Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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small-arms and ammunitions factory, warehouses, and training facilities at the staggering
cost of SR87 million by the standards of that (ten percent of the annual allocations for
1951-52).
The process of urban militarization continued, paralleling the exceptionally high
allocations in building military power. In December, 1964, following King Faisal's
accession, Minister of Defense, Prince Sultan A1 Saud declared that the government would
develop its army. Three major military bases were to be built in Hafir al-Batin (King Khalid
Military City), at Tabuk and at Khamis Mushayt. The undertaking of these mega-projects
spanned the next fifteen years. The bases were located in the vicinity of major towns
according to national security criteria. The resulting urban form represented a bipolarity, in
which two different forms were juxtaposed each referring to different functions and
economies. The new "military cities" formed magnets attracting population and boosting
the urban economies of their nearby towns. The combined construction activities of these
military towns and the massive allocation in social services and infrastructural
developments between 1970, the time of the debut of first five-year plan, and the third fiveyear
plan (1980-85) caused what is commonly known as the decade of the "construction
boom." The cost of these plans was estimated at $9.2 billion, $182 billion, and $337
billion respectively, totaling $ 528.2 billion. By comparison, Saudi oil revenues between
1972 and 1982 totaled $460.3 billion. The annual imports between 1975 and 1981 soared
from SR 14.8 to SR 135 billion ($1.00=SR3.5).69
The oil industry has also been responsible for the growth of towns in other parts of
the country not related directly to the oil industry. For instance, the need to transport crude
Eastern Province oil from the oil fields to the Mediterranean Sea required the construction
of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline) which was completed in 1950. A road was
constructed alongside the pipeline and several water wells were dug to provide drinking
water for the oil-pump stations' staff. Bedouins settled permanently as they-were attracted
by water and work opportunities and soon started urban enclaves. Arar, al-Qaysumah, and
An Nuairiyah towns were originated anew from these bedouin encampments in the early
1950s. Arar has become the regional center of the Northeastern region and by the early
1960s housed a population of 11,171 serviced with a bank, a hospital and schools. By
1987, it boasted a population of 65,000. 70