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King Salman Park

A visionary design for the world’s greenest and largest urban park

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Gillespies was invited to a limited international competition to create the largest urban park in the world. The team managed a group of specialist consultants to deliver a grand landscape-led vision for the most significant public space in the city of Riyadh.

As part of Riyadh’s ambitious public initiative to expand green spaces and elevate the city’s quality of life, King Salman Park is set to reshape the urban landscape.

Spanning 13.4 km² on the former Riyadh airport site, this transformative project aims to create a new green heart for the city, improving the lifestyles of its residents.

Our team of masterplanners and landscape architects led a collaborative effort with a multidisciplinary team of experts to deliver a visionary competition proposal. We crafted an integrated masterplan for King Salman Park, positioning it as the centrepiece of a broader urban regeneration. The design envisioned a dynamic ecological landscape, blending vibrant, liveable districts with walkable streets and expansive green spaces. Key features included cutting-edge mobility solutions, residential communities, and a rich collection of cultural assets, such as museums, botanical research facilities, and observation towers, all contributing to the park’s identity as a sustainable, thriving hub for the city.

Gillespies’ vision was to create a central park that emerged organically from Riyadh, symbolising a flourishing tree that would inspire future generations of residents and visitors to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s natural beauty and rich cultural heritage.

The park was envisioned as the foundation for Riyadh’s new green infrastructure, spreading throughout the city. At its core is a stunning wadi landscape, a symbolic representation of water as the life-giver, catalyzing the transformation of Riyadh and its people.

Radiating from this central wadi, a network of garden spaces responds to the unique character of neighbouring districts and developments within the broader urban masterplan. Linear parks, or ‘branches,’ reach out from these wadis to connect key neighbourhoods, recreational assets, transport hubs, and create a safe, pedestrian-friendly environment. At the tips of these ‘branches’ are clusters of attractions and destinations, or ‘flowers,’ forming a cohesive loop that captures the essence and future vision of King Salman Park.

While we were not ultimately selected for the project, we are proud to have contributed a vision that aligns with Riyadh’s aspirations for a more sustainable, connected, and vibrant city.