Al Balad is the historical centre of the modern city of Jeddah, that had fallen into abandonment and disrepair since the advent of the modern era. Following the inscription in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014, the Saudi Ministry of Culture launched in 2018 the Jeddah Historic District programme for its regeneration. Lucio Frigo was involved from the programme inception as Chief Development Officer to help establish a vision, masterplan, governance model, legal structure, development strategy and to support the growth of an in-house team to execute the envisioned Regeneration Plan. He still serves on Design & Development Committee and as Senior Advisor to the management team.
With over 600 historical buildings, 5 major souqs, several historical mosques and monuments, the Regeneration Plan saw the masterplan being developed in unison with an Action Plan comprising of a series of projects that could spearhead the revitalisation of the heritage district and reposition it to the centre of the contemporary city. Among them highlights include a 30,000+ sqm cultural centre comprising of the TeamLab digital art museum and a multi-purpose performance arts venue hosting the Red Sea International Film Festival, several hotels, museums, a major redevelopment of the lagoon coastline, major landscape and restoration works, and new social infrastructure.
