Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Ambitious plans unveiled to build Saudi Arabia’s own Champs-Elysees in Diriyah

Ambitious plans unveiled to build Saudi Arabia’s own Champs-Elysees in Diriyah

Saudi Arabia is to build its own version of France’s world-famous Champs-Elysees, in historic Diriyah.

The Diriyah Gate Development Authority’s chief executive officer, Jerry Inzerillo, announced plans for the ambitious project during the Saudi-French Strategic Partnership for Designing Sustainable Cities for Tomorrow tour in Riyadh.

He said: “The Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman) wanted to connect the cultural identity and the heritage of Diriyah Gate 1 to the university (King Saud University) in Diriyah Gate 2, thereby connecting the Kingdom’s past and its present with its future.

“That connection point allows us to build a new boulevard and the crown prince is someone who loves France.

“Who doesn’t love the Champs-Elysees? He has been very motivated by it, and he said he would like to have our own Diriyah version of the Champs-Elysees giving honor to the French but not copying them. We have our own culture, we have our own heritage, and we have our own history,” Inzerillo added.

It is envisaged the avenue will include a contemporary art museum, convention center, opera house, and mosques along its route.

The new project was discussed during the second edition of the Saudi-French architecture tour that aims to strengthen cooperation between French architects and some of the major projects taking place in the Kingdom, including the DGDA scheme. The tour directly links French architects to the leaders of major projects, such as Inzerillo.

Diriyah’s own Champs-Elysees Boulevard will fall under the Diriyah Gate 2 project but full details on the scale of the project have yet to be released. According to the authority the project is still in its early stages and has yet to be given an official name.

Inzerillo said: “Diriyah is very special, soon the silhouettes of Al-Saud palace which was the image of the G20 will be known all over the world the same way people take a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

“I assure you a few years from now no one will come to the Kingdom, and no one will come to Riyadh, without taking a picture in front of the palaces of At-Turaif and Diriyah.

“Diriyah’s own Champs-Elysees Boulevard is a future project that draws its structural inspiration from France while paying tribute to the Kingdom’s heritage.

“The height and the width will be similar to Paris’ Champs-Elysees which I believe is 1.9 kilometers.”

Inzerillo highlighted some of the different features that will be a part of the new boulevard.

“The Saudi contemporary art museum will be on that boulevard. That will be our homage to the Louvre (museum in Paris).

“Also on that boulevard will be the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia convention center, opera house, the Grand Mosque in addition to the King Salman mosque.

“We are now 97 percent done with the design of what we call Diriyah Gate 1, and we are very advanced in Diriyah Gate 2 and will be starting the design of Diriyah Gate 3 soon in addition to the 60-kilometer Wadi Safar development.

“We are working on over two-dozen contracts in the cultural and heritage site including archaeology. So, there is a very strong relationship between the Kingdom and France, it has gone from strength to strength, especially in the four years that I have been CEO,” he added.

During the tour, Inzerillo highlighted the DGDA’s ambitions and opportunities for French cooperation.

“The very strong relationship between Saudi and France since the giga projects have only gone from strength to strength.”

He noted that there had been close to $1 billion in agreements signed between the authority and French companies.

Addressing the French architectural delegation, he said: “When the crown prince and I sat down to talk about Diriyah Gate the masterplan was ambitious at 1.5 million square meters of development.

“But the crown prince, when you give him drawings and you show him the master planning, he doesn’t just approve it, he will study it, he will tweak it, he will change it. That original 1.5 million has turned into 14 million square meters of development.

“These bold giga projects are no longer inspirational, they are coming to fruition,” he added.

The tour was coordinated by Business France, a French Embassy agency overseeing the globalization of the French economy to build awareness of the Kingdom’s ambitions in relation to environmental sustainability, innovative technology, and cultural and historical preservation.

Inzerillo said: “Diriyah is the birthplace of the Arabian Peninsula, Diriyah is the birthplace of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Diriyah is the ancestral home of the house of Al-Saud.

“We want to celebrate the unique identity of Saudi Arabia by acknowledging its past but doing it in an authentic way.

“When you look at French architecture and you look at French design and you look at France as one of the great cultural heritage tourism countries in the world you are indeed an inspiration to us.

“We are going through another very large expansion of architectural and design competitions in the next 12 months.

“We will be building 20,000 residents which we will start in the first quarter of 2023,” he added.

Diriyah Gate 1 is centered around culture and heritage and will utilize traditional mud bricks in its construction.

“We are currently making 180 million mud bricks. We just symbolically last week did the mudbrick making for the first 1 million that we finished. We have 179 million more to make,” he said.

Riyadh is set to host the 22nd World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit in Riyadh from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2, where the authority will be making various announcements regarding its projects.

“During that time, not only will we announce all of the new assets for 2023, but we will also show the completion of major aspects of Vision 2030 in 2022,” Inzerillo added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×