The Suburbanization of a Metropolis: Urban Growth Boundary Policy and Residential Suburbanization: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a Case Study

The process of suburbanization of Riyadh, a city of 4.5 million inhabitants, offers a unique situation in which the urban morphology of the city can be examined in light of socio-political and economic conditions. Central government ordinances helped create 'dysfunctional' sprawl by mandating big lots and over wide streets. Fifty percent of the city's urban plan of approximately 1,300 square kilometers represents a pattern of untimely, undeveloped subdivisions. Much of this premature subdivisioning was a result of speculative land deals. The current area of undeveloped subdivided land is approximately 650 square kilometers, which roughly the equivalent to the city's land currently developed..