Prince tells Saudis to ditch the car
Sunday, 26 Mar 2006 08:57
Prince tells Saudis to ditch the car
The Prince of Wales has delivered a speech in Saudi Arabia calling on drivers in the kingdom to consider giving up the car.
The heir to the throne also called for more religious tolerance after he received an award in Riyadh for his lifetime commitment to architectural heritage.
Charles called on his audience to examine "the predominance of the car" in Saudi, the world's greatest oil producer.
"What I've been trying to do for 20 years is just gently place the pedestrian at the centre of the design process rather than the car to automatically create more liveable communities," he said.
The Prince also spoke about the need for countries to retain their own identity.
"What I find so deeply depressing frankly when going around the world is you might as well be in the same place," he said.
"I want to go knowing I am in Saudi Arabia or Egypt or England."
Earlier, the prince delivered an historic speech at Saudi Arabia's most senior Islamic University.
He is the first Westerner to address the Imam Muhammad bin Saud University.
Charles is with his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, on an official tour of the Middle East.
