Al-Malazz (Arabic: حي الملز, romanized: ḥaī al-Malaz), formerly al-Riyadh al-Jadidah (lit. The New Riyadh)^[1] and the Red Sea neighborhood,^[2] is a commercial and residential neighborhood and the seat of the sub-municipality of its namesake, al-Malaz, in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Named after the al-Malaz Square (now King Abdullah Park), it was built between 1954 and 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz as a housing project for government employees and was later developed into a full-fledged district. The neighborhood has a large presence of overseas Syrian community alongside native Saudi nationals.^[3]

Quick Facts حي الملز, Country ...

Al-Malazz حي الملز
Neighbourhood
Al-Malazz, 2023
Al-Malazz Show map of Saudi Arabia Al-Malazz Show map of Asia
Coordinates: 24°39′53″N 46°44′7″E
Country	Saudi Arabia
City	Riyadh
Established	1954
Founded by	Saud bin Abdulaziz
Named for	Al-Malaz Square
Government
• Body	Baladiyah Al Malaz
Language
• Official	Arabic

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It is the very first modern locality in the city, alongside the al-Nassiriyah district, which replaced the vernacular Najdi architecture with a modern one.^[4] The area is also popular for hosting several iconic landmarks, supermarkets, streets and government ministries.^[5]

Prior to its development and during the early days of Saudi Arabia's establishment, the area had several names such as Abu Makhruq, Wattah^[6][7] and al-Khirbat. The area barely had buildings or streets except an equestrian field, known as al-Malaz Square, where King Abdulaziz ibn Saud enjoyed horse racing shows and from where the locality adopted the name Al Malaz by the end of his reign,^[8] which was later shifted to Jenadriyah Farm in 2002.^[9] After the ascension of King Saud bin Abdulaziz to the throne in 1953, he initiated the relocation of government ministries from Jeddah to Riyadh.^[10] In order to meet the accommodation needs of the employees, he launched the 'Al-Malaz Housing Project' of almost 750 villas for the same. According to scholar Faisal al-Mubarak, Al-Malaz was a large-scale housing development encompassing 754 single-family homes, 340 apartment units, and a plethora of supporting facilities including a municipal hall, a library, a fire station, schools, a market, and recreation and health facilities.^[11]

The Al Malaz suburb stood as an antithesis to the traditional mud communities surrounding the walled town.

— Faisal al-Mubarak

In 1957, the first campus of Riyadh University was established in the area, followed by Riyadh Zoo.^[10] The neighbourhood saw rapid development and expansion during the economic boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s,^[12] which later included several shopping centres, schools and restaurants.