It will design the transport and utilities backbone for Neom, a region being developed in the northwest of the country on the Red Sea.
Neom, which is being built from the ground up, will include towns and cities, ports and enterprise zones, research centres, sports and entertainment venues, and tourist destinations. It is envisaged as a hub for innovation, where entrepreneurs, business leaders and companies will come to research, incubate and commercialise new technologies.
In addition to design services, Aecom’s scope will also include environmental and geotechnical support.
Bill Price, program director at Aecom, said: “In order to accelerate the delivery of this transformative project, our global team will be using the latest innovations to deliver a 100% digital design. Digital tools will play a vital role in the collaborative approach and stakeholder engagement, with quickly produced visualizations that are built from live design data that is geospatial accurate, enabling and unlocking the power of a data-driven design.”
The delivery team will adopt a data-led process, providing information-rich 3D models and geospatial data. The digital delivery processes will also enable collaboration across global teams and provide them with the tools to efficiently design for construction.
“We are excited to be playing such a pivotal part in delivering one of the world’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects,” said Aecom president Lara Poloni. “As the centrepiece of Saudi Vision 2030, Neom will become one of the world’s leading destinations to attract talent and investment and drive economic change in the Kingdom. Our global multi-disciplinary team of experts will bring together a diverse set of skills to deliver a sustainable project that will connect communities and create thousands of jobs across Saudi Arabia.”
Brett Smythe, chief projects officer of Neom, said: “Neom’s next generation cognitive cities will support its cutting-edge urban environments, improving the lives of residents and businesses far beyond the capabilities of today’s smart cities. It will be a beacon for future living. We are pleased to have one of the world’s leaders in Aecom helping to create the primary and base infrastructure to support our ambitious vision.”
Ian Laski, Aecom Arabia’s president and chief executive, said: “We are delighted to have extended our relationship with Neom, to which we now provide project management consultancy and infrastructure design services across this transformational project,” said “We are fully committed to supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and this agreement is testament to our local presence, global reach and track record of delivering projects that enable economic diversification in the Kingdom.”
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