RIYADH -- The developer behind Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Project has begun phase one of its operations breaking ground on the construction of a 1.5 million sq. meter coastal village area which will house workers, staff and management of the mega-city project. The construction of the coastal village is being done in partnership with HUTA Hegerfield and Saudconsult and hss begun with infilling of the land and ground improvement several days ago. “Teams on the site are currently raising the ground level to 3.5m above sea level. Every day, we transfer some 10,000m3 of earth and compact about 7,000m2 of land. The Coastal Village will be home to 14,000 employees from The Red Sea Project community when the first phase of the destination opens and we will provide the highest quality accommodation and a wide range of facilities, whilst meeting our own stringent environmental standards,” according to a press release. The Red Sea Project is a planned megacity on Saud Arabia’s western coast and will cover 28,000 sq. km in total area including 200 km of coastline. The city will welcome its first visitors by the end of 2022 and will be fully completed by 2030. The project is one of Saudi Arabia’s three mega-projects aimed at boosting its tourism sector announced in October 2017, along with the megacity NEOM and Amaala, another resort on the Red Sea.