Development of the City of Riyadh

King Saud focused on the city of Riyadh because it was far from the coast, it didn't mix with foreign cultures and its inhabitants are conservatives, which made it a region of slow development compared, to Hijaz and Eastern Region.
He tried to promote the (district) of Najd to be at the same level with other regions. In (1953 /1373 H) the late King transferred all ministries from Jeddah to Riyadh and set up great buildings for them. Plans were made for residences at Al-Melaz for functionaries transferred from Hijaz to the region to Riyadh. Since then, a new town organization started in Riyadh which included broad streets. Al-Melaz District became the urban example followed in the organization of new quarters in Riyadh. That was the period of regulating town planning. Thanks to the good planning of the ministries, which could comprise any future addition, we see that they are still the same to this day, with the exception of the Ministry of Interior and Foreign Affairs to which two modern buildings were set up in Riyadh. The functionaries became owners of the buildings devoted to their residence in exchange of SR 60 deducted from their monthly salaries for 30 years. Building works were assigned to Egyptian Contractors and Architect Osman Bin Ahmad Osman and Abu Al-Futuh. He started by making a plan for the city of Riyadh, laying out streets and sidewalks and constructing residential buildings and villas for functionaries sold or rented at cheap prices.
He started the project of Riyadh lighting with 1279 lanterns costing SR 2240000, and built a great number of mosques. He also established there public utilities including a big library, several sports clubs and drinking water projects in several artesian wells dug in Al-Haer valley, which is considered the main source of water in Riyadh. This was followed by the construction of a Laban valley in the middle of the year (1376 H /1956).