The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strategic vision for the creation of smart cities is not a slogan, but a strategic project that follows a specific plan led by Vision 2030, supported by huge investments and strong political management.
Smart Cities Strategic Vision
The vision of creating smart cities aims to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on oil, as well as the Kingdom's position at the top of the real estate market in the region, and according to official reports, the Kingdom has allocated huge investments to create smart and huge infrastructure projects, estimated at more than 500 billion dollars.
The Neom project is one of the most prominent smart city projects in the Kingdom, which covers an area of about 26,500 square kilometers, and the 170-kilometer-long The Line project, which is designed to be low emission and managed with advanced technologies. According to the “research and markets” report for 2025, the smart cities market in the Kingdom was estimated at $ 6.72 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $ 18.74 billion by 2030.
According to the “research and markets” report for 2025, the smart cities market in the Kingdom was estimated at $ 6.72 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $ 18.74 billion by 2030. According to 6wresearch, the smart cities sector within the Kingdom is expected to grow at a rate of 17.7% from 2023 to 2029, and according to imarc group, the market size by 2033 is expected to reach $29,288.7 million.
Imarc announced that the smart cities market in the Kingdom is estimated at $6.72 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach $18.74 billion by 2030. “IM” announced a smart cities index for 2024, that 5 Saudi cities have been included, namely Riyadh, Makkah, Jeddah, Medina, Khobar, and according to the ranking of cities, Riyadh ranked 25th in the world, and ranked 3rd in the Arab world, and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority report stated that this progress came thanks to the integration of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies.
The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority report stated that this progress came thanks to the integration of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies.
