HRH Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Mohammed bin Salman Misk Foundation, last month announced the launch of the first non-profit city in the world, which will be built in Riyadh.

The Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Non Profit City will be a model for the development of the non-profit sector globally and an incubator for youth and volunteer groups as well as local and international non-profit institutions.

It will come up on a land dedicated by Prince Mohammed in Irqah neighborhood, adjacent to Wadi Hanifa, on an area of around 3.4 sq km.

The city’s masterplan embodies a human-centered, advanced digital metropolis designed to be sustainable, pedestrian-friendly, and will allocate more than 44 per cent of the total area for green open spaces to promoting sustainable development.

Announcing the project, Prince Mohammed said: “This will be the first non-profit city of its kind which will contribute to achieving the goals of Mohammed bin Salman Misk Foundation in supporting innovation, entrepreneurship and qualifying future leaders by defining non-profit work in its internal operational concept and in terms of opportunities and youth training programmes it will provide.”

“In addition, the project will provide services that contribute to creating an attractive environment for all beneficiaries of the city’s offerings,” he stated.

“Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Non Profit City, which implements the Digital Twin model, will host academies, colleges, ‘Misk Schools’, a conference centre, a science museum, a creative centre offering a space to support the ambitions of innovators in sciences and new generation technology such as AI, IoT and Robotics,” he added.

According to him, the new city will feature an arts academy and arts gallery, performing art theatre, play area, cooking academy and an integrated residential complex.

In addition, it will also host venture capital firms and investors to support and incubate innovative enterprises, he added.

The announcement of Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Non Profit City is led by the goal of creating a vibrant Saudi youth talent system to shape the future of the kingdom and the world, by encouraging learning and developing leadership skills among youth, said the Mohammed bin Salman Misk Foundation.

Details surrounding development phases and progress of the new City will be announced in the coming months, it added.