Municipality and Housing: More than 8,100 parks, gardens and municipal squares with an area exceeding 155 million m2 during 2021

Monday 08 June 2026
البلدية والإسكان: أكثر من 8100 حديقة ومنتزه وساحة بلدية بمساحة تتجاوز155 مليون م2 خلال عام 2021

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing continues its efforts to enable and support the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 programs and achieve its objectives by providing municipal services and launching initiatives and programs that improve the quality of life and achieve urban sustainability, through completing projects to develop and maintain public facilities and infrastructure and ensuring their quality to improve the services provided by the Ministry to residents and visitors of Saudi cities.

During the past year, the Ministry worked on implementing 37 initiatives that serve the Vision realization programs, including the Quality of Life Program. It worked on implementing 9 strategic initiatives within the municipal services and infrastructure sector, including the Humanizing Cities Initiative and the Initiative for the Construction and Development of Municipal Buildings and Facilities. The Ministry completed the Humanizing Cities Initiative, which contributed to improving the urban landscape in Saudi cities and increasing visual appeal as a strategic goal of the Quality of Life Program. The Initiative for the Construction and Development of Public Buildings and Facilities was also completed to improve the quality of services provided in Saudi cities and to cover infrastructure projects and maintenance.

The Ministry adopted 8 programs to implement its strategy within the framework of achieving the Vision’s objectives, most notably the Spatial Planning Program, the Urban Landscape Improvement Program, and the Urban Infrastructure Development Program. It also worked on implementing 37 initiatives that serve the Vision’s achievement programs, including the Quality of Life Program. The Ministry’s initiatives have contributed to humanizing cities and improving the urban landscape by increasing the per capita share of green spaces to reach 5.5 meters per person, which amounted to more than 212 million square meters during 2021, which contributes to developing and enriching the quality of life and making cities more friendly to citizens and residents.

During the past year, the Ministry completed 217 public parks, bringing the total number by the end of 2021 to 6,303 public parks with a total area of 140.4 million m2 and a growth rate of 3.6%. 50 municipal squares were also established, bringing the total number of squares to 1,836 with a total area of 14.7 million m2 and a growth rate of 2.8%. In addition, 254 municipal playgrounds for children and adults were established, bringing the total number of playgrounds to 5,043 municipal playgrounds with a growth rate of 5.3%. Regarding public parking lots, 113 lots were completed, bringing the number of lots designated for public parking to 4,046 with a growth rate of 2.9%.

Cultural centers witnessed the completion of 15 cultural centers distributed across all regions of the Kingdom, bringing the number of cultural centers by the end of 2021 to 252 cultural centers, with a growth rate of 6.3%. Also, 25 celebration squares were completed, bringing the number of celebration squares to 593 public squares by the end of last year, with a growth rate of 4.4%.

In terms of afforestation and attention to increasing green spaces, the number of trees planted until the end of 2021 amounted to more than 23.46 million trees, including 2.3 million trees planted during 2021, with a growth rate of 11.2%. Meanwhile, the area of green spaces until the end of 2021 amounted to more than 212.47 million m2, including more than 17.5 million m2 completed during 2021, with a growth rate of 14.3%. The Ministry was keen to raise the level of representation in the Saudi Green Program, as a number of initiatives were proposed and linked to the Saudi Green Initiative, including (humanizing cities, afforestation through building permits, volunteer campaigns and community participation, afforestation through commercial licenses, exemption from violations in exchange for afforestation, afforestation through land fencing, and partnership with non-profit associations for afforestation), with monitoring the change in vegetation cover using aerial photography and geographic information systems.

During 2021, the Ministry prepared 25 celebration squares, bringing the total number to 593 celebration squares. The Ministry allocated public toilets spread across cities and neighborhoods, with the number reaching more than 3,400 toilets by the end of 2021, including 153 public toilets completed during 2021, representing a growth rate of 4.7%.

The Ministry also completed a number of studies and research in the fields of urban planning, including a study of international standards for per capita share of green spaces, to support and assist the Riyadh Green Initiative and with the aim of increasing per capita share of green spaces and increasing the green agricultural area in the Kingdom.

 

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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia