Municipalities and Housing 3.0: A fully integrated ecosystem 
As Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 enters its third phase, covering 2026 to 2030, the municipalities and housing sector is undergoing a qualitative transformation aptly described — without exaggeration — as “Municipalities and Housing 3.0.” This phase transcends service delivery to build an integrated socioeconomic ecosystem: managed by data, funded through partnerships, activated by society and placing human well-being at its core.
The statements made on Monday by Municipalities and Housing Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail during the 32nd government press conference hosted by the Ministry of Media in Riyadh clearly illustrate that the sector has evolved beyond a regulatory entity into a developmental catalyst. It now interconnects the private sector, the nonprofit sector, civil society and the state within a unified ecosystem of enablers.
Al-Hogail affirmed that the directives of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman elevate family stability to a national priority. This commitment was embodied in the crown prince’s generous personal donation of SR1 billion ($270 million) in 2025 to the Developmental Housing Foundation (Sakan), represented by the Jood Eskan crowdfunding platform, to support housing ownership for beneficiaries and the most vulnerable families. This contribution is far more than financial support — it is a strategic developmental message affirming that investing in people is a cornerstone of Vision 2030 and that housing transcends being a real estate product to become a tool for enhancing quality of life and strengthening the Kingdom’s social capital.
The figures cited by Al-Hogail are robust and telling. At least 313 nonprofit organizations within the ecosystem, 345,000 volunteers, 106,000 beneficiaries of housing support, 200,000 cases protected from homelessness and community contributions exceeding SR3.8 billion since 2021. These are not fragmented initiatives but rather a restructured third sector emerging as a complementary developmental arm to the state — aligned with the Vision 2030 target of raising the nonprofit sector’s contribution to gross domestic product to 5 percent.
This sector interconnects the private sector, the nonprofit sector, civil society and the state within a unified ecosystem of enablers
Digital transformation has evolved beyond procedural improvement into a decision-making instrument. This is evidenced by reducing the resolution time for distressed cases from one month to 19 days, shortening the housing ownership journey from 14 days to two, executing more than 150,000 digital transactions in 2025 alone and assessing the needs of 400,000 beneficiaries through integrated national databases. These metrics confirm the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing’s shift toward a data-driven operational model, moving beyond estimation-based approaches.
Launched to serve 100 families, Jood Eskan now serves 50,000, engages 4.5 million donors and has surpassed SR5 billion in contributions. This evolution demonstrates how charitable work, when governed and digitized, transforms into a full-fledged social economy.
This successful model extends to other initiatives, such as the Jood Ikram Al-Mawta (Dignity for the Deceased) platform, which operates through 72 nonprofit organizations and catalogs 2,901 cemeteries and 645 washing facilities within a unified national database — proving the model’s scalability across service domains.
The ecosystem is further strengthened by the governed integration of Jood and Ehsan platforms, with 313 nonprofit organizations verifying beneficiary eligibility. This ensures aid reaches the most vulnerable citizens while embodying transparency and reinforcing trust for both donors and recipients.
Its evolution demonstrates how charitable work, when governed and digitized, transforms into a full-fledged social economy
Al-Hogail’s remarks on the Real Estate Market Balance program reflect a new phase grounded in disciplined, data-driven market management. The program represents a pivotal step toward greater transparency and maturity — a qualitative leap in real estate governance across all regions of the Kingdom. The General Authority for Real Estate will launch key indicators in the first quarter of this year, linking government intervention to clear market metrics such as vacancy rates, rental inflation, rent-to-income ratios and sustainable price inflation.
This move holds particular significance for cities experiencing accelerated economic and demographic growth. The outcome is enhanced market transparency, regulated rental values and empowered investors and tenants alike — signaling Saudi Arabia’s trajectory toward a mature real estate market rivaling global standards in data integrity and governance.
What we are witnessing represents a complete reengineering of the municipalities and housing sector’s role in national development. If Vision 2030’s first phase focused on construction and the second on empowerment, the third is clearly oriented toward institutional sustainability — where initiatives become systems, platforms become infrastructure and partnerships become operational models.
Municipalities and Housing 3.0 rests on three key pillars: allocating 70 percent of municipal assets to the private sector; empowering the nonprofit sector to reach 5 percent of economic contribution; and transforming initiatives into specialized institutions, such as Sakan.
This signifies a fully integrated ecosystem, in which the state regulates, the private sector operates, the nonprofit sector complements and society participates.
Last but not least, communicating achievements through the government press conference is not only an announcement, it is a strategic tool for building public trust, enhancing transparency, stimulating local and international investment, and strengthening community participation. Over time, this has evolved into an institutional tradition — an integral part of modern governance that relies on clarity, data and collaborative partnerships.
• Dr. Abdel-Hameed Nawar is Associate Professor of Economics at Cairo University’s Faculty of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of “Anchoring Private Sector Issues in National Transformation and Saudi Vision 2030,” published by Al-Ahram.
