Jazan Economic City - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Jazan Economic City The Province of Jazan lies in the south west section of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

. It has a population of approximately 1.2 million and covers an area of 40,000 sqkm including some 5,000 villages and cities.

Its major city, Jizan, is home to the Port of Jizan, Saudi Arabia’s third most important port on the Red Sea.

It is situated on the southern Red Sea coast with a coastline of almost 300 km and is very close to the main east and west sea trade routes to Europe, the Far East and Persian Gulf. The Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia’s first protected wildlife area, is home to the endangered Arabian gazelle and, in winter, receives migratory birds from Europe.

Its plains are noted for the production of coffee beans and grain crops, like barley millet and wheat; and fruits, such as apples, bananas, grapes, mangoes, papayas, plums and citrus varieties.

Location

JEC is strategically located in the Province of Jazan, south west of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a population of approximately 1.2 million and covering an area of 40,000 km².
Its major city, Jizan

Jizan

-Ethnography:The inhabitants of Jazan, are made up of Arabs. Islam is the religion of almost the totality of the inhabitants of the city and the province.-External links:*http://www.jazan.gov.sa* *http://krwetatnt.com/vb/...

, is home to the Port of Jizan, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

’s third most important port on the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

.
JEC is situated on the coastline of the Red Sea

Red Sea

, close to the main east and west sea trade routes to Europe, the Far East and the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

. The city’s strategic location provides opportunities for
investment and facilitates transportation of
goods and cargo .

Site connectivity plan

Jazan Economic City will not only be located at the confluence of available raw materials and abundant labour source, but also sit along the main Red Sea shipping route. Facilitating its high connectivity and accessibility will be its proximity to the new International Airport located 60 km south; a new proposed road running east; as well as the future rail connection to Jeddah, situated approximately 600 km northwest.

Site analysis

The proposed site for Jazan Economic City is bounded by the Red Sea waterfront on the west, a new proposed road on the east that leads to Jizan City, and an existing road on the north that leads to the neighbouring Baysh Town 23 km away. Further up north is the nature park reserve - Baysh Park - that provides a contrasting landscape amidst the uniform desert environment. This green park along the coastline is a protected area of importance for the preservation of native wildlife, flora, and fauna. Measuring approximately 12 km x 8 km (excluding proposed land reclamation works over an existing swamp, thus yielding a final site of 103 sqkm), the site is generally level with wind coming in a north-westerly, south-easterly direction.

Masterplan proposal

Jazan Economic City focuses on four areas: Heavy Industries, Secondary Industries, Human Capital and Lifestyle. The proposed city will provide an environment for key industries, technology exchanges, commerce and trade, employment opportunities, education and training, housing and a broad spectrum of socio-economic activities for a projected population of 300,000 people.

Landuse

Commercial, Residential, Community and Industrial components are arranged in graduating concentric circles with the Regional Business Hub – Commercial Business District (CBD) Centre - forming the core of the city.

The commercial component is ringed by residential, community and industrial components respectively in graduating circular

belts.

The Primary industries are situated southwards with an internal utility corridor connecting the proposed road to Jazan city.

The Secondary industries are located between the primary industry and high-tech industry in proximity to the workers housing.

Power plant

The power and desalination plant will be located next to the coastline on the South side, consisting of the main power plant, desalination plant, associated balance-of-plant, electrical substation and fuel oil storage facilities.

Using a steam cycle technology firing on Arabian crude oil, the power plant will be built with sufficient capacity to provide for the power needs of the Economic City with excess capacity to be sold to the grid.

The desalination plant will be able to provide about 500,000 cubic meters per day of potable water to cater to the internal requirements of the Economic City as well as to supply to the distribution network.

Conclusion

Jazan Economic City will be developed with the philosophy of symbiotic development incorporating co-existing uses to the benefit of each of the components and the environment. Industries would be chosen to enhance the relationship rather than be developed in isolation.

The primary anchors of Port, Power and desalination, Oil, Aluminium, Steel and Copper provide strong downstream opportunities with industries as diverse as pharmaceuticals, food processing and high value agritech producers within a growing regional environment.

Jazan Economic City is ideally placed at the mouth of the Red Sea to service markets in Europe, Asia and East Africa as well as to receive raw materials from the surrounding countries that are currently not well served with processing and manufacturing facilities.

Development

Construction has started on Jazan Economic City, with the main developers as follows

MMC Corporation Berhad
MMC Corporation Berhad
MMC is an investment holding company with interests in "Transport & Logistics, Energy & Utilities and Engineering & Construction".In Transport and Logistics, MMC holds equity stakes in the Port of Tanjung Pelepas , and In Energy and Utilities, MMC holds equity stakes in MMC is an investment...
Saudi Binladin Group