1.2 ouTlines and issues of Global urban models

1.2 Outlines and issues of global urban models

GCC Cities – The Arabian Peninsula often referred to as the GCC, an abbreviation for the Gulf Cooperation Council, was formed in 1981 as a loose political and economic alliance between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), (Fraser, Golzari, 2012). Numerous kinds of literature can be found on the formation of this council, its shared historical geography, cultural and religious mores, governance structures, rapid urbanization, large migrant worker population and vast revenues generated from oil and gas. Mohammed Al Fahim, 1995, in his book “From rags to riches” accounts for the major transformation of the Persian land that he has witnessed while growing up in the ruler’s palace.

A more responsive treatment of architectural and urban development in the Persian Gulf, also focusing on the recordbreaking towers, shopping malls, man-made islands, airports, and seaports can, however, be found in books edited by Ibrahim Jaidah or Yasser Elsheshtawy, or by some western expatriates in the Gulf region, such edited book by George Katodrytis on Dubai’s architecture, or in various essays by his colleague at the American University of Sharjah, (Katodrytis and Mitchell, 2008)

Dubai’s Urbanism and master plans - Low urbanization period - An important contribution to Dubai’s urbanization planning is by John Harris, who designed Dubai’s first masterplan in 1960 focusing on compact development, new road systems for the city, identifying city centre area and several different land-uses of the new urbanization expansion. The next ambitious Master plan by John Harris in 1971 focused on a period of suburban growth while the discovery of oil reserves was strengthening the financial status of the city.

Dubai Municipality formation - Urban globalization period, since early 1990, the political authorities of Dubai under the framework of Dubai Municipality were responsible for the spatial planning and strategies to guide the urban development of Dubai. It focused on the expansion of areas by providing more lands to meet the future demands for residential, industrial, and commercial uses, expanding the transport network and infrastructure facilities to the suburban areas.

Some of the books that helped us develop our thesis research

According to its proponents, Dubai’s Urban Masterplan 2020 focused on a flexible, sustainable, competitive approach to land use and transport, protecting key economic assets; being flexible and responsive to environmental challenges, and co-socioeconomic transformations.

Dubai’s Urban Masterplan 2040 – Under Dubai Municipality’s administration the 2040 Urban Master Plan maps out a comprehensive plan for sustainable urban development in Dubai. It focuses on enhancing people’s happiness and quality of life and reinforcing Dubai as a global destination for citizens, residents, and visitors over the next 20 years.

Dubai’s neighbourhoods: As mentioned by Khaled Alawadi in his research papers, Dubai’s government policies, cultural norms and market forces have created neighbourhoods characterized by ethnic and socio-economic enclaves and segregation. While the native’s housing needs are accommodated by government subsidies, the expatriates’ housing needs are managed by the private sector. Native-born citizens have their subsidized neighbourhoods segregated from migrant groups.

Urban redevelopment in Dubai’s oldest neighbourhoods: A study by Alawadi (2014) demonstrates a paradigm shift in Dubai’s approach to planning: while the vast majority of pre-2008 development was on the optimization of vacant lands and the reclamation of Gulf water, Al-Satwa, a central Dubai neighbourhood, is Dubai’s first attempt to raze traditional and publicly occupied urban neighbourhoods. Al Satwa lies contiguous to the new downtown area.

The urban structure of Al-Satwa is composed of three fabrics: a retail and residential corridor, areas to the east, areas to the west of this corridor. A huge tract of this land was razed off in 2008 to redevelop into a modern urban parcel that blends with the fabric of Dubai’s downtown/makes way for privatized monumental towers and artificial water bodies. As Alawadi claims, this had a fundamental change in the beliefs and thoughts that frame a community sense among its occupants.

According to Elsheshtawy (2011), Al Satwa evokes a poignant sense of realness and humanity. Undoubtedly, Al-Satwa is a humble and vibrant district that holds many stories, communal memories, and significant cultural inheritance. Khaled Alawadi (2014) observed and documented the transformation as well as the condition of AlSatwa over nine years through in-depth fieldwork.

Literature on Dubai Downtown, City Walk and Boxpark is scarce as these are very recent developments. Our research analysis on the topic has employed some journalistic work done by several new agencies reporting about the progressions and various phases in its development. Regarding the planning and architecture, documents by Architect and scholars like Yasser Elsheshtawy, Khaled Alawadi have published several documents analyzing these areas before development. Most of the data were obtained by our analysis, site visit and comparisons with the downtowns of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Public spaces and walkability: Buildings, open spaces, streets and paths are significant urban elements in an urban district. The legibility and connectivity of these elements support the livability and accessibility of the user groups. In addition to simply accommodating pedestrian movement, sidewalks and streets are recognized as the most prominent public spaces found in a city. The rapid economic growth made citizens all around the world more dependent on private cars resulting in difficulties and an unsafe environment for walking.

In Arabian traditional cities, three main pillars form the basis of urban life, namely, religion (mosque), trade (bazaar) and family (house). The beliefs in Islam and the theories that evolved out of urban planning helped public space play an important role in creating walkable neighbourhoods. The public spaces were pleasurable to inhabit and practical enough to use for day-to-day life. Therefore, public spaces greatly contributed to an increased level of walkability and promoted a sense of identity in these cities. The number of public spaces in a neighbourhood, the level of their accessibility and the quality of public space were the main factors

in encouraging people to walk from their homes to the urban areas or neighbourhood centres. In the past, public spaces were mainly used for market purposes and social, religious or political events. These spaces were also known as the main place for communicating and interacting with other urban dwellers and trading and were regarded as the heart of the community. Today, these functions somehow have been replaced by privatized public realms designed and developed by certain agencies who do not often consider the neighbourhood’s unique contextual features.