In the heart of Saudi Arabia’s sprawling Red Sea port city of Jeddah, centuries-old buildings tilt and buckle above the historic district’s narrow alleys, withering away in the absence of decisive action to protect them. The seventh-century historic district, with its mud and coral town houses adorned with ornate wooden balconies, holds the only remnants of the traditional architecture of the Hijaz, as the western Arabian Peninsula is known. But while Jeddah is building the world’s tallest tower as part of a modernisation drive, efforts to preserve its oldest area are faltering.

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