Prince Mansour Bin Mit'eb Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, has approved a comprehensive development study on the region of Makkah. Fareed Bin Ibrahim Shira, Acting Deputy Minister for City Planning, said the study looked at the general framework of the five-year plans, strategic urban plans, and the Kingdom's overall rural development. “The regional development study was based on fundamental data collected through secondary data sources and social, economic and urban surveys, as well as surveys from transport, traffic and public services authorities, to form a statistical geographic database on the region,” Shira said. According to Shira, the study analyzed through the database the region's potential for development in natural, social, economic, urban and environmental terms, and looked at fundamental development planning issues. “The study suggested a general framework for development in Makkah over the next 19 years and provided estimations of future population increase and distribution, as well as the distribution of basic services and infrastructure,” he said.
