King Abdullah Economic City 5.1

King Abdullah Economic City is a megaproject announced in 2005 by king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the former king of Saudi Arabia.OverviewWith a total development area of 173 km², the city is located along the coast of the Red Sea, around 100 km north of Jeddah, the commercial hub of Saudi Arabia, the city will also be approximately an hour and 20 minutes away from the city of Mecca and 3 hours from Medina by car and an hour away from all Middle Eastern capital cities by plane. The total cost of the city is around SR 207 billion, with the project being built by Emaar Properties. A Tadawul-listed company created from Emaar Properties, a Dubai-based public joint stock company and one of the world’s largest real estate companies, and SAGIA which is the main facilitator of the project.The city, along with another five economic cities, is a part of an ambitious "10x10" program to place Saudi Arabia among the world's top ten competitive investment destinations by the year 2010, planned by SAGIA. The first stage of the city is planned to be completed in 2010, while the whole city is going to be fully completed by 2020. The city will help diversify the nation's oil-based economy by bringing direct foreign and domestic investments. The city also will help create up to one million jobs. When it's completed, KAEC will be larger than Washington DC.