Jeddah will invest SR170 billion ($45 billion) to overhaul infrastructure and transform the Red Sea port city of three million into a trade and tourism hub similar to other Arab cities.  Deputy Mayor for Construction and Projects, Ibrahim Kutubkhanah, explained inadequate infrastructure, pollution, densely populated slum areas, a lack of a city wide sewage system, and water supply shortages have been problems for years.  

Jeddah used to be the diplomatic capital of the world’s largest oil exporter, but over the past few decades has been neglected.    Its population has tripled in 20 years in part because of the many pilgrims who come to nearby Makkah, and then stay illegally.  Kuthubkhanah said there must be a plan and a detailed strategy for dealing with these problems, not a fire fighting approach, and “That’s what we are doing.”