Hi Guys,

I was just commenting on the Abraj al Bait tower in a thread in this group and someone was pointing out that it is necessary to build this tower because (among other reasons), the city's population is growing rapidly and since it is ringed by mountains, the city doesn't have much more room to expand horizontally. This got me thinking about rapid population expansion in Saudi Arabia in general. I know that Saudi Arabia's population has more than quintupled in the last 48 years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Saudi-Arabia-demography.png), and I imagine that this probably is presenting many challenges to the country, namely a strain on water resources and problems with creating enough jobs for the people.

I was wondering, how do you guys see this playing out? Do you think that Saudi's population can continue to grow so rapidly for an indefinite period of time, without any consideration to such challenges as water supplies, employment?

In Israel we have similar problems (our main sources for water are on the verge of drying up), but I think we can buy ourselves some time since our population is expanding at much more 'manageable' rate and also since our economy is less volatile (and perhaps more robust) than many of those in the GCC countries, employment is not as big of an issue.

I guess my question is this: how does Saudi reconcile the tradition/custom of having large families with the challenges of water supply and lack of employment?

Well, this ever expanding population in Saudi is in fact a problem though
if you have a good look at the projects section I think you will get a fair answer for your question.
For the last couple of years we had BIG BIG problems concerning the level of unemployment in the country with the younger population and even today but today many projects are under way to solve this problem, many big cities are being constructed out of scratch in the middle of the desert and else where.

will i dont have enough time to write more right now but am sure many here will be able to answer you.

pce out

Well, this ever expanding population in Saudi is in fact a problem though
if you have a good look at the projects section I think you will get a fair answer for your question.
For the last couple of years we had BIG BIG problems concerning the level of unemployment in the country with the younger population and even today but today many projects are under way to solve this problem, many big cities are being constructed out of scratch in the middle of the desert and else where.

will i dont have enough time to write more right now but am sure many here will be able to answer you.

pce out

I see your point. But it seems like a "quick fix" to this problem. I mean, if Saudi's population keeps on doubling every 10-25 years, it becomes a rather expensive (and perhaps ineffective) undertaking to build more and more cities to accommodate all of these people. Plus, it doesn't answer the question about water supplies and the strain that having such a large and rapidly growing population puts on limited resources.

It might be a quick fix. We still don't know if these new cities will fix anything or just make things worse. The main aim of these new cities is to offer more jobs, residential units, new industries, etc. Economists are optimistic, but you can't be too sure.

As for the water supply. It is scarce, but we do have large water treatment centers. Here in Jeddah, we used to have dry outs almost every month, but recently the problems has been remedied (not completely, but we've come a long way). I don't really know that much detail, but I imagine the government is doing their best.

The rapidly growing population is starting to slow down though. The newer generations only have an average of 5 kids while previous generations used to have 10-15 kids per house hold.

The newer generations only have an average of 5 kids while previous generations used to have 10-15 kids per house hold.
the average now is 3.89 kids but still to much though, the previous was around 7 not 10-15 unless if you are counting infants mortalities (which is rare nowadays).

Yup! People now are more alert to the fact that they have to consider the future of their children even before conceiving them. Not in the past two-three decades, though. People were breeding like rabbits.

Water supply is of concern now. At least, it's a concern here in Jeddah. The scarcity of constant water supply is at hand and the Ministry's trying to resolve the issue but so far so goof! I think water refineries had a decent capacity back in the day but nowadays, I think it's way beyond the limits. They are trying to fix it but I have no idea how, and nor could I care less (I'm not an expert in this field).

Jobs, also, aren't exactly easy to find. But this problem is caused by two main factors:
1- The rapid increase of population while the job opportunities are marginally increasing.
2- Most of Saudi youngsters (maybe half of them) are ignorant dumba$$es. They want office jobs with comfortable seats. The Saudi public is raising attention to this point and mentalities are in the process of changing.

So, long-term-wise, population is pretty manageable here in Saudi Arabia. But in order to overcome any further futuristic obstacles, our Government should have deeper insight into the future. I think they should anticipate instead of wait and always consider the "Worst-Case-Scenario"!

I've seen so many companies and institutions encourage the seniors to retire in order to make room for the young ones at their career beginning. I've seen that the care for the senior citizens (Retired ones especially) has improved. There's an establishment for retirees backed by the Government. And the Government has offered a yearly increase for retirees salaries and also special discounts for them (This is new! I heard about it from my mom a couple of weeks ago). All of this has been done to encourage the old employees to retire and leave their posts to their young successors.

I wrote too much and I apologize for that. They should have a character-limit or something for people like me! :)

As for fresh water resources, why don't they invest in wind powered water desalination? I'm no expert on water desalination but I think that will make perfect sense for long term water needs.

As for fresh water resources, why don't they invest in wind powered water desalination? I'm no expert on water desalination but I think that will make perfect sense for long term water needs. One of the problems with desalination are the energy requirements. Depeneding on the quality of the water, desalinating a million gallons can consume up to 16,600 kw/h. Adding to this problem is that to make the energy to make this water requires water. With the most efficient technology available a wind farm would be unpractical due to the sheer number of mills needed. However, there is new technology that promises to be 6-700% more efficient. There are some patent issues at the moment but if this technology is implemented there will be a "sea change" in water policy around the world.

And what about solar powered desalination? I mean, most of Saudi Arabia is desert, so the sun shines very well. You could also power pumps or build channels that lead the water to cities that are far away from sea. Then you could start agriculture in a big way. If the productivity of industrial countries in agriculture is reached, Saudi Arabia would have a capacity for a population of 2 billion people.
And btw, the fertility-rate is sinking very fast, official figure from the Government is 3.1 children/woman. It's maybe 3.5 for the Saudi nationals, but that's guessed by me.

Solar power is more expensive than wind, both of which are much more expensive than oil. You would need to make a VERY strong case to justify using solar over fossil fuel in a nation where oil is very cheap. Making the water potable is one challenge but delivery and storage is another story. If stored above ground, evaporation losses would be immense. One promising alternative is to store water below ground. Here in central Texas we face the problem of either having too little water or having too much, so the San Antonio Water System takes water during wet years and stores it underground for later usage. Generally, groundwater is preferable to surface as the quality is better and stable. If conditions allow it, this could be a important part of Saudi Arabia's water future.