Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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to sort urban activities into distinct zones. Land use assigned for industrial activity sic was
introduced with the debut of the city master plans. As such industrial space was mainly
allotted for "auxiliary" industries such as auto repair and, "assembly industry" involving
establishments specializing in manufacturing furniture, light fixtures, fabricated metal
products and stone, clay and glass products, geared toward popular demand. As cities
grew, with their growth auxiliary industries increased. In addition to their noxious and
noisily by-products, these industries are run by foreign labor, the majority of which are
bachelors. Prior to the segregation of urban land use according to activity, these industries
were located within industrial use, causing resentment by the conservative population.
In order to encourage these industries to relocate and pick up the increasing demand
for service industries, the government assigned considerable land area in the least desirable
sections of cities and towns as "industrial zones". Depending on the current theme of
government development programs, industrial establishments are offered numerous
incentives, including nominal rents for industrial lots (the government offers such land at
minimal rents as one thousandth the market value). In Riyadh, for example, the industrial
land use amounts to 3.8% of the total (developed and undeveloped), in Jeddah 6.5%, in
Dammam 8%, while in Makkah 1.5%. The proliferation of these "assembly industries"
owes considerably to the government promotion programs aimed at rejuvenating the
industrial sector. The first government promotion program to provide incentives for
assembly (auxiliary) industries was not part of the efforts to restructure the national
economy, rather such industries where merely to provide for increasing demand for
services and assembly manufacturing.
The second major industry-related influence on the shaping of the contemporary built
environment was the construction of new industrial towns of Jubail and Yanbu by the
government. Such steps are viewed as a departure from the previously-followed
"conventional approach." The adoption of the new-city approach was a direct consequence
to the national industrial policy to diversify the national economy, hitherto relying on the
exportation of crude oil. The idea to utilize the locally produced oil and natural gas in the
production of petrochemicals, though goes back to the 1960s, and materialized in the
1970s. In 1970, Petromin picked Jubail, a previously placid fishing town on the shores of
the Arabian Gulf, as the site for the new multi-billion dollar industrial complex. Jubail was
projected to be a growth pole bestowed by its proximity to the Berri crude oil and gas fields
and the deep-water channel which makes anchorage for large-vessel tankers possible. In