سيرة الرياض.. متى ستُكتَب كما صنعها «سلمان»

In the year that (Salman bin Abdulaziz) took over the governorship of Riyadh, the jewel (11 Rajab 1373) was born. Her grandfather was one of the builders who constructed the first houses of Riyadh during the reign of the founder, King Abdulaziz, and her father was among the first engineers who participated in the model neighborhoods project in the Al-Malaz district. Her specialization in the history department increased her awareness of her grandfather's stories about the capital in the past, as well as what she observed as a child accompanying her father on his field visits to projects. Recognizing the value of documentation, she recorded her observations in a notebook she named (My Birth with Al-Malaz). One Friday evening, the youngest grandchild (Riyadh) sneaked into her library and was captivated by that notebook. He innocently asked, "Grandma, who came first, you or Al-Malaz?" She smiled and said, "My dear, I was born with its beginnings, and we grew up together."

This story raises a question: If (the jewel) preserved the story of a neighborhood, how do we preserve the story of a city? And how do we document the renaissance of Riyadh during the reign of its prince (Salman)? From this question, the idea of a project came to my mind, which I named (Riyadh Salman); to introduce how the landmarks of a modern capital are formed through the most important stages of its development, and to capture how (Salman) shaped the architectural, administrative, and urban identity of a city that transformed its simple neighborhoods into a developed global capital.

The impact of the project extends to educate generations about the history of their city, revive the oral memory of builders, engineers, and residents, provide an educational platform for schools and universities, and offer its residents and visitors a rare opportunity to see the city being built before their eyes, through the stories of its people, the maps of its development, and the visual materials that showcase the features of transformation as experienced by its inhabitants.

On a global level, the project presents Riyadh as a unique urban model studied as one of the most prominent experiences in the development of modern capitals. It focuses on unifying the efforts of historians, architects, designers, and technicians in narrating the story of a single city with a unified vision, and building a comprehensive and reliable digital reference that enhances national identity and spatial memory for future generations.