“The Evolving Arab City: Tradition, Modernity and Urban Development” is a sequel to Elsheshatwy’s edited book “Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a Globalizing World” published by Routledge (2004). It prolongs the debate initiated by the first book by introducing critical assessments of more contemporary Middle East cities.

1. Architecture in the
Middle East
0690-421
Dr. Yasser Mahgoub

2. Chapter 1: 1. Introduction: The Great Divide: Struggling and
Emerging Cities of the Arab World Pages 1-26
The Evolving Arab City
The Evolving Arab City:
Tradition, Modernity and
Urban Development
Editor - Yasser Elsheshtawy

3. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Table of Contents
1. Introduction: The Great Divide: Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab
World
2. Prologue: The New Arab Metropolis
Part I: The Struggling Arab City
3. Amman: Disguised Genealogy, Recent Urban Restructuring and Neo-liberal
Threats
4. From Regional Node to Backwater and Back to Uncertainty: The
Refashioning of Beirut, 1943–2006
5. Rabat: From Capital to Global Metropolis
Part II: The Emerging Arab City
6. Riyadh: A City of „Institutional‟ Architecture
7. Kuwait: Learning from a Globalized City
8. Manama: The Metamorphosis of a Gulf City
9. Rediscovering the Island: Doha‟s Urbanity from Pearls to Spectacle
10. Cities of Sand and Fog: Abu Dhabi‟s Arrival on the Global Scene

4. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► The book prolongs the debate initiated by the first
book by introducing critical assessments of more
contemporary Middle East cities.

5. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► This new collection reveals the contrasts and
similarities between older, traditional Arab cities
and the newer oil-stimulated cities of the Gulf in
their search for a place in the world order.
Older traditional
Oil

6. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► In addition to the six
cities covered in the
first book - Algiers,
Baghdad, Sana‟a, Tunis,
Cairo and Dubai - the
eight cities which form
the core of the new
book – Rabat, Amman,
Beirut, Kuwait,
Manama, Doha, Abu
Dhabi and Riyadh –
provide a unique insight
into today‟s Middle East
cities.

7. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► In his introductory chapter
titled “The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging
Cities of the Arab World”,
Elsheshtawy states the aim
of the book as to enrich the
study of urbanism and of
globalization process as an
accompaniment to the
earlier book.

8. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► Do Arabs still exist?
 Doom and hopelessness
 Colonialism
 Symbols of Arab identity
► Negative stereotype:
 Arabs not contributing to
science, literature and the
arts.
 Recipients, consumers,
and proponents of
extremist ideologies.

9. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► There is a growing
conservatism sweeping
the Arab world, even in
formerly liberal and
cosmopolitan cities.

10. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► How is this related to
cities?
► Baghdad and Beirut:
Sites of struggle and
contestation
► Dubai and Doha: “New
Arab Metropolis” by
opening up to global
capital adapting
western models forms
and planning models.

11. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► There is a divide in the
region between newly
emerging cities and the
traditional centers.
► Gulfication!
► Dubaization! Emaar Tunis - Cedar village
► New centers are
influencing and shaping
the urban form of
“traditional” cities.

12. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► The Struggle
► Struggle for modernity:
trying to ascertain one‟s
place in the 21st
century.
► Determining the
region‟s direction.

13. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Global City Theory
► Exclusion discussed by:
 John Friedmann
 Gotez Wolff
 Saski Sassen
 Peter Marcuse
► Newtworking:
 Cities are conceived as
lying on a network
 Level of connectivity
Space of flows vs. Space of Places
(Manuel Castells)

14. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Global City Theory
► Saki Sassen
► Impact of
network
infrastructure on
city form.
► Fragmentary
nature of
contemporary
urban structure.

15. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Global City Theory
► Marginalized Cities
► Certain cities are
offered as a model
to which other cities Global City
must aspire to if
they are to emerge
from “off the map”
or otherwise be
marginalized!
Marginalized City

16. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Global City Theory
► “A New Middle East”!

17. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► The structure of the book
► He structures the book
using both geographic
and socio-cultural
markers.
Struggling cities
Emerging Cities

18. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► The structure of the book
► Struggling cities:
► Rabat, Amman and
Beirut are included in
the first group title
”Struggling cities” as
traditional centers
desiring to move away
from the restrictions of
the tradition and to
embrace modernity.

19. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► The structure of the book
► Struggling cities:
► Elsheshtawy points to the theme of the „struggle‟ as
cities are viewed as both recipients of modernity
and at the same time a focal point for Arabic-Islamic
identity.

20. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► The structure of the book
► Emerging Cities:
► Cities from the Arabian
Peninsula: Riyadh,
Manama, Kuwait, Doha
and Abu Dhabi are
included in the second
group titled “Emerging
Cities” .

21. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► The structure of the book
► Emerging Cities:
► Cities in the Arabian Gulf
region are eager to reassert
themselves as world cities
and not mere producers and
exporters of oil.

22. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► The structure of the book
► Riyadh, Kuwait and Manama are reintroducing
themselves as regional capital and investment
centers, while Doha and Abu Dhabi are emerging as
global educational and cultural centers.

24. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Emerging Themes
► The Arab city is undergoing
massive urban
transformation comparable
to changes that took place
during the 20th century,
while they were under
foreign occupation or
protection.
► However this time changes
are fuelled by globalization
and global capital.

25. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Emerging Themes
► Furthermore, the impact of
Dubai – Dubaization!- is
quite strong as Dubai‟ „daily‟
successes are being envied
by other cities.

26. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Emerging Themes
► Moments of change
► Rupture
► Change in cities urban
form
► Local and external
elements

27. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Emerging Themes: The Great Divide
► Gap between GCC and the rest of the Arab world.
► Economic growth and development
 GCC population = 37 M in 2006 – 12% of Arab Population
 GCC economy = US$ 1.25 trillion – 55% of Arab World
 GCC 1995 per capita income = US$ 8,500 – 7.3 of Arab
Countries
 GCC 2006 per capita income = US$ 19,300 – 10.4 of Arab
Countries
 Qatar per capita income = US$ 63,000
 UAE per capita income = US$ 38,000

28. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Fuad Malkawi
► In his prologue to the
chapters titled “The New
Arab Metropolis”, Fuad
Malkawi calls for a new
research agenda pertaining
to Arab cities.
► He notes the absence of the
Arab city from global city
literature.

29. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Fuad Malkawi
► He argues that “no city
should be viewed in
isolation or as part of some
global network; in their
globalizing efforts they
interact with a variety of
forces at different scale and
levels, simultaneously
guiding and shaping their
development.”

31. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Rabat
► Jamila Baragach‟s chapter
on Rabat titled “From
Capital to Global Metropolis”
describes the role of the
„State‟ in constructing
housing environments and
the experiences of residents
within these constructed
environments illustrating
the „clash‟ between state
policies and citizens.

32. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Beirut
► Sofia Shwayri‟s chapter
titled “From Regional Node
to Backwater and Back to
Uncertainty: Beirut, 1943–
2006” shows the role of
both „local and global‟ actors
in the reconstruction
process of Beirut.

33. A devastated street in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War

34. A devastated street in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War

35. Down Town Beirut.

36. Down Town Beirut.

37. Banks Street in Down Town Beirut

38. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Amman
► In his chapter titled
“Amman: Disguised
Genealogy and Recent
Urban Restructuring and
Neoliberal Threats” , Rami
Daher discusses the impact
of global capital on Amman‟s
urban development focusing
on Abdali project, modeled
after Beirut‟s Solider, as a
case study.

39. The massive Abdali Downtown development in Amman, Jordan was launched in June 2003 with the
goal of creating a vibrant central business and residential district to catapult the city into the 21st
century. Although the project is still in its construction phase, early signs indicate that it is well on
its way to meeting its objectives.

42. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► In his chapter titled
“Riyadh: A City of
„Institutional‟
Architecture”, Al-Naim
provides a critical
insider‟s account of
Riyadh – a city rarely
written about.

43. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► He introduces this
state capital as a „city
of institutional
architecture‟
projecting an image
that is resisting
modernization while
at the same time
providing an
alternative.

44. King Abdul Aziz Foundation for Research and Archives 1996-1999

45. King Abdullah Financial District

46. Riyadh business park

47. Sport City Riyadh

48. Sport City Riyadh

49. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► Yasser Mahgoub‟s
chapter on Kuwait titled
“Kuwait: Learning from
a Globalized City”
provides an overview of
this cities‟ development
and the impact of global
economics, politics and
regional conflicts on its
development.

50. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► As one of the early cities to
modernize in the Gulf during
the middle of the 20th
century, Kuwait is
experiencing a second wave
of modernization following
major setbacks during the
1990‟s.

51. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► The chapter introduces
the voices of local
architects and the
struggle to regain
Kuwait‟s lost position in
the region.

52. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► Adopting a planning
perspective, Mustapha Ben
Hamouche‟s chapter on
Manama titled “Manama:
The Metamorphosis of a Gulf
City” provides a unique
account of the first city in
the Gulf to encounter the
depletion of oil economy.

53. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► He identifies three modes of
urbanism that characterized
its growth and their impact
on its urban form.
► The city is remerging as
financial hub through new
projects such as the Bahrain
Financial Harbour.

54. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► Hamouche advocates a
policy of preservation for
the „dying heart of the old
city‟ that is degrading under
the influence of new
developments and rapid
urbanism of globalization.

55. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► Khaled Adham‟s chapter
on Doha titled
“Rediscovering the
Island: Doha‟s Urbanity
from Pearls to
Spectacle” provides an
analysis of a city that is
emerging as a global
center for media,
education, culture and
finance.

56. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► „Qatar Foundation for
Education, Science and
Community Development‟
► „Pearl Island‟ reclamation
project,
► 180 high rises of the West
Bay area
► I.M.Pei Islamic museum
project.

57. I.M. Pei Designed Museum of Islamic Art to Open in Qatar, November 2008

58. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► In his chapter on Abu Dhabi
titled “Cities of Sand and
Fog: Abu Dhabi‟s Arrival on
the Global Scene”,
Elsheshtawy illustrates this
city new global orientation
through the spectacular
development of Saadiyat
Island – which will house
four museums and
performance centers
designed by word top
„starchitects‟ – Gehry, Hadid,
Nouvel and Ando.

59. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► In his chapter on Abu Dhabi
titled “Cities of Sand and
Fog: Abu Dhabi‟s Arrival on
the Global Scene”,
Elsheshtawy illustrates this
city new global orientation
through the spectacular
development of Saadiyat
Island – which will house
four museums and
performance centers
designed by word top
„starchitects‟ – Gehry, Hadid,
Nouvel and Ando.

60. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Introduction
► He raises significant issues
related to social
sustainability, the role of
capital in creating spaces of
exclusion, and the role of
museums and art in a
globalizing world.

61. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► By using the symbols of
Arab/Islamic architecture
these new cities are
projecting themselves as the
new centers of the region.

62. Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi

63. Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi

64. Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi

65. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► The chosen symbols suggest
power, a new hegemonic
condition.
► They are not „tribes with
flags‟ anymore.

66. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► Muscat
► While being part of the GCC, has
adopted a different mode of
development. It still retains its
traditional cityscape, its growth
is measured and sustainable.

67. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► Artificial neo-Islamic
symbols of power
should not deflect our
attention from the
intimate scale of our old
markets.

68. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► The Great Divide in the Arab World!
 (Is there is still an “Arab World”?!)
► The poor are driven out to invisible labor camps.
► The city is designed for the rich and powerful.

69. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► Dubaization!
► The increasing presence of Dubai‟s real-estate
companies in the Arab world‟s major centers.
Emaar Tunis - Emaar Misr -
Emaar Middle East -
Cedar village Uptown Cairo
Jeddah Gate

70. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► Inequality
► The great rift in the
Arab World and the
extent to which this is
negatively affecting
socio-cultural
sustainability among
other things.

71. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
Arabs don‟t exist anymore!
► With regard to cities, Arabs are simply hapless
recipients of modernism.
► Officials in the Gulf are turning towards western
architects and planners to plan, design, form and
shape their cities.

72. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
Arabs don‟t exist anymore!
► The “New Middle East” is based on Western
conceptions of what our cities should look like.
► Arabs have disappeared from contributing to the
design of their built environment.
? ?

73. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► Signs of new urbanity.
► The emergence of a „new
Arab metropolis‟.
► Growing presence of civic
institutions which are
effectively beginning to
question authorities and
planners.

74. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
► Arab architects and planners need to take
advantage of this unique „global moment„ and begin
to adopt a view that unshackles us from the heavy
burden of the past and embraces modernity.

75. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Concluding Thoughts
We do exist after all !!!

76. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Epilogue
► This book and its
predecessor provide unique
insiders‟ accounts of Middle
Eastern cities‟ development
and current state of
globalization.
► The stories reveal the
struggles of these cities to
retain their Arab/Islamic
identities while emerging as
global cities.

77. The Evolving Arab City
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Great Divide:
Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World
► Epilogue
► Other cities that can provide even a greater insight
into the struggle are still absent from the spectrum
– Jerusalem, Damascus, Khartoum, Mecca, Jeddah,
Tripoli and Masqat.

78. END