The Quality of Life Program continues to contribute to improving the urban landscape and raising the quality of services provided in Saudi cities through the many initiatives implemented by the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing and other relevant executive authorities, all of which work to study and develop urban planning and raise the quality of services in public facilities. The ministry, through the Quality of Life Program initiative entailing projects aiming to humanize cities, increased the per capita rate of public squares and places, in some municipalities by 6.16 square meters per capita, exceeding the planned target of 4.65 m2 per capita. It also increased the green cover in cities, including through 8,328 gardens and parks that cover 161.5 million square meters. The total number of playgrounds reached 5,515. More than 24 million trees were planted and 222.9 million square meters of green spaces were developed. There are also 257 cultural centers, 4,449 parking spaces, and 649 festive square s. The Bahja Project was launched in several municipalities to transform unused spaces into active urban areas, to create parks in cities and residential areas, to improve the quality of life and well-being of residents. The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing, in collaboration with the Quality of Life Program, launched the Green Suburbs Project, which aims to plant over 1.2 million trees in more than 50 housing projects in various regions of the Kingdom. Significant strides have been made in improving urban areas through innovative projects in urban design. The road network was extended by about 2,500 kilometers, over 146,000 new lighting poles were installed, and seven new bridges were constructed, bringing the total to 505. One more tunnel was built, bringing the total in the country to 155, and six pedestrian bridges have been finished, bringing the total to 303. The digital transformation initiative introduced in the municipal sector offers new digital services, such as the interactive munic ipal advisor platform for commercial licensing information, and the unified Asas system for government resource planning. The number of commercial licenses has grown; in 2023, the number of new or renewed licenses reached 696,457; a 35.7% increase in new, and a 50% increase in renewed licenses. The Ministry of Municipalities and Housing has also demonstrated its commitment to digital transformation, achieving an 88.64% score in the government digital transformation assessment. The ministry's Sakani Metaverse platform and Balady app have garnered international recognition, winning the Middle East Excellence Award for Technology and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Excellence Award. Furthermore, the ministry has acquired six other awards, including one gold, at the first Saudi Customer Experience Awards, demonstrating its dedication to improving customer experience in the municipal and housing sectors. User satisfaction with digital platforms has reached an impressive 86%, and compla ints have been reduced to a mere 0.9% of the total 8.5 million requests. In 2023, the initiative to develop the municipal real estate investment sector, which aims to encourage private sector investment, facilitate investor procedures, increase the return on municipal assets, and optimize resource use, achieved many accomplishments: the launch of 30 strategic investment services through the Furas platform, the signing of over 5,700 contracts by various municipalities and entities, the empowerment of 12 entities to present and manage their investment and real estate opportunities, and the hosting of the Municipal Investment Forum (Furas), which was attended by 67 entities, and during which significant investment opportunities were unveiled and agreements worth more than SAR12 billion were signed. Furthermore, the number of government agencies registered on the Furas platform has reached 303, and the number of projects that obtained the Ajwad certificate last year reached 15. The number of licensed collec tive dwellings increased to 7,466, and the licensed housing capacity grew to 1,140,321 beds. Based on the strategic goal of the program to improve the living conditions of guest workers, the initiative to regulate the foreign labor housing sector, implemented by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, has achieved numerous milestones throughout the Kingdom. Among these achievements are the mechanisms for collaboration between relevant government entities in regulating the sector, and the privatization of the labor housing licensing service through engineering offices. As part of the initiative to develop services for guest workers to the highest levels of satisfaction, and to improve their living conditions, a comprehensive service guide was issued to inform foreign workers of their rights, duties, regulations, and laws. Also, a beneficiary satisfaction assessment has been activated in all government entities. The "voice of the beneficiaries" service was also launched to enable guest wor kers to share their opinions and instantly give their feedback on the quality of services provided. Moreover, the beneficiary care center was equipped with video and audio recording features to enhance the quality of service and transparency, addressing challenges at the center. Source: Saudi Press Agency