Population density pattern and change in the City of Riyadh,Saudi Arabia

This paper examines and assesses changes in the population density pattern in the city of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia where the city has undergone dramatic changes in its physical as well as its social structure. Analysis of data revealed a decline in population density at an exponential rate from the city center with variation between city sectors and zones. The city's rapid horizontal expansion and dispersal of population is the result of factors such as increases in city population and in size and number of single family dwellings, widing of streets, rise in income and residential mobility rates, mass use of automobile, change in family size, zoning regulations, leapfrogging, and huge governmental city development projects. The resulting low population density pattern made it difficult for city officials to provide necessary services and facilities for the dispersed residential development. This paper recommends that city officials make real efforts and workable programs to stop or slow this uneconomical growth by improving quality of life in the central areas to make them residentially desirable by some city residents and reduce the high residential turnover the central area has experienced in last years, and to centralize peripheral growth by planning for self-sufficient satellite communities in outer areas.