The Wadi (central valley)

A park shaped like a desert watercourse

Instead of a flat lawn, King Salman Park is cut into valleys. Omrania and RIBAJ describe branching valleys inspired by Saudi seasonally dry riverbeds, converging towards the centre and shaded to make cooler, family-friendly places to gather. Gerber's description puts a Central Park inside the Innovation Loop, with wooded areas and deep wadis.

The central valley

The 2019 Arabic launch release lists an "Al-Wadi" zone of 800,000 m² in the middle of the park. Al Madina calls it the valley area, surrounded by art and water features. The Foundation's brochures show a "Wadi Cascade" and tree-covered valleys and finger parks, and give no lengths for any wadi.

Walls that make the hills

In May 2026 the Foundation announced that its mechanically stabilised earth walls were complete: 17 km of walls using 122,500 tonnes of Riyadh stone, shaping wadis, hills and plateaus modelled on Najd.

Earthworks and climate

RIBAJ reports a 30 m height difference between the highest and lowest points, and landforms that block northern sand winds and let cooler southern winds in.

Where it stands

Landscape works are under way and planting restarts this season, but the Wadi has not opened. Individual wadis have no official Arabic names in the sources we read.