Jeddah Tower

Jeddah Tower, or Kingdom Tower is a skyscraper construction project in Jeddah, a major port city on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. When completed, the Kingdom Tower would be the tallest building in the world, a title currently held by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Kingdom Tower is planned to be approximately  high, which is significantly taller than the current Guinness World Record holder, the Burj Khalifa which stands at  tall.

Kingdom Tower is the first stage in the Kingdom City project, a planned suburb of Jeddah intended to become a new city entirely. Plans for Kingdom Tower have been circulating since 2008, when it was originally named the "Mile-High Tower." However, the foundation where the Kingdom Holding Company wanted to build the tower was not stable enough to support a mile-high structure. Instead, the company settled for the kilometer-high title, where on August 2, 2011, Kingdom Holding announced that construction would commence shortly. The idea of Kingdom Tower is credited to the Prince of Saudi Arabia, Al-Waleed bin Talal, who is also the owner of Kingdom Holding Company. As one of the wealthiest men in the world, the Saudi prince is the main contributor to the project.

Issues

However, many people are complaining that the tower is going to be a waste of much needed capital. The government has many problems and issues that require the money of the Saudi Arabian government, such as improving education and providing jobs that will benefit the country as a whole.  As such, there are some that believe the country cannot afford to pursue such a large project.  Many believe that this project is an elitist venture made simply to compete with the already-failed Burj Khalifa, which is known to be almost completely empty.  Saudi Arabians and immigrants alike fear that the project is going to be a failure in stimulating the lagging economy of Saudi Arabia, and will instead add to the debt of the country.

Still, others also believe that the project will benefit the economy of Saudi Arabia, bringing in much needed jobs to help construct the building, and will bring in a large amount of tourism already concentrated within the Hejaz area where Jeddah resides.

References
Harrington, Daisy. "Saudi Arabia to build world's tallest tower, reaching 1 kilometer into the sky." CNN.

Category:Skyscrapers in Asia
Category:Jeddah
Category:Buildings and structures in Saudi Arabia