Expanding the holy city

Expanding the holy city

There are a few things visitors who come to Mecca during Hajj always notice visibly - the grandeur of the Holy Mosque, the diversity of worshippers from around the world, and the string of fast-food restaurants that surround the Grand Mosque. But this year, there has been one more: the sheer amount of construction under way across the city.

Islam’s holiest city is getting a modern look - a facelift worth $130bn. Everywhere I look, a building is being torn down only to be cleared out and replaced with one racing to the heavens. Forty mega-projects are under way. At the core of those projects will be expanding the Grand Mosque itself.

It’s an issue that has created some apprehension across the Muslim world, although almost everyone recognises the need to expand the mosque to accommodate the growing Muslim population around the world. For Muslims, the Grand Mosque is the physical and spiritual centre of their world. Right now it can host about one million people at any given time, but new plans have the mosque’s capacity expanding to accommodate up to five million worshippers.

There have been all kinds of design videos that have been leaked on the internet. Many have drawn criticism for their modern designs. Others have created controversy because they were designed by non-Muslim architects (who would not be allowed to enter Mecca to oversee the project because non-Muslims are not allowed in Islam’s holiest city).

Rest assured, plans and designs for the new grand mosque expansion have not been finalised. The mayor of Mecca told me it would be towards the end of 2010 that Saudi officials make the announcement public. Nonetheless, land adjacent to the Grand Mosque is already being cleared out to make way for its future growth.

Modernising a city and its infrastructure in one swift swoop is a challenge for developers anywhere. But throw in an annual religious ritual that brings in nearly three million people from around the world without disrupting it, and the construction is more than a challenge.

But that’s exactly what Saudi officials plan on doing. Over the next 10 years, they plan to work on all the projects almost simultaneously while carrying out the annual pilgrimage unhindered.

Well, I tried to film a small segment for my report about expansion just after afternoon prayers one day while I was in Mecca, and suddenly I found myself surrounded by thousands of pilgrims.