Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has ordered the demolition of homes and flattening of hills to prepare the way for a €7.6bn facelift at the city of Mecca.

Six huge development projects have been planned for the Islamic city, including the construction of hotels, apartments and shopping malls to cater for the pilgrim market.

Changes will include redevelopment at the courtyards of the Grand Mosque, which currently accommodate at least 100,000 worshippers at any one time.

Demolition and construction workers have begun to level hills to develop a 230,000-square-metre area for schemes that will include a mix of high-rise apartments and air conditioned prayer facilities for up to 120,000 worshippers.

To date the programme of works has resulted in the demolition of 1,000 properties Shamiya area adjacent to the Grand Mosque.

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