Riyadh and Urban Challenges

Prof Name: Dr. Muhammad Imran

Researcher Name: Mohammed Alyahya

Due Date: October 30, 2011

King Saud University

College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Urban Planning Department

540 PLN – Planning Theory

Riyadh and Urban Challenges

During twentieth century, most of emerging cities have become in ranks of old large

cities in various aspects. Undoubtedly, these cities have passed upon many of complex urban

planning process during stages of development in order to meet the need of a growing population

and achieve high level of efficiency and optimization. Therefore, planning and managing

developing cities continue to change with city growing. As a consequence, Riyadh city has

become a modern city after oil was discovered in the Eastern Province of Kingdom of Saudi

Arabia in 1933 which it was a major impact for all Kingdom cities. The city of Riyadh is one of

the unique models of global cities in urban growth, which has achieved a revolution of urbanism.

Riyadh has become important city connected with a major transportation with other cities in

Kingdom, and it is a capital city which has a main government departments. In the last quarter

century, urban development has started in Riyadh by taking another path through out many of

aspects such as the movement of constructions which have increased rapidly, large number of

districts have established, and public services and utilities have become visible with all its kinds;

it is all about seeking to reach a completed urban environment. Moreover, this development has

accompanied with preparation and adoption of plans to manage variety of urban projects in

Riyadh. In fact, crossing over such urban improvements during short time, which is happing in

Riyadh now, is the main challenge for most planners. Generally, Some of experts and specialists

believe that Riyadh city planners from different agencies face difficulties to apply their plans in

order to develop the city; however, Riyadh’s planners are trying many times to find effective

solutions to these challenges. Specifically, Riyadh’s planners have addressed the physical and

institutional challenges of Riyadh planning while it is growing over the time.

Generally, urban development of Riyadh city has appeared in four phases sequentially.

The first phase was before 1968 when the first planning agency appeared represented into

Riyadh Municipality. Furthermore, the planning regulation “Roads and Buildings Regulations’

was found that time as the first standard. Othman n.d. pointed out, “Ministries or other

government institutions were not obliged to follow the said regulations and could draw up their

own regulations for implementing their projects’ (p. 310). As a result, designing and building

utilities were under every government agencies responsibility that time without taking approval

from Riyadh Municipality. On this stage, Riyadh started process of urbanization which pushed

the city out of wall. This wall was surrounded old Riyadh city as city border defense.

Meanwhile, the districts started to appear scattered out of Riyadh wall, and the development was

toward city entrances in order to be connected with other cities. The city form was similar to

strip theory, and there were farms between the districts. The main reasons of changing Riyadh

form were increasing the number of population, adopting Riyadh as capital city of the Kingdom,

and being more safety that time. The second phase was from 1968 to 1976, Riyadh planners

started to work on first master plan. The first master plan of Riyadh was done in 1974. At that

period, Riyadh city has formed into a shape of two main lines. Othman n.d. described the city

lines which were the first one was from north to south as commercial line, and the second one

was from east to west as governmental line (p. 311). Thus, this improvement had special

regulation for each activity in the city. Moreover, decision makers decided to demolish the wall,

and connected the city railway which was the first real linked of Riyadh with other far cities

because it was in the middle of desert. From that period, Riyadh started to have mega projects

such as Riyadh Airport, ministries transferred from West Province to Riyadh, and King Saud

University and other military institutes established. The most prominent feature of this stage was

shifting from traditional organic pattern to grid pattern for many factors. The main factors were

Armco company built oil cities around the world using grid theory, and depending of cars has

increased which required wide and straight roads. The third phase calls “The oil boom phase”

was from 1976 to 1983 after the economic revolution that happened in the kingdom that time,

which pushed the city toward urbanism growth. As well, this growth required to create another

master plan. For this reason, planners did the second master plan with a simulation to the form

structure of the first one. However, this growth had many changes into demographics,

administrative, and size which made Riyadh as important capital city. During this phase, Riyadh

has established authority calls (High Commission for the Development of Riyadh) due to

importance of Riyadh since 1974 in order to coordinate city improvement projects. Planners in

this stage dealt with the city in specific aspects, and they took into account only the sides of

economic, traffic, and urban design. Almubarak (2003) asserted this trends failed on connecting

the city with existed urban fabric because the planners focused on the central of the city, and they

omitted existed places were around the city (p. 228). The last phase from 1983 to present, Riyadh

city continues to develop spatially and administratively. According to the Riyadh Municipality

webpage, the area of Riyadh becomes 4419 sq.km, and it has fifteen municipality branches as

assistant management to the Riyadh. Nowadays, Riyadh with quick expansion and development

has resulted massive of difficulties which oblige planners to face it.

Through time, Riyadh city has crossed over groups of spatial challenges, and urban

planners has contributed to find solutions in order to address it. Despite of Riyadh location which

is in the middle of desert, Riyadh contuses to expand geographically. According to Riyadh

Municipality webpage, Riyadh area in the first stage of development was 635 sq.km; rapidly, the

area of Riyadh becomes 4419 sq.km which is almost during 40 years. This fast spatial growth

has many of complications. First of all, the inflating of rapid population and achieving

population needs is one of the hard challenges. Also, the number of populations has increased

during Riyadh stages; according to Riyadh Municipality webpage Riyadh population on first

stage was 300,000 people, and Riyadh population are almost 4,600,000 million people now.

Second, geographical and environmental situation of Riyadh caused lands in the city, which is

hard to find appropriate development lands. As a result, the price of residential areas has become

not affordable for most of people in Riyadh. This lack of lands and population growth have

resulted other difficulties such as housing needs. Riyadh city with an incredible of migration

from other cities, who is looking for works, has created crisis to provide houses for local people,

although of financial booming in the Kingdom which is supposed to reflect on the capital city.

The fourth challenge is transportation and its systems. In fact, Riyadh has lived with

transportation crisis as other large cities around the world. However, most of these countries

found solutions and options in order to face this issue, but Riyadh is still weak to solve

transportation issues. According to transportation studies done by the High Commission for the

Development of Riyadh the percentage of work trip is 33% out of total trips in Riyadh.

Moreover, Riyadh is still not having transportation options for the residents. Riyadh residents

depend on only using cars on their daily. Planners can devise from results of urban studies in

Riyadh during its stages that Riyadh growth and physical challenges are the reasons of shaping

the city as grid model, and distribute the land uses in the city spatially. As a result, planners

addressed most of the urban physical issues while they are doing Riyadh master plan in recent

years. Planners wrote suggestions and advices for each issue to be discussed for now and future.

For example, they came up with idea of stopping the city expanding by drawing Riyadh urban

boundary which it will limit the city. In addition, they use new technology for transportation

system, so they are monitor traffic and doing studies by using smart devises along main streets.

This technology helps them to redesign and develop roads in order to change its capacity of

traffic such as Althleah street and King Abdullah street. Another example of planner’s solutions

is demanding landowners from private sectors to pay the costs of infrastructure and built it for

their projects. This will help to keep the Municipality budget, and limit the privet sectors of

doing project everywhere in the city because the infrastructure will cost them a lot. Indeed,

Riyadh city continues to find out and solve the spatial challenges even though there are

institutional issues which planners’ efforts to address it.

Despite of existent spatial challenges which urban planners have faced it, there are

several of institutional challenges in Riyadh. Urban planners ran to find and determine many of

problems in urban management of Riyadh in order to reach appropriate solutions for what

planners were doing physically at the same time. First issue is that weakness of urban regulations

especially in the early stages of Riyadh development. There was not urban regulation only the

building and roads regulation that time. This system specifically has gone over many of

amendments and additions since city improvement. Also, planners from Municipality derived

from this regulation other individual urban regulation such as parks, services, and parking etc.

Moreover, that regulation leaded the Riyadh Municipality to establish Department of Urban

Planning its role to lay out urban strategies and policies, write urban planning standers, and other

works related to urban planning in the city. Second issue is weak capability of the competent

authorities which responsible for Riyadh urban development. This weakness resulted from lack

of qualified specialists although of two existence competent authorities. For this reason, these

authorities ran to solve this situation by attracting and hiring qualified specialists and consult

offices in order to oversee the implementation of authorities’ plans and projects. Third, all

ministries and large agencies centralize in Riyadh; no doubt, all of these sectors affect Riyadh’s

master plan physically and institutionally. Also, this effect contributed planners to apply

“strategic plan” for all Riyadh region. As a result, planners found solution for the central

management by distributed the city physically into fifteen sub municipalities. According to the

comprehensive report of Riyadh strategic plan (1997) the reasons of providing fifteen sub

municipalities inside one city are reducing trip distances for who live in Riyadh, and distributing

public services with purpose to give high efficiency and safety (p. 109). Fourth issue is the

limited funding although of many resources in the country. Urban authorities in Riyadh

depended on their annual budget. This was big issue for the city during its stages, so authorities

were not able to provide urban projects with all its public services and utilities. Meanwhile,

urban planners ran with this issue to require fees in order to provide municipality services for

both residents and investors. In fact, this returned financial helped the city to solve many of

urban planning matters such as providing utilities. In conclusion, the institutional challenges

have existed since Riyadh city started to develop, and urban planners continue to address it.

In my view, these solutions, which urban planners have used to address the physical and

institutional challenges, are based on scientific basics and previous experiences. Nevertheless, if

these competent authorities continue to work with these solutions, it may cause the city to be out

of growth and changes control in the future. In fact, Riyadh has become a huge inflation of

population; however, this inflation leaded many crises to appear and cover Riyadh region level

during Riyadh’s development stages. For these reasons, I suggest to face these upcoming

challenges and the huge inflation by looking for possible opportunities that Riyadh can get

benefits of even over region level, and get best used of these opportunities. For example of these

opportunities, non-developed lands are example of good lands for improvement in Riyadh, and it

often is populated with services and utilities; however, these lands did not use it in right way. In

addition, this issue leaded to increase lands demand especially for investors which made them to

stop developing these lands because they own it, and there is not any regulations against them.

Also, there is a huge manpower in Riyadh which is required to improve their skills in order to

use it to build completed urban environment. It can be improved through universities and

consultative governmental institutions which it counts as decisions participation. Moreover,

planners should be future seeking; not future identifying, so the trend towards sustainable

development ensures the right of future generations and achieves balanced of urban

development. This trend will not be suitable until Riyadh improves the administrative, social and

economic aspects. Achieving this suitability requires to start editing “Roads and Building

Regulation” to be applicable with world urban development, and never stand in front of

traditional social considerations which are a major obstacle in urbanization. Other opinion

perspective is involving other agencies to participate in physical and institutional urban planning

decisions making in order to generate Riyadh to be urban prosperity wealthy in future. All in all,

continuing to address urban challenges in Riyadh must be based on scientific and theoretical

foundations.

In conclusion, most of development cities such as Riyadh have reached in positions of

well-known large cities throughout its development stages. Also, it has crossed over several of

difficult urban planning process in order to achieve the demand of population such as good

organization and optimization. Recently, Riyadh becomes modern city as one of the valuable

models of worldwide cities in urbanism. Nowadays, urban development in Riyadh features

appears such as mega projects, many of districts areas, and public services and utilities in order

to seek completed urban environment of future because planners always are future seeking; not

future identifying. Finally, facing such large urban developments in short time is the main

challenge that Riyadh’s planners and some of experts and specialists from different agencies are

running to apply their plans and vision in order to develop the city in right way. As a result,

Riyadh’s agencies found efficient solutions for physical and institutional challenges while

Riyadh growing stages. This essay discussed the sequence of urban development in Riyadh city

during time. In detail, this essay is identifying Riyadh groups of spatial and management

challenges which Riyadh has crossed over time, and how the urban planners from Riyadh

agencies have contributed to find solutions for these challenges. Also, I came up with appropriate

suggestions that could help planners to address the future challenges.

References

Al Mubarak, Faisal. (2003). Planning and Urban Development in Saudi Arabia Beginning and

Continuity during the Reign of Kin Fahad March. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: King Saud

University.

Alhathloul, Saleh. & Edadan, Narayanan. (1995). Urban Development in Saudi Arabia:

Challenges and Opportunities. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Dar Alsahan.

High Commission for the Development of Riyadh. (1997). Comprehensive Report. Retrieved

from http://www.arriyadh.com/ar/cgi-

bin/localuser/publications/Researches/Comprehensive_report/index.html

Municipality of Riyadh. (2011). Riyadh Development. Retrieved from

http://www.alriyadh.gov.sa/en/alriyadh/Pages/development_of_population.aspx