Stadiums and sporting venues contribute to construction boom in MENA, says IQPC

This sudden wave of capital expenditure can be explained by the desire to position the region as a centre of sporting excellence.

There are many promising individuals, clubs and association who are extremely passionate about sports, however previously there simply haven't been the facilities to cater for their development. The current state of affairs is now changing as the focus is on developing world class athletes.

Intense rivalry between the states in the region, has resulted in enormous investment in building world class iconic sporting developments. For example, Dubai Sports City which is currently under construction contains facilities to host major events in football, cricket, rugby, golf, field hockey, tennis and other sports. It will cost an astonishing $19bn to build. Similarly the Formula One race track in Bahrain cost $150m to construct, plus an additional $150m spent on infrastructure to support the circuit. In 2006 Doha held the Asian Games which was hosted at a cost of $7bn. Following this success Doha went on to bid for the 2016 Olympic games, with an estimated budget of $48us to secure the games. Although unsuccessful, the bid serves to demonstrate the growing desire to host top-level sporting events. The planning and execution of the projects are at the highest levels of political, financial and commercial elites.

Building world-class iconic facilities is a highly complex task, balancing the demands of costs, design, construction and sporting regulation requires the involvement of world class architects and engineers.

IQPC will be hosting Stadium and Venue Design and Development 2009, the regions first event dedicated to tackling the most pressing issues from design through to execution.

The conference will bring together international and regional experts to discuss the present and future implementation, trends and issues for the stadium and venue design and development in the region. It will be held on 18-21 January 2009, at the Shearaton Creek Hotel and Towers, Dubai, UAE.