A number of Middle Eastern projects have been chosen amongst the 100 most innovative and inspiring urban infrastructure projects in the world, it was announced on Tuesday.
The second edition of KPMG’s Infrastructure 100 World Cities report recognizes the infrastructure projects that make great cities, with a particular focus on those projects that are part of a movement to create ‘Cities of the Future’, places where people want to live and do business in.
These projects include social housing, hospitals, universities, waste management facilities and a metro rail system. They come from across the GCC, with projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain all being featured. These projects beat hundreds of submissions to be selected by a regional judging panel.
“The world’s cities, which are home more than half the global population, are facing unprecedented pressure and demand for investment in infrastructure. These inspirational and innovate examples of infrastructure projects are radically changing the urban environment in the Middle East to provide infrastructure that exceeds first class international standards for education, waste management and tourism, and internationally competitive industrial and commercial facilities which have been vital to the advancement and economic growth of these countries,” explained Suhael Ahmed, partner with KPMG Global Infrastructure and Projects Group Middle East.
Saudi Arabia’s Princess Noura Bint AbdulRahman University for Women topped the education infrastructure category, and was acknowledged by KPMG as being amongst the top 10 infrastructure projects across the globe.
The Paris Sarbonnes University Abu Dhabi in the UAE, the Kuwait Metro, Medina Airport in Saudi Arabia, Energy City in Qatar and the Muharraq Wastewater Plant in Bahrain were also amongst the Middle Eastern projects to be ranked in the list.
Projects were sorted into 10 categories, including Urban Mobility, Global Connectivity, Urban Regeneration, Education, Healthcare, Water, New and Extended Cities, Recycling and Waste Management, Urban Energy Infrastructure and Communications Infrastructure.
The Top 10 Projects:
Of the 100 projects identified by the regional judging panels, 10 were selected by a global judging panel as being the most noteworthy within each project category. The 2012 feature projects include:
1. Urban Mobility: East Side Access, New York City, United States of America
2. Global Connectivity: Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Delhi to Mumbai, India
3. Urban Regeneration: Oresund Regional Development, Denmark and Sweden
4. Education: Princess Nora Bint AbdulRahman University for Women, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
5. Healthcare: Royal London Hospital, London, UK
6. Water: Tuas II Desalination Plant, Tuas, Singapore
7. New and Extended Cities: Tianjin Eco City, Tianjin, China
8. Recycling and Waste Management: Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, Singapore
9. Urban Energy Infrastructure: Cidade Inteligente, Búzios, Brazil
10. Communications Infrastructure: BRICS Cable Project, South Africa and Mauritius
Big Projects.com
11 July
