Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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With oil income available to the central government, such income has been used in the
modernization of the traditional society. During the reign of King Faisal, rising oil
revenues became large enough for the government to shift the economy into higher gears
which ultimately expedited the transformation of the physical environment.
A brief discussion of the development of government national planning apparatus and
policy formulation in the Kingdom is needed to elucidate the direct role of the government
in shaping the contemporary built environment. I will review the planning system, its
components and processes in the Kingdom, the understanding of how urban planning
evolved as pliant and confined to the public sector, how it fits into the bureaucratic
organization, and how it has been wrought at the national level. As such, national planning
and urban planning have become instrumental in conveying a noblesse oblige notion of a
paternalistic leadership and views through the making of national policies that have been
proclaimed to be in the best interest of the population and to produce satisfied and
productive citizens. These policies have resulted in profound ramifications on the built
environment. In Saudi Arabia, there are no property taxes or other forms of taxes that local
municipalities can levy on local residents and businesses to support their own services,
save nominal fees such as specific application processing . Instead, the national
government provides all local expenditures including staff salaries and projects. In return
for such a privilege, local initiative is substituted by top-down decisions mandated by the
national government, hence emasculating local government's initiative. 31
As decades unfold, the government assumed a larger role in the economy, hence the
transformation of the built environment. During the early decades of its formation, the state
called upon Aramco to assess the various problems that growth brought with it. Whether
due to little interest or lack of a basic understanding of the local culture, the oil company's
surveyors relied on the gridiron pattern in the laying of the new parts of the traditional
settlements, as opposed to emulating vernacular urban design and planning while
considering modern technology. It was rationalized for its expediency and flexibility for
rapid growth. The imposition of the grid system on the local urban system, with its
setback concept, have since popularized the villa as the preferred residential unit. Both new
concepts called for the utilization of vast area as opposed to the compact old town forms.
For example, the proportion of land required for circulation space was multiplied based on
the anticipation of the increased use of the automobile in the future. This great emphasis on
vehicular circulation contrasts those of the traditional built environment, where circulation