing heavily in transportation projects in recent years. More and better highways and alternate transportation sources like monorails have been built to facilitate easier access to the more remote areas of the nation, as well as to make Egypt’s important tourism industry more attractive to potential visitors. These projects are also helpful in providing jobs to the more than 1 million Egyptians who enter the job market each year.
The capital city of Cairo is immense, with a metropolitan population (including suburban areas) of over 28 million. The city has serious health-related problems, including severe air pollution. The infrastructure improvements are beginning to pay off, however, as Cairo residents are relocating to smaller cities to the east and west of the capital. This diffusion of population is expected to help alleviate some of the problems of the densely populated capital.
Despite these new ways to develop barren land, agricultural development continues to be important in the Middle East. AMANA Contracting, a leading innovator in agricultural reclamation, has set up a new project in the UAE that aims to help with the nation’s food security and self-sufficiency. The project, Bustanica, is slated to be the first-ever vertical farm in the Middle East. It will cover 30.6 thousand square meters and produce over 1 million kilos annually of leafy greens. Its best feature, however, is that it is expected to use 95 percent less water than traditional farming methods. This is vitally important to a region beset with water scarcity.
The Middle East has serious problems with desertification and largely barren land areas. Considerable resources have been, and continue to be, expended to reclaim that arid land for agricultural purposes. Recently, however, Middle Eastern countries have sought other ways to diversify their economic bases. Commercial land development is currently the main method for accomplishing that goal.