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Riyadh’s Population Rise to 15 Million Helps Shift City towards Independent Economy

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Riyadh’s Population Rise to 15 Million Helps Shift City towards Independent Economy

A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A general view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Real estate experts said that Riyadh’s goal to increase its population by about 15 million people in 2030 will contribute to its transformation into a city with an independent and sustainable economy.

They added that the Riyadh Season, as well as major projects and government plans will accelerate the realization of the Saudi capital’s objectives by 2030.

According to the official announcement of the Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh, the region aims to reach 15 million people by 2030 thanks to attractive factors and capabilities that further strengthen the Kingdom's efforts to diversify its economic resources.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, writer and real estate expert Sami Abdulaziz said the latest statistics indicate that the capital is currently home to about 7.5 million people, adding that the average occupancy of residential units reaches seven individuals, thus the number of units required by 2030 is around 350,000.

The Ministry of Housing alone will provide about 300,000 housing units until the target date, he remarked, noting that developers, contracting companies, and investors in the sector will secure the remaining amount, which will contribute to increasing the availability real estate units, therefore leading to price stability.

Abdulaziz pointed to the importance of studying the rest of the market factors, including the number of units required during the next five years, their locations, the construction costs, the public facilities and services needed, the size of the private sector’s participation and others.

He also expected the Riyadh Season and the city’s major projects to become a major contributor to achieving the capital’s goal of reaching 15 million residents in 2030.

Real estate expert Eng. Ahmed Al-Faqih highlighted Riyadh’s status as one of the most developed cities in the Middle East, in addition to the great progress the city is witnessing simultaneously with Vision 2030.

Achieving the target of 15 million residents would transform Riyadh into a city with an independent economy, he added.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.