Ministry of Housing Infrastructure Program – Saudi Arabia

Developing Residential Solutions

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) established the Ministry of Housing (MOH) to accommodate the massive population growth experienced by the country, and consequently address the huge demand for new homes. Faced with a critical shortage of affordable housing for its population, the Government embarked on an ambitious plan to provide up to 500,000 housing units throughout the Kingdom at a planned cost of roughly 500 billion Saudi Riyals. The ultimate project goal is to provide complete and modern communities for citizens. In 2011 Parsons partnered with the Ministry to develop 17 separate community sites, supporting 92,000 apartments and villas.

Developing A Long-Term Partnership

We have worked closely with the client on this project for over 10 years. Since 2012, we have been providing the following services: data collection, urban master planning, technical design and construction supervision (for infrastructure and landscaping). These sites range in size from 1-10 million square meters, and are spread out across the Kingdom. During the initial phase of the program, we created the necessary program management infrastructure by establishing an Integrated Management System (IMS) comprising policies and procedures, standardized reports, development control guidelines, design technical details, and document templates. Implementing this IMS from day one has enabled the Ministry to manage all its projects in a standardized and professional manner. The communities we have helped create include mosques, medical facilities, schools, police stations, parks, landscaped open spaces, commercial/retail development, electrical substations, and sewage treatment plants to provide complete and modern communities attractive to Saudi citizens.

Services Provided

SAPL undertook data collection, urban master planning, complete technical design, and full construction supervision of all infrastructure and landscaping for our assigned sites, which range in size from roughly 1 million m² to 38 million m² and are spread out from Tabouk in the north to Khamis Mushayt in the south and from Dammam in the east to Jeddah in the west. Below is a list of all services we have provided for this project:

• Data collection
• Master planning
• Detailed design
• Infrastructure design
• Procurement
• Construction supervision
• Engineering
• Institutional strengthening
• Training
• Developers center support
• Geographic Information System (GIS) support
• Technical support

Implementing An Integrated Management System

During the initial phase of the program, SAPL assisted the Ministry with creating the program management infrastructure in the form of an integrated management system of policies and procedures, standardized reports, development control guidelines, design technical details, and document templates that would apply to SAPL projects and to smaller projects developed by others. These tools enable the Ministry to manage all of its projects in a standardized and professional manner.

An Ongoing Partnership

For many of our clients in the Middle East, developing the skills of local people is paramount. In Saudi Arabia, Saudization is a specific policy initiated by the Government to increase employment opportunities for locals. At Parsons, we fully support this initiative. For us it is not just about meeting compliance percentages; it is about demonstrating our long-term commitment to the country and the development of its people. This project required numerous staff to undertake the required services. Employing local staff formed a large part of our recruitment efforts, with over 25% of the team being Saudi nationals.