Ali A. Alraouf
The Other Real Doha Notes on the Beauty of Urban Violence Ali A. Alraouf, Ph.D. Prof. of Architecture and Urbanism Head of Development, CB and Research at QNMP Doha, Qatar alialraouf@yahoo.com alialraouf@gmail.com
This short essay lays out a particular way of looking at Doha, the capital of Qatar, one that allows us to see beneath the physical surface of buildings and urban spectacle. By doing so, it opens the gate to considering the ‘shadows’ of a city as a source of inspiration and social justice. Specifically, the essay examines the heart of Doha through narrating the concise stories of developing two neighborhoods. It suggests that those best placed to guide Doha development, may not be architects or planners, but rather those that inhabit it most intensely – its people. Doha’s urbanscape resembles the ‘multiplicity of cultural environments’ found in most cities with highly transnational populations. Hence, it is fair to call for seeing Doha with different eyes. Moving From Doha as we know it; a typical fishermen village to Doha as a city for tomorrow requires great attention to its urban diversity. Initially, I like to reflect on the extended notion of urban violence as a form of spatial politics. I want to illustrate that urban violence can include displacement of people and not only the typical representation of violent practices within the city’ spaces. In approaching the city as a theatre of Ali A. Alraouf
violent acts, different localities might be considered: the street, the square and the neighbourhood. Therefore, the essay sheds light on the symbolic meaning of urban space and the relationship between public violence and the spatial transformation of Doha in the last decade as a result of rapid urbanisation and urban planning.
The two projects that alerted me to the process of losing the real Doha are major contributors in constructing the “Collective Memory of the City”. The two neighbourhoods formed together what used to be the old heart of Doha. Msheireb and Al-Asmakh are two physical entities that where significant chapters of Doha’s urban history. The value of history, seen as collective memory that has a relationship to place, is that it helps us to grasp the significance of a given urban structure. This helps us understand a city’s uniqueness. This individuality is ultimately connected to original artifacts and their stories and thus connected with architecture. In a process which labelled as the historical revitalization of old Doha, The consulting team has decided that the best solution for this revitalization is via the full destruction of the old heart of the city. The project literally eradicated a whole neighbourhood from top to bottom. While destroying every building within the site, a good number of valuable architectural and Ali A. Alraouf
urban heritage was vanished from the surface of the old land erasing chapters of the city’s architecture, urbanism and physical evidences of a unique cultural, social and commercial context. Ironically, only four houses were selected, with the help of the project consulting firm, to be preserved. The process of reservation was also unique as the four buildings were dismantled and the different components were stored in boxes. Later, the consultant decided to reassemble the four buildings but not in their original sites but group together to create what they have labelled it “Heart of Doha Cultural and Historical Quarter� since the four building were redesigned to accommodate a number of galleries, exhibition spaces and art workshops. No statistics have been published yet to indicate how many low paid workers (single or married), small business owners, shop keepers, modest service providers were aggressively deported from the site and pushed towards the harsh desert edges of the city.
Ironically, the same architect who orchestrated the eradication of Heart of Doha is conducting a huge campaign to convince the decision makers in the country about the vitality of persevering the Heritage of Al-Asmakh area, Ali A. Alraouf
another historical neighbourhood only cross the street from Heart of Doha (Msheireb Development). In a good number of talks, presentation and conferences, he claims that Qatar can’t afford to lose its heritage. In a recent lecture as part of an event at Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, he described old areas as “The Jewels of Qatar”. He proposed a different approach to the architectural and urban conservation. A new face left and adaptive reuse of every single building within the neighbourhood will be adopted. While the development approach in Al-Asmakh is radically different from the ruthless destruction of Msheireb area, yet a clear layer of consistency can be traced. In the two cases, Meshierb and Al-Asmakh, displacing the expatriates’ community of workers, shop keepers, destroying small business geared for this humble class of the social diversity residing in Doha. This displacement was perceived as a must to pave the way for a new kind of development which promotes a lifestyle that can’t accommodate the presence of simple, authentic and credible people who are adding momentarily to the prosperity of Qatar.
The juxtaposition of these two cases highlights the complex ways that attitudes towards social diversity, the behavior and strategies of individuals, feelings of affiliation and official discourse and policy all overlap and interact to reproduce social distinctions and urban spaces. The case of Doha Ali A. Alraouf
also shows the importance of considering multiple frameworks for understanding urban social diversity in transnational and global cities. To understand patterns of residential distribution, we need to combine our understanding of policy-making and planning with research into the lived experiences of urban residents.
Acknowledgment This short essay was part of a publication initiated and edited by Dr. Clare Melhuish, UCL. The Pamphlet was published on November 2014.
Ali A. Alraouf
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Prof. of Architecture and Urbanism Head of Development, CB and Research at QNMP Doha, Qatar alialraouf@yahoo.com alialraouf@gmail.com
Alraouf is an architect, urban designer and planner. He was a Visiting Scholar at Center for Environmental Design Research at University of California at Berkeley-USA. Alraouf has held permanent and visiting teaching and research positions at regional and international universities. Alraouf current research interests are: Doha’s urban Model, Knowledge cities and contemporary Gulf cities. He published more than 80 journal refereed papers, critical reviews, essays, in addition to books and book chapters. He is the recipient of number of awards including Best Research Paper in Sharjah International Conference for Urban Planning 2008 and Research Publication Achievement Award from University of Bahrain 2009. Alraouf was selected as member of 2012 Excel campaign at Qatar University.
Ali A. Alraouf
Ali A. Alraouf
Ali A. Alraouf