Expo depicts lives of Riyadh residents, future of city

A Day in Riyadh, an exposition created by the Arriyadh Development Authority, opened Monday night with a greeting and dinner at the United Nations headquarters in New York, with U.S. officials, influential executives from the development segment and senior international diplomats in attendance.

The exposition is a series of workshops that feature a cutting-edge, interactive digital presentation of Riyadh’s past, present and future. The display also showcases the urban transformation of the Saudi capital and can be seen through the end of the week at the United Nations.

Saudi Ambassador to the United Nations Abdallah Al-Mouallimi first greeted the guests and reaffirmed the kingdom’s pledge to solidity throughout the region. The next speaker, Arriyadh Development Authority President and Riyadh Mayor Ibrahim Alsultan, touched on the development projects that center on renewing the look, feel and improving mobility for the nearly 6.5 million people living in Riyadh.

More than 66 percent of the people living in Riyadh believe that life in the city has bettered over the past five years, according to Master of Ceremony Jim Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute. Zogby also explained that based on his polling data, nine in 10 residents feel Riyadh life will be better in another five years.

Riyadh’s diversity and sacred culture is depicted in a five-minute video at the end of the event, along with ongoing city projects.

More than 500 people from across the globe attended the event, including United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdallah Bin Zayed, Prince Turki al-Faisal and Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The interactive display and series of workshops that make up the event depict the lives of Riyadh residents as well as the promising future of the city.