A New Paradigm in Knowledge-based Urban Development: From Knowledge to Creativity Economy, Qatar Urb

Third Knowledge Cities Summit (KCS) 2010. Melbourne, Australia.

16-19 November 2010.

A New Paradigm in Knowledge-based Urban Development: From Knowledge to Creativity Economy, Qatar Urbanity Transformed.

Ali A. Alraouf * University of Qatar University Address P.O.Box: 2713. Doha, Qatar E-mail: alialraouf@yahoo.com * Corresponding author

Structured Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the knowledge and creative city concepts in depth to relate it to the ongoing process of creating knowledge-based economy developments in major Middle Eastern cities and especially in Doha, Qatar.

Qatar as the paper illustrates is doing so much to capture the world imagination 1. In light of that it is an exemplary case study for examining contemporary Gulf urbanity.

Design/methodology/approach – Doha is considered by many indicators as the most advanced city within the Middle East to adopt knowledge economy as a conceptual base for its 2030 vision. The paper will analyze the shift over the past decade which reveals how numerous cities view creativity as essential vehicle to survive in the globalized world today. It will shed some light on the paradigm shift from knowledge to creativity economy and will illustrate the major principles of creative cities and its urban development. Some case studies from Doha will be analyzed to articulate the future of creative cities in the Arab world.

Originality/value – The necessity of creative cities in the Middle East was not scientifically or even intellectually explored. This paper is an attempt to fill the academic and research gap in implementing the creative city principles within ME context. For the establishment of contemporary creative cities in the Middle East, two integrated conditions are required. The process of constructing Middle Eastern creative cities should be shifted from focusing on creating isolated and separated creativity centers to a process by which a knowledge and creative networks are established and shared by different sectors of the community. Research is also a prerequisite of a creative city. It requires infrastructure of research, an issue which has not been developed in the Middle East.

Hence, an inclusive initiative to prepare the grounds for a major transformation must be translated into strategy. The paper will also argue that creative cities should be perceived as the opportunity for new sustainable growth and prosperity in the global knowledgebased economy. Therefore, the emerging knowledge and cities in the Middle East should be seen within a regional and global knowledge network.

Practical implications – The ultimate goal is to increase the innovation and creative capacity of cities based on a new set of knowledge patterns. The making of a creative city 1

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is a long and complicated process, but for sure it is the path to follow for achieving sustainable urban development. A focus on Doha as an emerging knowledge

and creative city amid the Middle Eastern cities will be construct the core case study to examine the main hypothesis of the paper. The ability to analyze such an example can be of benefit to ongoing process of development in Gulf States. The paper will articulate a solid model to be followed by Gulf cities seeking a transformational change similar to Doha.

A change from recourses and industrial economies to a creative and knowledge economy. A transformation which has been seen as inevitable change for Gulf cities in a rapidly approaching post carbon paradigm.

Keywords – Creativity Economy – Knowledge-Based Urban Development – Creative City– Doha, Qatar - Gulf Urbanity.

Paper type – Academic Research Paper

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Third Knowledge Cities Summit (KCS) 2010. Melbourne, Australia.

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1

Introduction

The 21st century will be the era of cities, and that cities will succeed or fail by their ability to understand that they – even more than countries or provinces – are the locus where the great economic, community and cultural issues will be played out. And there will be cities that can grasp this future and others that can’t. Knowing this makes studying contemporary cities in the Gulf at the core of urban and development studies.

The last 20 years of the 20th century in Gulf urbanity was mainly characterized by a commitment to use oil revenues to allow primitive, small and simple Gulf cities to rapidly transform into modern status. A process of massive transformation of the endless deserts into real estate mega projects coupled with qualitative upgrade of cities’ infrastructure to get them ready for a new modern condition. During the first decade of the 21st century major Gulf cities have emerged as rapid growing knowledge economy localities. Unique for this region is the phenomenon of extremely fast urban development. Observing skylines of cities in the Gulf or tracing their geographical boundaries during the last two decades would prove what different researchers have considered unprecedented momentum of development. More significantly, emerging cities on the Gulf have gained global importance in terms of connectivity with other prominent cities in global knowledge economy networks in a very short timeframe (Schein, 2008).

This paper will examine one the most debatable cities in the Gulf; Doha, Qatar. Oil and gas reserves have made Qatar one of the most rapidly growing economies in the world. Qatar became the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in 2007.

Qatar’s copious supplies of (LNG) allowed its small population of 1.6 million to enjoy being one of the world wealthiest countries and have the globe’s highest per capita income (The Gulf, July 2010. issue 89/Vol. 3. P.24). Oil and gas output are predicted to remain at current level for at least the next 20 years (The Gulf, 2010. P: 64).

Fascinatingly, Qatar is trying hard to diversify its economy and its future vision named Qatar 2030 is forecasting an economy based on knowledge and creativity rather than to be depleted natural carbon resources.

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Research Hypothesis

Emerging knowledge cities in the Gulf, mainly Doha, Manama, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and more recently Riyadh are transforming from their previous status as oil producing economies to Knowledge and creative economy. They are attracting knowledge-based developments and workers from around the globe. For this process to thrive, a different kind of city urbanism is required. The needs of knowledge workers moving to the new cities will change the spatial contents, boundaries and qualities of these cities.

Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) can be an appropriate vehicle towards a new planning paradigm for Gulf cities. More specifically, establishing a creative city implies its ability to affect the spatial properties. New patterns of urban spaces should be articulated. Qatar thrives to transform its recently constructed identity as knowledge to a creative city. Now, it is facing the challenge of making major changes that would form the appropriate environment for creative and knowledge workers.

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Theoretical approaches and Essential Definitions

Three fundamental theoretical approaches with associated definitions will be investigated in this section. Defining the term knowledge economy and its impact on creating a new paradigm of urbanism is articulated. Then I will give a background on the 3

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topic of knowledge-based urban development in the international and then the regional context of Gulf cities. Finally I will relate this new type of urbanism and to constructing urban utopia. As it was stated in the paper’s hypothesis, knowledge and creative city will be seen as a manifestation of an urban utopia based on the principles of knowledge-based urban development.

3.1 Post Globalized World: Cities Connecting the World.

Globalization was made possible with the advent of the digital revolution and has turned the world into a global village; and, in this era of globalization, cities are regarded as arenas of accelerating change. Needless to say, cities themselves should likewise change dramatically. Sassen (1991) once referred to the four major interrelated functions that cities should perform in their attempt at becoming global. In her words, they should become “highly concentrated command points in the organization of the world economy; second, as key locations for finance and for specialized service firms, which have replaced manufacturing as the leading economic sectors; third, as sites of production including production of innovations, in these leading industries; and fourth, as markets for the products and innovations produced” (pp: 3-4). The third function implies the inevitable partial transformation of cities, within its globalization process, into knowledge cities. Castells (1996&1998) has argued that a new type of society is rising in our contemporary cities due to the consequences of the information revolution. Since the late 20th century World cities have struggled to construct its global identities. Castells argued that the global city is not a place, but a process. The relational worlds of non-physical functional inter-locking networks of knowledge-intensive firms is to be conceptualized as ‘spaces of flows’, while the physical side of localized urban nodes of these same interlocking networks are to be considered as ‘spaces of places’. From a sociological point of view, Sassen (2000) has argued that cities in the information age should be re-perceived as nodes of an immense network of cultural, commercial and political transactions.

Giving these points of view, it is obvious that the classical planning process and design guidelines of contemporary cities need a substantial revision. In a world which is best described as a global village with less and less boundaries, Knowledge and its physical representation in the built environment creates a major challenge and invite us to vision and predict the main aspects of the cities of a new millennium.

Sassen (2002) focused on two key issues. First, she looked at how information flows have bound global cities together in networks, creating a global city web whose constituent cities become "global" through the networks they participate in. Second, she investigated emerging global cities in the developing world-Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Beirut, the Dubai-Iran corridor, and Buenos Aires. She showed how these globalizing zones are not only replicating many features of the top tier of global cities, but are also generating new socio-economic patterns as well. In global cities, urban and regional planning has displayed a recent interest in designing policies to attract international investment and encourage economic growth in Knowledge Cities (KCs).

These policies also focused on creating social amenities and communities to attract knowledge workers (Martin 2001; Chen and Choi 2004). The key factors in attracting knowledge workers to KCs are mainly social relationships and quality of life of these cities (Mathur 1999; Leamer and Storper 2001; Robinson 2002; Santagata 2002).

3.2 Global knowledge economy vs. Industrial economy The world has been moving through three distinguished types of economy. First, resources driven economy where the prosperity of a specific country was essentially related to the quantity and quality of resources it has. Second, the industrial economy resulted from the industrial revolution or better known as industrial economy. The ability 4

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of a country to use technology to transform resources into new products which can exported to the rest of the world marked this type. Finally, knowledge economy has emerged as a dynamic process where knowledge and innovative ideas are used as vehicle for development.

Interestingly, Qatar’s economy has experienced the three transformations. It has

been 39 years since the British left Qatar and much has changed during the last four decades. Hydrocarbons have replaced pearls as Qatar’s main source of revenue, bringing previously unimagined wealth to the former British protectorate as White (2010) rightly argued. With a per capita income of $83,000, second in the world, the tribesmen of Qatar are building a new future for their country.

In 2005, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) was established with a vision to reinvesting oil and gas revenues and building a diversified international asset portfolio.

According to financial analysis done by RGE Monitor New York, Qatar has around

$75bn worth of investments outside the country.

3.3 Place, Utopia and Happiness The ideal place for human to live in is right in the core of numerous philosophical and intellectual discourses. Different definitions and interpretations of utopia were provided since the Greek philosophers debate crystallized by Plato’s concept of the “Ideal City”. Utopia is largely based on Plato's Republic (More, 1989). What really constructs a Utopia? Is it a complicated process which needs sophisticated principles to be achieved? Or can it be a very simple yet we are drifted away from this simplicity with the illusion of utopianism is definitely a difficult thing. Thinking about an appropriate answer to these questions, I came to a hypothesis stating that human happiness is the credible condition for constructing an Utopia setting morally or physically. Emerging from this hypothesis was yet another question which I have added to my list of unanswered quarries. Is there a strong relation between people’s happiness and their cities? In other words, if you live in a place which gives you energy, which inspires you, which stimulates you to think and pose questions, would you consider it a Utopia? Are you going to be happy in such a place to the extent that you would describe it as a utopia?

Being familiar with Richard Florida’s valuable research gave me an excellent opportunity to substantiate my ideas. Florida who is famous for his bestseller the Rise of creative class (200), focused primarily on the idea of happiness and place in his extensive research published in his latest book who’s your city (Florida, 2008).

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Knowledge and Creativity as Emerging City Development pillars

As Landry (2000) rightly argued associating creativity with a city is hard to be articulated. Conceiving creativity in individuals is easier than in a city which is, by definition, a complex blend of diverse people, interest groups, institutions, business sectors, social concerns and cultural resources. Landry (2000) investigated why some cities seem to have adjusted to even surfed the wave of change over the last two decades.

Analyzing examples like Barcelona, Sydney, Seattle, Vancouver and Rotterdam, where fundamental social and economic developments were achieved, he concluded that they must have some common principles. Interestingly, Landry stated that successful cities seemed to have in common visionary individuals, creative organizations and a political culture sharing clarity of purpose. “They seemed to follow a determined, not a deterministic path” (Landry, 2000. P: 3). The qualities that these cities have exhibited include open-mindness, and willingness to take risks, a clear focus on long-term aims 5

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with an understanding of strategy; a capacity to work with local distinctiveness and to find a strength in apparent weakness; and a willingness to listen and learn (p: 4). Landry stated that these are some of the characteristics that make people, projects, organizations and ultimately, cities creative.

How can a city differentiate itself? I think the most successful creative city of the 21st century will be much more than sidewalk cappuccinos and film festivals. It will be the creative City, the city government that most imaginatively, efficiently and beautifully provides needed services and infrastructure. That city will be more than just a space in which creativity flourishes; its whole organization and management will be creatively designed (Berridge, 2006). What are the conditions that could give rise to that civic creativity - and how could the principles of creativity evident in the arts and the creative industries be applied to the public management of the city? (Berridge, 2006).When you deconstruct artistic creativity you find four principles: Flexibility – the ability to see things differently and act accordingly.

Innovation – the ability to apply an original solution to a long-standing problem.

Risk-taking – the ability to accept the consequences of failure.

Leadership – the ability of one person to set a direction for the whole.

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Emerging Urbanity in the Middle East: The Evolving New

Centers

The importance of strategic location of regions as well as cities changes over time. Furthermore, cities can gain and lose their significance within the regional and global city networks. This is simply a question of time. Many historical examples are supporting this view. The growing importance of Gulf cities from a strategic geography point of view is evidence. Arab cities in a post-globalized world are characterized by the emergence of new centers. Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus used to be the intellectual, cultural, social, and political centers for the Arab and Islamic world. These cities have structured the models of development to be followed in the Middle East. Even after the Gulf’s oil boom back in the early seventies, they have been able to maintain their leading capabilities. Historically, Cairo exercised strong influence on the whole region of the Arab world. This influence can be traced culturally, politically, socially and architecturally (Mitchell, 2002; Sakr, 1996). However, the city is losing its regional leading role. Cairo' status is a reflection of Egypt struggles to cope with problems caused by massive population growth, urban sprawl, economic failures and growing poverty rates. Due to long conflicts and the complexity of their recent political and economical situations, both Baghdad, and Damascus lost their capability of sustaining their sense of leadership. Hence Cairo is left alone as the only old center struggling to maintain and develop its previous status. Alternatively, in the last two decades new centers in the Arab/Middle Eastern region are emerging. New cities are flourishing within the context of the Gulf. In the last ten years, and at a remarkable pace, cities like Dubai 2, Doha, and Manama emerged as what might be considered the new replacement of the old centers.

They are creating new models of development which are so fresh, prompt and dynamic.

Besides Dubai several other emerging cities on the Arabian Peninsula have developed to highly attractive locations for the knowledge economy in the last decades.

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Doha, Qatar: An Examination of a Gulf Creative City

Historically, Doha, State of Qatar Capital city, was a fishing and pearl diving town. In the present day, the City is home to more than 90% of the country’s 1.6 million inhabitants, the majority of whom are expatriates from other countries seeking better working and living environment3. Strategically, Qatar has been on a $75bn spending spree 6

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to acquire assets across the globe. Yet, the country’s leaders fully acknowledge the importance of development from within. So, while Qatar is spending a fortune on foreign shores, it is not forgetting to invest at homeland 4. As part of this development the face of Doha will change immeasurably over the coming years. So far, Doha is a more successful example in incorporating knowledge within the city. Governments in the Gulf need to develop the “social infrastructure”-educational institutions and environments that foster innovation- on which knowledge economy is based. People must be given a platform from which to innovate5. In this direction, Qatar’s experience can be seen as a very positive example. Both of its mega projects in the knowledge economy paradigm, as will be explained, are creating interactive centers for knowledge production and transfer.

Science and Technology Oasis and Education city are two projects which deserve considerable understanding and analysis.

Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) represents a new driving force in Gulf cities development: KBUD includes services, high tech parks, education, and distinguished by the presence of knowledge workers or global citizens. In this section an examination of KBUD main projects in Doha will be conducted to evaluate the current effort to establish the city as a knowledge creative model within the Gulf and Middle East. Doha developed in an exceptionally short timeframe from a small fishing village to a global city attracting international knowledge economy firms. Until late 1950s, it was a small town with no more than 20.000 inhabitants. The city developed on a reasonable pace throughout the following four decades till the end of 20 th century. Finally, since the beginning of the new millennium, the city is becoming a global hub with more than 1.3 million inhabitants (United Nations, 2009). Doha has gained global significance through the growth of knowledge economy related projects. New city urban development and its spatial qualities contribute to the global attractiveness of Doha for knowledge economy investments, firms and people. These urban developments fulfil the requirements of Knowledge workers coming to the city from literally every spot of the globe anticipating an attractive smooth quality of life which would foster their creativity and innovation.

"The sharing of knowledge, ideas and values is the noblest way to transcend barriers. In this sense, globalization is the architect, which constructs academic bridges across cultural and geographical landscapes."

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned During the last decade, Qatar adopted a new vision in economic development based on a comprehensive understanding of the different consequences of globalization.

This vision which was crystallized in the doctrinal document Qatar Vision 2030 is structured around huge investments in education, science, and research. In other words, knowledge economy was explicitly declared as the selected economic platform for the country’s future. To pave the way for this process to be implemented, a previous effort was made. In 1995, Sh. Hamad authorized the establishment of Qatar Foundation (QF) as a non-profit organization headed by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser AlMissned.

While Doha’s position is radically different from cities like Manama and Dubai when it comes to oil and Gas reserves yet, Qatar leaders were convinced that post oil paradigm is becoming a reality. Hence, moving from industrial economy to knowledge economy is a global and inevitable transformation which requires understanding and better engagement. Qatar Foundation is a comprehensive and dynamic knowledge structure which includes all level of educational services from basic to university education. More importantly, QF accommodates creativity and innovation forums, leadership academy, sports academy, research centers, intellectual debates and state of the 7

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art conference facilities. For the sake of this paper, I will focus on some specific projects from within Qatar foundations. These projects are education city and science and technology oasis. I will use the two projects with other projects from outside QF to evaluate Qatar’s effort to construct its identity as a knowledge and creative city within the Gulf’s emerging urbanism.

"The sharing of knowledge, ideas and values is the noblest way to transcend barriers. In this sense, globalization is the architect, which constructs academic bridges across cultural and geographical landscapes."

Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned 6.1 Education City, Qatar Qatar Foundation is headquartered in a unique Education City, a 2,500-acre campus on the outskirts of Doha which hosts branch campuses of some of the world's leading universities, as well as numerous other educational and research institutions. Supported by abundant residential and recreational facilities, Education City is envisioned as a community of institutions that serve the whole citizen, from early childhood education to post-graduate study. Moreover, Education City is envisioned as a hub for the generation of new knowledge; a place that provides researchers with world-class facilities, a pool of well-trained graduates, the chance to collaborate with likeminded people and the opportunity to transfer ideas into real-world applications. The pace of development in the city is so remarkable. A tangible growth in the facilities at Education City is accelerating.

Year 2005 witnessed the establishment of student and staff housing, along with a ceremonial court for holding graduation ceremonies and other official functions.

Texas A&M University at Qatar will be ready to occupy its purpose-built facility, designed by the Mexican architects Legorreta & Legorreta. And Qatar Foundation staff will be working in a new headquarters building.

During year 2007, a central library, a student center, a club for staff and faculty and a ceremonial entrance were opened. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar teaching classes and conducting research in its new building, also designed by Legorreta & Legorreta. Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service have its own building, too.

Further down the road, Education City will welcome a 350-bed, all-digital Specialty Teaching Hospital -- a world-class facility offering general care and specializing in women's and children's health. A golf course and other sports facilities will further enhance Education City's recreational amenities.

At Education City, Qatar Foundation supports elite educational institutions offering a full range of programs, from early childhood education to postgraduate studies, all of which are committed to preparing students to take leadership roles in an increasingly global society. Qatar Foundation understands that the future of Qatar and the region depends on well educated citizens, actively engaged in the international marketplace of ideas, creating and finding uses for new knowledge. At Qatar Foundation, we believe that today's investments in education will make Qatar a hub of innovative education and cutting-edge research, ensuring Qatar's prosperity far into the future.

Some interesting points emerged from the evaluation of Education City which can be highlighted in the following: All the selected universities are not only among the world best in their specific domain and they weave together a kind of global university. More importantly, the philosophy of the universities’ presence at EC is based on having a real campus not just an affiliation or agreement with the mother university. This affect positively the educational and research level, admission criteria, quality of education, success requirements and the overall academic environment. According to Ministries of education 8

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in The GCC countries, an invasion of second and third commercial educational institutions to Gulf cities damage the credibility of international education.

Research activities and publications are essential parts of university education and therefore all faculty members are encouraged to be engaged in international level research which can add qualitative knowledge and can be considered a contribution to the different fields’ body of research. Education city as part of QF allow faculty members and resident researchers to get generous funds for their research on the condition that local and young researchers will be fully engaged in any of the funded projects. This will help in creating innovative and creative research environment with a tangible contribution from local young and ambitious researchers. Getting good people to work together following the lead of a bold individual is crucial. Yet without engaging the locals and prepare them for being positive contributors in their country’s future, any development strategy would fail. Therefore, an important condition is to get the best people, because people are everything. In addition to the necessity of moving young people into power early. Flexibility, innovation, risk, leadership all together will lead to urban creativity and hence, a creative city.

Unlike a lot of new building in Gulf cities, Education City’s buildings deserve praise and commend. The architectural and urban language of the city’s different universities is a creative language which was written by a selected group of internationally known architects and planners. All of them succeeded in creating a very stimulating environment which encourages creativity and innovation and invite the users and the visitors alike to ask question and be engaged in an interesting culture of curiosity.

More importantly, all Education City buildings provide important lessons and case studies in the concepts of sustainability, green architecture, local culture respect and harmony with local community without compromising the aesthetics or ignoring the contemporary time.

6.2 Qatar’s Science and Technology Oasis The objectives of “turning Doha into a vibrant science and technology hub” and “attracting and retaining highly skilled employees” are outlined in the Qatar Strategic Plan 2030.

Dynamic and still expanding, the Qatar Foundation's Education City is set to become a self-contained community in an environment designed to the highest standards an extraordinary place in which to live and work, a kind of intellectual polis for the twenty-first century. The third master plan for the City, unveiled in early 2004, envisages major new developments with completion targeted for 2009. It has grown from the original 500,000 square meters to some 10 million square meters (2,500 acres) according to current plans. Allowing for expansion of the Science and Technology Park, this could well increase in the future. By the end of 2007, the first phase of Qatar Science and Technology Park will be open for business and populated with tenants. A massive, stateof-the-art convention center -- another signature piece of architecture by Arata Isozaki -will be nearing completion. A shopping center at the north end of Education City will serve the growing number of students, staff and faculty living on site. The new Science and Technology Park provides facilities for commercial giants such as ExxonMobil and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS), and is the latest stage of the development.

QSTO was established with the intension that it will provide the ideal environment to develop and market hi tech intensive innovations and products.

Provideoing services and locations with international standards for global companies to incubate new technological projects. The fact that QSTO is allocated within cclose proximity with education city’s top universities is adding positive elements particularly when it comes to research collaboration, innovation and creativity. In September 5 th 2006, 9

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a special fund called Proof of concept was launched to provide grants for researchers who decide to reside in Qatar to conduct their research. In addition, two investment funds were established to emphasize the new initiatives towards knowledge economy. New enterprise Fund and Technology Venture Fund with a total of 130 million US $ considered as a qualitative shift in Qatar economy paving the road to Doha to act as one of the favorite destinations for emerging knowledge intensive development projects and investments6.

QSTO is supposed to play a pivotal role on an international level to incubate innovation and creativity in scientific research and provide facilities and initiatives to transform it into applied projects to be implemented locally, regionally and internationally. It is expected that QSTO will form a creative and innovation center for global researchers and will be the right platform for researches planned by multi-international companies. It will work on expanding Qatar economy to the knowledge arena by providing endless opportunities in Knowledge and creative development. Therefore, the decision was made to consider the whole zone as the prim free trade area in Qatar.

6.3 Doha: A new arts capital for the Persian Gulf On the night of Nov. 22, some of the brightest stars in the world of art and architecture converged on the grand opening of the Museum of Islamic Art, a ziggurat-like structure of white stone said to be the last cultural building by I.M. Pei, the 91-year-old architect. It was the kind of red-carpet treatment that might have christened the Louvre pyramid in Paris or the Guggenheim in Bilbao. But it took place far off the art-world grid, in a corner of a globe known more for its religious fundamentalism than its embrace of cutting-edge art. And that is precisely the challenge set by the Museum of Islamic Art (www.mia.org.qa), which glistens along the waterfront corniche in Doha, Qatar — an oilrich capital that juts into the Persian Gulf across from Iran. Housing one of the world’s most encyclopedic collections of Islamic art, it is the cornerstone of a monumental effort

by Qatar to transform itself into the arts hub of the Middle East.

Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) which constructs the umbrella underneath MIA and other museums7 are covered has its own cultural development strategy for Qatar. First, QMA is so interested in incorporating all museums of Qatar within the overall cultural vision of the country. Hence, constructing museums would substantiate Qatar’s vision for Doha as an emerging knowledge city amid other Gulf Cities. Second, QMA is planning to have a partnership with educational institutions; locally, regionally and internationally, to enhance the cultural capabilities of children and youth. One of the main pillars of QMA vision is the creation of new learning experiences 8. Museums can be directly connected to lifelong process of learning. In addition, museums can support structured or institutional education in schools by focusing on creating positive experiences for students. Hence, enjoyment and positive memories cherished should come first as Graham (2005) rightly argued.

In the occasion of hosting Global Art Forum (GAF) at MIA premises, Abdulla Al Najjar, CEO of Qatar Museum Authority told his audience that: “The Global Art Forum is the leading platform for cultural debate and discussion in the Middle East focusing on key issues that bring together the art scenes of this region with the rest of the world. Qatar Museums Authority has keenly hosted the Global Art Forum at the Museum of Islamic Art as it closely ties in with our vision as a vehicle for sharing culture and heritage through education and community interaction.”9 10

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The Museum’s education programs are housed in a wing to the east of the MIA main building across a fountain courtyard. The Education Wing includes the Museum library, classrooms, workshops, study spaces, and technical and storage facilities. The MIA education center opened for public in October 2009. It was established as a core component of the museum since the stress on the educational role was highly emphasized from the early stages of design. The center is providing variety of activities, public lectures, interactive workshops all of which geared towards enhancing cultural life and raising local community’s awareness of art and cultural issues.

MIA education center managed to organize an introductory conference where the concept of education within the museum was introduced. The conference title “Partnership in Arts education: The Museum, the School and The community” is suggesting a positive understanding of the new museums role in not only enhancing cultural life but creating a strong bond between main stakeholders 10. Driven by such initiative, MIA invested substantially in building bridges with community members from different age and gender and social categories. More importantly, children were seen as the main focus when it comes to issues related to raising awareness about art and culture.

The typical gap between school and museum where the later was only perceived as one of the typical destinations for school trips needs to be bridged. That was precisely one of the MIA initiatives well declared intentions and goals.

6.4 MIA as a Branding Catalyst for Contemporary Doha The vision of His Highness the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is to mold the State of Qatar into a capital of culture. The royal family’s plan is to make Doha a cultural bridge between the Middle East and the rest of the world. All this activity is testament to the fact that Qatar’s enormous oil and natural gas reserves have provided it with the highest per capita income of any country in the world. It is also a mark of the cultural changes that the Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani has brought about since he took the responsibility in 1995. Central to the Amir’s vision is the recognition that, as plentiful as Qatar’s natural resources may be, their value will one day be significantly diminished by the emergence of sustainable forms of energy production (Woodman, 2008). The country is therefore seeking to diversify its economy and, to that end, is investing vast sums in the development of its human capital. The creation of a world-class set of cultural facilities is a key element of this strategy, and includes the hugely ambitious plan to build 10 completely new museums.

As explained earlier, under the umbrella of Qatar Museums Authority, MIA is the leading project of His Highness’s vision. As stated in the vision, The Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar, is a museum for the world. It will bring the world to Doha, but it will also connect Doha to the world. MIA is dedicated to being the foremost museum of Islamic art in the world, and as well a centre of education and information in the field of the arts of the Islamic world. Through the vision of its leadership and the dedication of its staff, the Museum of Islamic Art will manifest this commitment by establishing, preserving, and documenting a collection that reflects the vitality, the complexity, and the diversity of the arts of the Islamic world.

The well known phenomena called “Bilbao Effect” have created a new benchmark for cultural facilities’ impact on cities. The Museum of art at Bilbao, Spain designed by architect Frank Gehry was envisioned by Bilbao city officials as their only salvation after years of economic crisis. An assumption which was proven to be right after the new museum helped the city to regain its vitality and became one of the top destinations for tourists visiting Spain.

Qatar vision 2030 is suggesting four pillars for a more developed and prosperous Qatar. Human and Cultural development is a core element in this vision. A pillar which constructs a reasonable justification for a tedious effort to promote Qatar and Doha as an 11

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emerging center for culture and knowledge. Cultural facilities are proved to be a viable tool by which cities can be marketed. It can also be seen as a catalyst for development and progress transforming cities from side to side and from rank to rank on progress scale.

Recent statistics published by Qatar museum authority have showed that MIA, Doha was visited by more than 300.000 visitors on its very first year. Speaking of people visiting cultural facilities in Gulf countries, this number is considered extraordinary. The accelerated recognition of MIA is substantiated by hosting international events throughout the first year after its inauguration. The objective of MIA hosting these cultural events is to educate the community and bridge the gap between popular and elitist culture. The first Doha Tribeca film festival (DTFF), one of the most prominent cultural events in the Middle East was among these events which have used the fascinating setting of the Museum to intensify the drama of its opening. A magnificent ceremony was held and attended by over 4000 people enjoying MIA acting as DTFF major venue.

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Conclusion

I shall conclude by affirming that The Doha’s knowledge and creative based projects are not only contributing in sustaining local and ideological identity of Qatar, but more critically it contributes positively to the country’s strategic aspiration to transform Doha into a knowledge and creative city. A quest for identity, in the contemporary moment, implies twofold pursuits. First, it would speak to the locality and relate to the community heritage and roots. The second should respect the global aspirations and each city’s compelling desire to accommodate a place on the global stage and to brand itself as a global city attracting tourists, workers and global citizens.

Knowledge-based urban development should be perceived by Gulf cities as the most appropriate answer for their quest to overpass the oil economy era and moving vigorously towards post-oil one. A large part of the motivation behind the projects is clearly the desire to establish Qatar as both a tourist destination and as an ideal place where knowledge workers might be prepared to relocate. Making global and knowledge workers happy by innovating and creating might be the new definition of 21 st century urban utopia.

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Alraouf, A. 2005 “Knowledge Cities: Examining The Discourse, Smart Villages, Internet Cities or Creativity Engines”. International Symposium on Knowledge Cities. AlMadina Al-Munawara, Saudi Arabia -November 28-30, 2005.

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Third Knowledge Cities Summit (KCS) 2010. Melbourne, Australia.

16-19 November 2010.

Appendix: In this part I will clarify how Qatar is capturing the World’s imagination by doing an excellent balance between Global aspirations and local necessities. My account will cover three main strategies adopted by the country’s leaders to create a new sparkling pearl amid Gulf States. I will argue that observing government effort to boost the tiny Gulf Arab State’s credentials would reveal the integrity of these strategies and its harmonious interaction and overlaps.

1- Extended Global Investment Arm. Qatar changed the classical slogan of different Gulf States known as earn locally, spend globally into earn locally, invest globally. The traditional method of international investment was based on moving oil revenues to foreign bank and stocks. Qatar is paving a new route by focusing on substantial global investment.

Its financial ability -most recently demonstrated by Qatar Holding’s purchase of London department store Harrods-has enabled it to be a generous benefactor.

Qatar investment Authority (QIA) invested $17 billion in projects around the globe since the begining of 2010. There are some reasons for the sucsses story of QIA. First, QIA was fully activiated during the global financial and economical crisis. Seizing opprtunities in a climate of crisis is proved to be a working mechnism in global investment. Oil revenues were smartly used. Oil prices increase to around $80 per barrel is achieving one billion qatari riyal per week for Qatar Budjet which was estimated with an assumption that the oil barrel is around $55. More importantly, QIA is investing in longrange investment and considered a priority in addition to short and medium investment11.

2- Political Credibility: A new Global Mediator.

Qatar tries to build niche as conflict mediator. Using a combination of its financial power and its increasing diplomatic credibility, Doha is winning global respect as an able negotiator. Currently, Qatar is successfully building a reputation of the mediator of choice in regional and international conflicts. Qatar gained political credibility among Arab and foreign states alike. It has endeavoured to cut a unique profile as a diplomatic arbiter and peace broker in recent years, interacting in conflicts from Lebanon to Yemen and most recently, Darfur. Criticism to Qatar for using a large amount of cash in addition to skill and talent is not holding. Other Gulf States also endowed with great wealth and have not done nearly as much. Qatar’s diplomatic triumph is a result of clear vision that Doha is the ideal environment for regional conflict resolutions and constructive negotiations. By not having direct or indirect interest in issues to be resolved, Qatar is seen as an honest broker to a large degree especially with its ability to treat the negotiation sides as equal partners. Qatar has a palpable desire to be a trendsetter at the forefront in all domains, whether it is education, media or diplomacy (Farha, 2010, The Gulf). Therefore, the Amir is expected to continue to give priority to mediation efforts, boosting Qatar’s stranding diplomatic circles.

3- Planning for Post-Carbon Future.

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For a better understanding of Qatar’s global investment strategy beyond its borders see White, Andrew. 2010 How Doha’s Dollars are changing the World. In Arabian Business Vol. 11 issue 28.Pp: 26-34.

2 While oil has historically been the main trading commodity of the region, the UAE recognized that this natural resource would not last indefinitely. A new direction was required. The Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, initiated an economic transformation by launching several ventures to diversify the economy. His initiatives created high-tech, zero-tax business environments for the world's leading companies.

3 According to Arabian Business Editor Damian Reilly Qatar GDP growth this year is forecast at over 16%. Arabian Business Vol. 11 issue 28.P:6 4 According to finance minister Yousuf Hussain Kamal, state-owned companies plan to spend around $100bn on infrastructure projects within the next four years.

5 Today there are an estimated 300,000 native Qataris; a number dwarfed by the ever-growing worldwide workforce residing in Qatar.

6 See Olyan Roberts, Qatar Science and Technology Oasis CEO and Edward Mout, Oxford Capital Partners CEO in Gulf News issue 939 Sept. 2006.

7 Marking the next stage of its program to develop Qatar into a hub of culture and communications for the Gulf region and the world, the Qatar Museums Authority (QMA) revealed its plans for the new National Museum of Qatar, as expressed in a striking and evocative design by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel.

8 www.qma.com.qa accessed on March 14, 2010.

9 www.qma.com.qa accessed on March 25, 2010.

10 http://www.mia.org.qa accessed March 3, 2010.

11 According to QIA reports Qatar holding finalized Harrods department sotre deal on 8/5/2010. At the same day an agreement to buy the famous historical Swiss resort of Bourgnshtok with a value of $300 million was sealed. 0n 16/5/2010 a total of $5 billion was declared as the future investment in Malaysi in energy and realestate sectors. On 25/9/2010, another $5 billion will be invested in Greec in energy and tourism. Qia arm was extended to Russia as it was announced on 6/10/2010 that $500 million will be invested in gold and copper mining. On 22/6/2010, $2.8 billion will gurantee a share in China agricultural bank.

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