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Saudi Arabia Aims to Transform Industrial Heritage into Cultural Destinations

The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 
The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 
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Saudi Arabia Aims to Transform Industrial Heritage into Cultural Destinations

The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 
The Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site (SPA). 

Saudi Arabia is stepping up efforts to preserve and repurpose its industrial heritage sites, with an ambition to join the ranks of countries that have long recognized the cultural and social value of industrial landmarks.

The Kingdom sees these sites not only as reminders of its industrial beginnings but also as potential cultural destinations that can enrich communities, attract visitors, and support national development.

Industrial heritage refers to the achievements of the post-Industrial Revolution era and includes factories, mills, mines, workshops, warehouses, and transport infrastructure, along with the housing, schools, and religious buildings that grew around them. These sites embody not just technological progress, but also the social, architectural, and economic dimensions of industrial growth.

Khalid Al-Humaidi, a Saudi heritage specialist, said that growing recognition of the importance of cataloging and preserving these sites has fueled significant progress in recent years. Dedicated researchers have been mapping and documenting historic industrial landmarks across the Kingdom, laying the groundwork for their potential inclusion in global heritage lists, including UNESCO.

He stressed that such initiatives are vital in connecting younger generations to their national heritage. By recognizing industrial sites as part of Saudi Arabia’s cultural legacy, the country can foster a stronger sense of identity and historical awareness.

Al-Humaidi also urged greater investment in restoring these landmarks to their original condition, while promoting them through media platforms and cultural initiatives. He called for allowing visitors to explore sites directly, under proper safeguards, and suggested developing souvenirs and miniature models to strengthen public engagement.

The Ministry of Culture launched its Industrial Heritage Program in 2019 to build a national framework for preserving Saudi Arabia’s industrial legacy. The program highlights the role of factories and industrial infrastructure in shaping the country’s economic and social development and seeks to reposition them as cultural and tourism destinations.

To raise awareness, the ministry organized a national competition encouraging Saudis to discover and document industrial sites. The initiative spotlighted a range of landmarks linked to the Kingdom’s industrial growth, while broadening public understanding of what industrial heritage represents.

One of the most notable achievements came in 2020, when the Saudi Heritage Commission officially registered the Tapline oil pipeline as the country’s first industrial heritage site. Built in 1948 by order of King Abdulaziz, the pipeline once connected the Eastern Province to northern Saudi Arabia, symbolizing the dawn of the Kingdom’s oil industry. Its registration followed a decision by cultural and energy authorities to halt its removal, allowing it to be preserved and studied.

Another example is JAX District in Diriyah, northwest of Riyadh. Once an industrial warehouse zone, it has been transformed into a creative hub hosting galleries, studios, and cultural spaces. Today, it stands as one of Riyadh’s most dynamic artistic communities, showcasing how industrial heritage can be repurposed for modern cultural life.

 

 

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Varieties

Saudi Arabia: Newest State-of-the-Art Film Production Hub Launched in Qiddiya City

Located at the heart of Qiddiya City, PlayMaker Studios sits just 40 minutes from Riyadh
Located at the heart of Qiddiya City, PlayMaker Studios sits just 40 minutes from Riyadh
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Saudi Arabia: Newest State-of-the-Art Film Production Hub Launched in Qiddiya City

Located at the heart of Qiddiya City, PlayMaker Studios sits just 40 minutes from Riyadh
Located at the heart of Qiddiya City, PlayMaker Studios sits just 40 minutes from Riyadh

Qiddiya Investment Company has announced the official opening of PlayMaker Studios at Qiddiya City, marking the launch of Saudi Arabia’s newest state-of-the-art film production hub. The opening represents a major milestone in the Kingdom’s rapidly advancing film and creative industries.

The launch of PlayMaker Studios marks a strategic addition to Saudi Arabia’s production infrastructure. The studios feature two high-spec, purpose-built soundstages, flexible workshops, and fully integrated production facilities designed to meet the needs of large-scale international and regional productions. The complex also includes modern production offices and on-site support amenities, offering a seamless, end-to-end production environment.

With strong demand already recorded for studio space, construction has begun on two additional world-class soundstages, scheduled for completion in 2026, which will significantly expand PlayMaker Studios’ capacity and enable it to host multiple major productions simultaneously.

Qiddiya Investment Company has also established a dedicated on-the-ground team to provide hands-on support for producers across permitting, logistics, and operational services. In addition, PlayMaker Studios offers streamlined access to Saudi Arabia’s industry-leading 40% production cash rebate, one of the most competitive incentives globally.

As part of its long-term development strategy, PlayMaker Studios will introduce dedicated post-production, visual effects, volumetric, and music studios, further strengthening the Kingdom’s creative and production ecosystem. The complex is set to become both a creative powerhouse and a core pillar of Qiddiya City’s entertainment offering.

Qiddiya Investment Company Managing Director Abdullah Aldawood said: “PlayMaker Studios is a cornerstone of Qiddiya City’s ambition and builds on Saudi Arabia’s growing success in the creative industries. It marks an important step in strengthening this momentum and realizing our vision to create a world class destination where innovation, culture and entertainment come together, and where the global film industry can find a new home in the Kingdom.”

Located at the heart of Qiddiya City - the world’s first destination where culture, sport, and creativity converge - PlayMaker Studios sits just 40 minutes from Riyadh, offering producers integrated logistics solutions, premium accommodation options for production teams, and direct access to a dynamic entertainment environment designed to inspire world-class content creation.

Varieties

Brigitte Macron Visits an Old Friend in China: Giant Panda Called Yuan Meng

FILE - French First lady Brigitte Macron attends a naming ceremony of the panda born at the Beauval Zoo, in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France, on Dec. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool, File)
FILE - French First lady Brigitte Macron attends a naming ceremony of the panda born at the Beauval Zoo, in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France, on Dec. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool, File)
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Brigitte Macron Visits an Old Friend in China: Giant Panda Called Yuan Meng

FILE - French First lady Brigitte Macron attends a naming ceremony of the panda born at the Beauval Zoo, in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France, on Dec. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool, File)
FILE - French First lady Brigitte Macron attends a naming ceremony of the panda born at the Beauval Zoo, in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, France, on Dec. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool, File)

French first lady Brigitte Macron caught up with an old friend — a giant panda born in France — at the tail end Friday of a visit to China with President Emmanuel Macron.

At a panda reserve in southwest China that Yuan Meng now calls home, the first lady marveled at how big he has grown. She helped choose his name — which means “accomplishment of a dream” — when he was born in a French zoo in 2017.

“When they're born, they're like this,” she said, holding up two fingers a short distance apart. Meanwhile, the chunky male roamed in his enclosure, feasting on bamboo and ignoring bystanders who cried out his name, hoping to elicit a reaction.

“They have a very independent character,” she said. “They do only what they want.”

For decades, China has deployed what's often called “panda diplomacy” to smooth and promote relations with other countries, gifting the animals to friendly nations and lending pandas to zoos overseas on commercial terms.

Emmanuel Macron’s state visit this week to China, his fourth as president, included meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and other officials, discussing Russia’s war in Ukraine, trade ties and other issues.

The China Wildlife Conservation Association said during the visit that it signed a letter of intent to send two of the animals to the Beauval Zoo south of Paris in 2027 under what would be a new 10-year round of panda cooperation with France.

The French zoo sent two 17-year-old pandas — Huan Huan, a female, and her partner Yuan Zi — back to China last month after 13 years on loan in France.

Yuan Meng was their cub, conceived using artificial insemination.

Despite being made in France, he officially belonged to the Chinese government. Yuan Meng bid ‘’adieu’’ to France in 2023, sent off to a new life in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest China where Brigitte Macron, considered to be his “godmother,” dropped in to see him.

Huan Huan and Yuan Zi also produced female twins in France in 2021.

Huanlili and Yuandudu are also expected to leave the Beauval Zoo for China in the future. The China Wildlife Conservation Association has previously said that it expects them to remain at the French zoo until January 2027.

Varieties

Florida Kicks Off 1st Black Bear Hunt in a Decade, Despite Pushback

FILE - A black bear is weighed by FWC Biologists Alyssa Simmons and Mike Orlando at the Rock Springs Run Wildlife Management Area near Lake Mary, Fla., Oct. 24, 2015. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP, file)
FILE - A black bear is weighed by FWC Biologists Alyssa Simmons and Mike Orlando at the Rock Springs Run Wildlife Management Area near Lake Mary, Fla., Oct. 24, 2015. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP, file)
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Florida Kicks Off 1st Black Bear Hunt in a Decade, Despite Pushback

FILE - A black bear is weighed by FWC Biologists Alyssa Simmons and Mike Orlando at the Rock Springs Run Wildlife Management Area near Lake Mary, Fla., Oct. 24, 2015. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP, file)
FILE - A black bear is weighed by FWC Biologists Alyssa Simmons and Mike Orlando at the Rock Springs Run Wildlife Management Area near Lake Mary, Fla., Oct. 24, 2015. (Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times via AP, file)

For the first time in a decade, hunters armed with rifles and crossbows are fanning out across Florida's swamps and flatwoods to legally hunt the Florida black bear, over the vocal opposition of critics.

The state-sanctioned hunt began Saturday, after drawing more than 160,000 applications for a far more limited number of hunting permits, including from opponents who are trying to reduce the number of bears killed in this year's hunt, the state's first since 2015, The Associated Press reported.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission awarded 172 bear hunt permits by random lottery for this year's season, allowing hunters to kill one bear each in areas where the population is deemed large enough. At least 43 of the permits went to opponents of the hunt who never intend to use them, according to the Florida chapter of the Sierra Club, which encouraged critics to apply in the hopes of saving bears.

The Florida black bear population is considered one of the state's conservation success stories, having grown from just several hundred bears in the 1970s to an estimated more than 4,000 today.

Opponents have questioned whether the hunt was necessary, but they were unable to convince the courts to halt it.

Here's what to know.

A limit of one bear per hunter The 172 people who were awarded a permit through a random lottery will be able to kill one bear each during the 2025 season, which runs from Dec. 6 to Dec. 28. The permits are specific to one of the state's four designated bear hunting zones, each of which have a hunting quota set by state officials based on the bear population in each region.

In order to participate, hunters must hold a valid hunting license and a bear harvest permit, which costs $100 for residents and $300 for nonresidents, plus fees. Applications for the permits cost $5 each.

The regulated hunt will help incentivize maintaining healthy bear populations, and help fund the work that is needed, according to Mark Barton of the Florida chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, an advocacy group that supported the hunt.

Having an annual hunt will help guarantee funding to "keep moving conservation for bears forward,” Barton said.

Hunting as a management tool According to state wildlife officials, the bear population has grown enough to support a regulated hunt and warrant population management. The state agency sees hunting as an effective tool that is used to manage wildlife populations around the world, and allows the state to monetize conservation efforts through permit and application fees.

"While we have enough suitable bear habitat to support our current bear population levels, if the four largest subpopulations continue to grow at current rates, we will not have enough habitat at some point in the future," reads a bear hunting guide published by the state wildlife commission.

Opponents meanwhile have called the hunt cruel, unnecessary and an excuse for hunters to bag a trophy animal when the real issue is the ever-growing human population encroaching on bear habitat.

Stricter regulations than the last hunt This year’s hunting plan has more stringent rules than the 2015 hunt, in which permits were provided to anyone who could pay for them, resulting in more than 3,700 permits issued. That led to a chaotic event that was shut down days early. Of the 304 bears killed, at least 38 were females with cubs, meaning the young bears may have died too.

Ultimately, wildlife officials decided to call off the hunt after its second day after a higher than expected number of bears were killed, though hunters did not exceed the statewide quota.

Doug Moore regularly sees bears on the more than 6,000 acres of timberland that he manages in northeast Florida. The president of a local hunting club, Moore is generally supportive of the new regulations for the bear hunt, even though he and his family members weren't issued a permit this year.

Moore described the management of the 2015 hunt as “fouled up” and “totally wrong" but said, “they’re doing it right this time."

Activists were issued dozens of permits Backers of the hunt have said that growing numbers of bears present a safety problem, with local officials sharing reports of bears on porches, rooting through garbage cans and roaming neighborhoods and playgrounds.

Activists have argued that the state should instead focus on other means of curbing nuisance bears and assuring safety through better trash management.

While opponents failed to convince a judge to stop the hunt, they were issued about a quarter of the overall permits, after activists applied for hunting tags they never intend to use.

“Somewhere out there a bear will be walking the grounds of the Panhandle, and I gave them a stay of execution,” said Joel Cleveland, an opponent of the hunt who was issued one of the permits.