Kuwait tenders for work at new city for 280,000 residents

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Kuwait’s housing authority has issued a tender to build and maintain the roads and main infrastructure network for South Sabah Al-Ahmad City, which is slated to home 280,000 people. 

Located 80 kilometres south of the country’s capital, South Sabah Al-Ahmad City will have 10 neighbourhoods clustered around a central business district that architects Foster + Partners says will also feature a sports stadium, university, museum, and a sizeable park. 

The tender from the Public Authority for Housing Welfare also includes building and maintaining rainwater reservoirs in the 61.5-square-kilometre city. 

• Kuwait net zero city planned for 2034

The authority will host a pre-tender meeting on October 16, while the closing date for bids is November 3. 

Foster + Partners predict the city will create 145,000 jobs in diverse industries such as construction, medicine and manufacturing. 

Completion of the city is scheduled for 2040. 

The population of Kuwait was estimated to be around 4.74 million in 2021, according to the data website Statista, and is forecast to grow to 5.23 million in 2027.

To cater to the growing population, South Sabah Al-Ahmad City will join the country’s other major infrastructure project: construction of the world’s largest sustainable community, which is scheduled to start in Kuwait in 2024. 

The new megacity, it is claimed, will provide a net zero carbon lifestyle for 100,000 residents.

Dubai-based URB, the company behind XZERO City, is planning to build 30,000 homes in the 1,600-hectare development in the southern region of Kuwait.

CEO Baharash Bagherian, who has previously masterplanned other sustainable cities in the region, told AGBI Kuwait was chosen as the location partly because the growth in housing demand continues to outpace supply. 

“Coupled with the challenges of climate change and the need for a higher quality of life, Kuwait is a perfect location for such communities,” he said.

He added that the project will create 30,000 green jobs across medical, tourism, technology, educational, retail and entertainment hubs.