After World War II Saudi Arabia has experienced spectacular changes. Based on huge oil and gas revenues a particularly rapid growth of population and a spectacular urbanization took place. One of the most booming cities in the desert environment of the arabian peninsula is the Kingdoms capital city of Riyadh. With a built-up area of 3.5 km2 only before 1950 the city's present-day expansion reaches more than 500 km2. During the same period of time the population of Riyadh grew from less than 50,000 in 1945 to more than 1.4 Mio. in 1985. Such an explosive development can be documented best by a satellite image. In this paper the process of urbanization of Riyadh is presented by the interpretation of a MOMS image taken in 1984, documenting the geographic situation, urban structures, and the city's development.