Projects includes an entertainment park, a sports boulevard, a tree-lined oasis and an arts centre.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Tuesday announced recreational projects in the capital Riyadh worth $23 billion, officials said, in a new drive to transform the congested city.

The four projects - an entertainment park, a sports boulevard, a tree-lined oasis and an arts centre - are the latest in a series of high-profile state investments overseen by the king's 33-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

In a separate report, state media said the king also ordered that one of the capital's main roads be named after the prince.

Construction for the projects, expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs, is set to begin in the second half of 2019, officials said.

Prince Mohammed will head the government committee overseeing the projects, which a government statement said will create opportunities worth $15 billion in private sector investment.

In recent years, the Arab world's largest economy has announced mega projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars in a bid to diversify the oil-reliant economy.

The projects include plans to build the $500 billion NEOM mega city on the northern Red Sea coast.

Agence France-Presse