Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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land uses backed with detailed zoning regulations. 63 Such sorting of land uses have been
largely based on assumptions peculiar to land market in Western societies.
These plans were a manifestation of assumptions such as those of Western welfare
economics which view zoning as a way for public authorities to rectify defects (e.g.
negative externalities) in the land market, such as the separation of incompatible land uses.
For example, Doxiadis Plan created large residential tracts with subdivisions that gave few
residential units per acre in the northern Riyadh while residential uses with more units per
acre were located in the south-east parts of the city. Lots were rectangular, and the city was
zoned so that the northern areas were given larger lots, hence encouraging higher-income
households to live in the north and lower-income groups in the unpopular southern part of
Riyadh where lots were smaller. The Plan introduced an economic social order to the city,
one that sorts income groups in space, in contrast to the mixed and semi-autonomous
traditional quarter system. Hitherto such income-based division, in contrast to sociallybased
traditional organization, not applicable to the traditional Arab-Islamic built
environments. It also institutionalized the concept of the setback, thus encouraging the
villa, a housing unit surrounded by open space.
The fission from the traditional design standards of the medina was culminated by the
adoption of Doxiadis' City Master Plan for Riyadh in 1973 by the Council of Ministers.
The approach of contracting Western consultants to prepare master plans was in vogue in
many Third World and Developing countries. They were archetypical solutions to rapidly
expanding cities. Master city plans are long-range, multi-phase conceptualizations of a
town's future growth. They constitute comprehensive land use and infrastructure
development plans, projected in tune with vigorous national economic growth schemes, all
sought to facilitate economic prosperity and social stability through manipulating the spatial
system. Along with the housing loans provided through the REDF, Riyadh's new Master
Plan institutionalized the grid and indoctrinated the villa as the preferred form of laying new
districts by setting rectilinear lot-sizes, and enforcing set-backs regulations. 64
Yet, as was the case in many Developing countries whose societies undergo massive
transformation, these plans were more technical documents than realistic programs which
reflect the communities' individual needs and the actual requirements of these cities. They
reflect an elitist form of decision-making process in which planners attempt to meet central
authority goals and claim foresight on behalf of those affected by their decisions. A recent