Saudi Arabia’s cities are changing fast, and so must the way they are planned. For decades, urban planning has focused mainly on land use, infrastructure, and physical design. While this helped manage rapid growth, it often left cities struggling to tackle rapid urbanization, housing affordability, municipal service delivery, and social inequality. Climate impacts, rigid planning systems, and limited technical capacity have made the challenge even greater. 

Vision 2030 marked a turning point for Saudi Arabia’s urban future. By prioritizing sustainable growth, quality of life, and economic diversification, it calls for a dynamic, policy-oriented, and integrated approach to development that enables municipalities to tackle complex urban challenges in the future. 

An integrated planning approach brings together diverse sectors (e.g., infrastructure, environment, economy, and community development) instead of addressing challenges in isolation. It promotes collaboration, data-driven decision-making, and long-term sustainability. By aligning goals across stakeholders and leveraging digital tools, this approach reduces duplication, improves efficiency, and creates more resilient systems that can adapt to future needs.

Supporting this transformation is the Regional, Local Plans, and Urban Codes (RLPUC) Initiative, one of six initiatives under the Spatial Planning Reform and Visual Appeal Program. Led by the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing (MoMaH) in partnership with UNDP and UN-Habitat, the RLPUC Initiative aims to move planning away from static, one-off master plans toward a flexible, integrated approach. It brings multiple sectors and challenges into a single coordinated framework that responds to local needs, prioritizes community-driven solutions, and remains aligned with national development goals.

For this framework to succeed, municipalities need authority and technical expertise to lead. Without strong institutions, cities risk overreliance on external consultants, which weakens accountability, and distances policies from the communities they are meant to serve. Strengthening local capacity is therefore essential to ensure Saudi Arabia’s urban transformation is both ambitious and lasting. 

From Static Masterplans to Dynamic Policy-Framework

One of RLPUC’s key goals is to redefine what a “plan” means. Traditionally, plans have been associated with maps: land-use zones, infrastructure layouts, and spatial blueprints. Modern urban planning goes further: it links national goals to local action through policies, regulations, and governance systems that evolve with cities.  

As part of Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program, Saudi Arabia is building a planning system that bridges national ambitions with regional and local action. Updated instruments such as Regional Plans, Metropolitan Plans, and Local Plans are strengthening coordination across government levels, resulting in greater policy coherence, legal clarity, and practical implementation.

Through RLPUC, development visions are translated into actionable strategies that guide land use, public investment, infrastructure, and environmental protection. By aligning planning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - especially SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities - RLPUC supports the Kingdom’s broader transformation while ensuring urban development responds to community needs. 

Regional and local authorities play a crucial role in integrating SDG principles into their plans, helping reduce inequalities, build climate resilience, promote good governance, and enhance municipal services within communities.

Challenges and Opportunities

The shift to a modern, policy-based planning system faces obstacles. Limited technical capacity at the municipal level hinders the translation of plans into tangible results for communities. Heavy reliance on external consultants has sometimes produced strategies disconnected from local realities, complicating both implementation and adaptation.

Fragmentation across national, regional, and local levels further undermines coordination. In many places, planning is still seen as a final product instead of an ongoing, iterative process. 

Nonetheless, these challenges also present an opportunity to build a new planning culture that is participatory, adaptive, and firmly rooted in strong local institutions.

Laying the Groundwork

Since its launch in early 2025, the RLPUC Initiative has made important progress. Together with MoMaH, UN partners have: 

• Assessed municipalities’ technical planning capacities.
• Developed Best Practice Manuals and Technical Guidelines to standardize planning processes while maintaining coherence and alignment with sectoral and national priorities, such as the UN SDGs, the National Urban Agenda, and the Quality of Life initiative.
• Selected pilot projects that align with regional planning efforts and national urban policies.
• Developed a plan for training programs to build municipal expertise in policy-based planning.

These steps aim to equip municipalities with the tools, knowledge, and governance structures they need to lead their urban development. 

The Road Ahead: From Vision to Practice

In 2025 and 2026, the RLPUC Initiative will move from groundwork to full implementation, embedding new planning approaches into everyday practice across Saudi Arabia’s cities. This includes:

• Building technical capacity through national training programs for Amanas and municipal planners.
• Strengthening governance frameworks within municipalities.
• Ensuring that Regional, Metropolitan, and Local Plans are actionable.
• Expanding opportunities for communities, businesses, and vulnerable groups to engage in shaping urban outcomes. 

If successful, RLPUC will deliver an enhanced planning ecosystem where: 

• Municipalities lead the development and implementation of plans.
• Urban plans function as flexible frameworks that evolve with changing socio-economic and environmental conditions.
• Local communities, authorities, and private sector stakeholders are active partners in shaping outcomes.
• National strategies and local realities are connected through a coherent, integrated planning approach.

The RLPUC Initiative is a tool to enable this transformation, but its success depends on active engagement - from participating in workshops and plan reviews to championing inclusive, people-centered urban policies.

UNDP and UN-Habitat will continue to provide technical guidance, foster cross-sectoral coordination, and align these efforts with global agendas such as the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda. Together, these efforts will ensure that Saudi Arabia's cities are inclusive, adaptive, and future-ready. 

For more information about the RLPUC Initiative, email urban.sa@undp.org.