Gulf First Urban Planning and Development Conference 2006 - Yasser Mahgoub presentation

1. Gulf First Urban Planning and Development Conference
22 - 24 February 2006, Kuwait
Socio-Cultural Sustainability and
Urban Development in Kuwait
Dr. Yasser Mahgoub
Kuwait University

2. Introduction
• The quality of contemporary built environment in Kuwait
is criticized by specialists and the public as being
unfriendly, hostile and lacking the sense of belonging.

3. Introduction
There are several sets of problems that are related to the
current urban environment in Kuwait city. They include:
– Problems related to the dependency on cars for
transportation.
– Problems related to the absence of the human
dimension in the design of streets and urban areas.
– Problems related to the design of the governmental
and private neighborhoods.
– Problems related to the quality of life in the downtown
area as it is occupied by foreigners and not citizens.
– Problems related to the zoning and land use of the
downtown area.

4. Introduction
• The hypothesis of this
paper is that current
problems observed in
Kuwait city are the result
of early planning
decisions and subsequent
developments during the
second half of the 20th
century that focused on
environmental and
economic considerations
and not on social and
cultural considerations.

5. Location

6. Background
• The built environment
found in Kuwait today is a
product of decisions made
during its early stages of
planning and construction.
Kuwait was mostly
isolated from external
influences until the
discovery of oil during the
1940's.

7. Background
• The fast speed of
transformation that Kuwait
went through from fishing
and trading vernacular
settlement to a modern,
planned metropolis was
the result of efforts made
by the Kuwaiti’s to utilize
the wealth generated by
the discovery of oil to
improve their living
conditions and join the
developed, modern world.

8. Background
• Prior to 1952, Kuwait was
a vernacular settlement
overlooking the Arabian
Gulf and composed of
courtyard houses built
using mud brick along
narrow alleys.
• Traditional houses lined
along narrow streets,
looking inward into
courtyards suitable for
climatic conditions and
social needs.

9. Kuwait Before 1950

10. Background
• The city was surrounded by semi-circular defensive wall
constructed in 1920, in two months, to protect it from the
tribal attacks.

11. The First Master Plan in 1952
• After the discovery of oil
with economic quantities
during the thirties and its
exportation during the
forties and the immediate
wealth generated by its
sales, the rulers of the
country appointed the
British firm Monprio,
Spencly and Macfarlen to
propose a “Plan” for the
development of the city of
Kuwait.

12. The First Master Plan in 1952
• The main objective of the
master plan was to
transform the vernacular
settlement of Kuwait into a
modern town according to
the standards of modern
town planning at that time.
• As stated by the planners,
“Our main objectives are to
illustrate and describe the
improvements which we consider
necessary for the development of
Kuwait in accordance with the
highest standards of modern town
planning.”

13. The First Master Plan in 1952
• The matters which Monprio et al regarded as being of “primary
importance” in the replanning of the town were as follows:
(a) the provision of a modern road system appropriate to the traffic
conditions in Kuwait,
(b) the location of suitable zones for public buildings, industry,
commerce, schools, and other purposes,
(c) the choice of zones for new houses and other buildings needed
in residential areas, both inside and outside the town wall,
(d) the selection of sites for parks, sports ground, school playing
fields and other open spaces,
(c) the creation of a beautiful and dignified town centre,
(f) the planting of trees and shrubs along the principal roads and at
other important points in the town, and
(g) the provision of improved main roads linking Kuwait with the
adjoining towns and villages.

14. The First Master Plan in 1952
• The “Plan” led to the
demolition of the walled
city and its traditional
houses to provide land for
economic and public
facilities and the
establishment of western
style neighborhoods
surrounded by modern
highways for cars and
vehicles.

16. The First Master Plan in 1952
• This sudden change from
a vernacular settlement to
a modern urban
environment had a
dramatic impact on the
quality of urban life. As
proclaimed by the late
Kuwaiti architect Huda Al-
Bahr in 1985, “The
changes in architecture
experienced by Kuwait
over the last thirty years
or so, are almost beyond
imagination.”

17. The subsequent master plans
• The late fifties and early
sixties witnessed the
implementation of the first
master plan by the
Ministry of Public Works
under the supervision of
the Kuwait Development
Board established in
1950. The demolition of
the wall and old houses in
residential areas inside it
to clear land for the
construction of new public
buildings paralleled the
construction of new roads
and residential
neighborhoods south of it
in the desert.

18. The subsequent master plans
• The neighborhoods were
self sufficient entities with
schools, shops, mosques
and other services. As
Gardiner put, “there was no
need to come into the city
except for work because every
thing was there” (Gardiner,
1983).

19. The subsequent master plans
• As part of the
government’s policy for
the distribution of wealth,
low income families were
given public houses built
by the government while
rich families were
compensated with plots of
land and money for their
demolished houses and
acquired land.

20. The subsequent master plans
• Building regulations
proposed by the Plan
allowed for the
construction of individual
“villas” on these plots of
land illustrates buildings
and houses erected
during the 50’s and 60’s
reflecting the modern style
of architecture that
dominated this era.

21. The subsequent master plans
• The modern urbanization in Kuwait has passed through
significant stages. During each a Master Plan or a review
of the master plan was produced, which contributed to
the development of modern Kuwait (Kuwait Municipality,
1980).

22. Kuwait Master Plans
Several master plans were developed
to guide the rapid urbanization of
Kuwait. They included:
1. The First Master Plan by
Monoprio, Spencely and
Macfarlane in 1952.
2. The Second Master Plan by Colin
Buchanan and Partners in 1968. 1 2
3. First Review of the 2nd Master
Plan by Shankland Cox
Partnership in 1977
4. Re-examination of Master Plan by
Colin Buchanan and Partners in
1983
5. A proposed Third Master Plan by
Kuwait Municipality in 1997.
6. Currently, Kuwait Engineering 3 4
Group in collaboration with Colin
Buchanan were commissioned to
develop a new master plan review
in 2003.

23. The subsequent master plans
• In 1968 a Second Master Plan was developed by Colin
Buchanan and Partners that stretched the city north and
south along the Gulf shores. It also called for the
dissemination of the city centre by creating new centres
to overcome the growing traffic congestion problems.
• In 1977 the British planning firm Shakland and Cox
proposed the establishment of two new cities.

24. The subsequent master plans
• During the eighties several remarkable buildings,
designed by internationally recognised architects, were
constructed in Kuwait. They included: The National
Airport by Kenzo Tange, The National Assembly by Jorn
Utzon, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Reima Pietila,
The Central Bank by Arne Jacobsen, and The Kuwait
Water Towers by Lindstorm, Egnell and Bjorn.

25. Sustainability
• Sustainable development is defined as “meeting the
needs of current and future generations through an
integration of environmental protection, social
advancement and economic prosperity” (Government
of Western Australia, 2003. p12).

26. Sustainability
• This concept concentrates on
three key strands:
• environmental sustainability
involves using ‘best practice’ in
the management of energy,
transport, waste and pollution;
• social sustainability concerns
the ‘greening’ of trade,
investment and service
industries and the notion of
improved ‘personal’
responsibility for all members of
society, and finally,
• economic sustainability
involves self-reliance and the
objective of local equity.

27. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
1. The problems of planning for the car
• The automobile dependent planning
created an automobile dependent
society where almost each private car is
occupied by only one person.
• This resulted urban environment
encourages the use of the car as
primary means of transportation.
• Public transportation is used by poor
expatriate workers.
• This dependency on cars raises the
levels of air pollution and result an
increasing traffic problems.

28. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
1. The problems of planning for the car
• The rising number of cars, coupled with lack of adequate
parking places inside houses, resulted in occupation of
sidewalks by sheds for cars, creating visual pollution and
socially hostile neighborhoods.

29. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
1. The problems of planning for the car
• The compact traditional design of the city was replaced
by a spread modern planning. Attached courtyard
houses were replaced by detached villas, narrow shaded
alleys for pedestrians were replaced by wide streets for
cars. They prevented people from using them for
walking. The spread planning does not encourage
people to walk to their close by destinations.

30. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
2. Demolition of historical buildings
• Destruction of the majority
traditional architecture buildings
occurred during the
implementation of the “Plan” in
the 1960’s. The deteriorating
condition of the handful
remaining buildings is raising a
concern of their complete
absence in the near future.

31. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
3. Neighborhood planning
• The modern “villas” lack any common style or character.
The collection of styles and characters found in
residential neighborhoods is comparable. As Al-Bahr put
it, “to visiting a Disneyland of residential manifestations.”
(Al-Bahr, 1985) Qabazard argues that “as personal
wealth increased, Kuwaiti citizens began experimenting
with new styles of buildings. Architects from locations as
varied as America, Belgium, India and Iran descended
on the country – earning huge commissions and
designing whatever their clients demanded. (Qabazard,
1999)

32. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
3. Neighborhood planning
• The distance between the outward looking villas is not
appropriate to maintain acceptable levels of privacy
required by people of a culture that value privacy highly.
Windows of different buildings face each other allowing
visual intrusion into neighboring houses. The windows
are never opened and balconies and seldom utilized due
to dependency on air-conditioning and privacy
requirements.

33. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
3. Neighborhood planning
• The windows and balconies of the private villas are
rarely used. Modifications of building bylaws added to
the problem by reducing the distance between houses
and reducing the level of attained privacy. Many of the
new houses are utilizing the traditional concept of the
courtyard to create a private space within the house.

34. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
4. Downtown problems
• Discontinued streets are created
by separate individual buildings
without any tie or common style.
For examples, Fahd Al Salem St.
attached buildings in the
beginning then detached
buildings afterwards. While each
building is designed and
constructed according to a
specific view and solution, the
collection of buildings do not
form a coherent character or
identity.

35. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
4. Downtown problems
• Large, vacant, and undeveloped
lots of lands are common inside
and outside the downtown area
are contributing to the visual
discontinuity of the urban
landscape.

36. Impact on Socio-cultural Sustainability
4. Downtown problems
• The planning of Kuwait city did not provide adequate
housing for Kuwaitis in the downtown area. Only one,
unsuccessful housing project for the Kuwaitis called Al-
Sawaber is located within the old city. Living away from
the down town contributed to the absence of Kuwaitis
from the downtown area. There are efforts to bring the
Kuwaitis back to the downtown, but without adequate
housing that satisfies their new needs, the downtown will
continue to be occupied by expatriates.

37. Conclusions
• Kuwait still has a long way to go to regain a viable urban
environment. Urgent measures that should be taken
include; the renovation and reconstruction of badly
damaged traditional buildings, the development of mixed
use downtown development strategy, the provision of
appropriate housing units to encourage of Kuwaitis to
live in the downtown, the integration of housing and
commercial activities, and implementation of
revitalization projects for the downtown area.

38. Conclusions
• The above measures are expected to be faced by
obstacles that the policymakers and urban planners in
Kuwait should try to overcome. These include:
1. Building bylaws and regulations: Conflicting and
contentiously changing building bylaws and regulations
are major contributor to the deteriorating urban
environment. Modifications of building regulations were
mainly concerned with increasing the building volume
and floor area through the increase of floor area ratio
and the reduction of setbacks on the expense of quality
of the environment and community comfort. (Mahgoub,
2002)

39. Conclusions
2. Neighborhood design: The “outdated” approach to
neighborhood design practiced by the Public Authority
for Housing Welfare since its foundation as in 1954
should be modified to improve the quality and design of
future neighborhoods. New neighborhood design
guidelines should be implemented to achieve a
sustainable neighborhood design. See Fig. 6)

40. Conclusions
3. The car: Jefferson argues that, “there are no indications
that the car will be abandoned in the near future. Its
presence therefore has to be acknowledged and
regarded as a challenge in the planning of the urban
environment.” (Jefferson et al., 2001. p. 23) The car is a
commodity that should be accommodated in the
planning and design of urban environments. Parking for
private cars should not occupy the sidewalks provided
mainly for pedestrians.

41. Conclusions
4. Zoning Regulations: Mixed use planning should be
encouraged to improve the livability and excitement of
the urban environment. Segregation between functions
and peoples proved to be disadvantageous. It only
succeeded in creating hostile and unfriendly
environment.

42. Conclusions
5. The building industry: Encouraging the building industry
to be sustainable in the use of material and construction
methods could be achieved through economic
incentives. It will also require the development of
consensus on the adoption of green and sustainable
building activities. This is where leadership support from
officials and leading figures in the society is essential to
encourage the adoption of these strategies. Inadequate
knowledge and publications regarding the concept and
methods of sustainable development in Arabic is
hindering the development of public awareness and
participation.

43. Conclusions
• This paper recommends the adoption of the framework
proposed by Wheeler that suggests main directions for
urban sustainability that include: 1) Compact, efficient
land use, 2) Less automobile use, better access, 3)
Efficient resource use, less pollution and waste, 4)
Restoration of natural systems, 5) Good housing and
living environments, 6) A healthy social ecology, 7) A
sustainable economics, 8) Community participation and
involvement, and 9) Preservation of local culture and
wisdom. (Wheeler, 1998, p. 439).

44. Conclusions
• While the problems of the urban environment in Kuwait
might be similar to urban problems found in other parts
of the world, but they require uncommon solutions to
avoid the mistake of copying solutions from other parts
of the world. The solutions should be stemming from the
local context and conditions. As Erickson (1980, p.87)
put it, “it is impossible for anyone from the West to do
any more than attempt to understand the environmental
and social conditions and the ideas that have given rise
to architectural styles in the Muslim countries. The final
expressions of those ideas and factors has got to come
from within the Islamic world.”

45. Thank you.