Saudi Arabia has unveiled the masterplan for its vast cultural project in AlUla. It details an ambitious archeological research and conservation programme to protect, preserve and sustainably rejuvenate one of the world’s largest and oldest cultural landscapes.
The Spanish archaeologist José Ignacio Gallego Revilla, who is the executive director of archaeology, heritage research and conservation for AlUla, says that the plan will focus on “15 new cultural assets, including galleries, museums and education centres”, stretched over a 20km corridor, and involving partnerships with scientific institutes and museums around the world.
The three-part “Journey Through Time” masterplan has a $15 billion price tag, with phase one—which has already seen the expansion of an airport—set for completion in 2023. Phase two is expected in 2030, and phase three in 2035. The ultimate goal is to bring in 2 million visitors annually and to create 38,000 new jobs, boosting the nation’s economy by $32 billion.
Entitled “Journey Through Time”, the masterplan “will spearhead the cultural and heritage project that will lay the groundwork for the total transformation of the region”, Revilla says, referring to the country’s grandiose plan launched under the 2030 Vision to develop AlUla into “a global destination for heritage, culture and nature”.
AlUla is home to numerous ancient cultural heritage sites, including the 2,000-year-old Archaeological Site of Al-Hijr (Mada’in Saleh), or Hegra, which in 2008 became Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Plans include launching an international competition next April to design Kingdoms’ Institute, an international archaeology and conservation center. It will be “a world-class institution dedicated to the study of the history of the Arabian Peninsula since the Prehistoric time,” José Ignacio Gallego Revilla, the executive director of archaeology, heritage research, and conservation for AlUla,
The development will also include the construction of new luxury hotels, including one designed by Pritzker Prize-winning French architect Jean Nouvel, which will be carved into the existing rock landscape of the Sharaan Nature Reserve.
The “Journey Through Time” masterplan is centred around the old town of AlUla and the “Cultural Oasis”, where archeological, anthropological, botanical and genetics research is being conducted on ancient architecture, agriculture and water resources. “This data could serve today’s agricultural and hydrology systems, building conservation and architecture, and help save the oasis at the core of the destination”, says Charnier, adding: “Saudi Arabia is implementing a unique project putting culture and science at the forefront of eco-tourism and human development.”