Business & Finance Club - Makkah : Saudi Arabia is planning to spend $27bn on transforming the city of Makkah via a model that will be the development for other urban centres in the country.

Business & Finance Club Magazine reported that the Holy Makkah Comprehensive Plan is being drafted by the Commission for the Development of Makkah and the Holy Sites and should be ready “by the beginning of next year”.

Four consulting and planning groups are currently working on the draft. The groups include local entities, such as government bodies that have a direct link to Makkah services, international planning experts and consultative companies.

Although the draft plan is not yet complete, some work is already being carried out.

“One of the important ones is the Fourth Ring Road project that will link the city’s main areas with a surrounding road. On that road, two projects are being executed to connect Makkah’s southern and western areas to the Jeddah highway,” Osama Al Bar, Makkah’s mayor said.

Other current work includes the construction of new municipal buildings and pedestrian bridges.

Makkah will also be the first Saudi city to have a metro system. Construction work on this project is already in progress, and is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2011.