Unbalanced Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the city-size distribution of Saudi cities during the period from 1989 until 2010, to examine how the distribution evolved throughout this twenty-year period, and to explore the factors that have influenced the growth of cities in Saudi Arabia. The size distribution was found to be far from the rank-size ideal of a constant product of rank and population. Three major urban areas were found to have a very high percentage of the national total population. Although the national five-year development plans were aiming towards balanced population growth throughout the country, this goal has not been achieved yet due to lack of coordination and comprehensive planning.