Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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imported models, chiefly Western. The Saudi planning model aims at aiding in the
allocation of national resources, coordination of various government agencies' activities in
the built environment in light of the national five-year development plans. As far as goals,
it is a 'functional' mode of planning in which planners assume the goals to be given in a
situation and are rational with respect to the means only. 68
Second, despite the touted commitment to the preference for the application of Islamic
Shariy'ah, as the sole principle on which policy making system is predicated, such
commitment has been confined to loaded officials' announcements, it yet been extended to
the sphere of urban planning. Traditionally, as in the case of the Islamic city, the state has
maintained a somewhat laissez faire position toward the local affairs of building processes.
Such attitude was evident in the structural organization of traditional Arab-Muslim towns
comprising autonomous quarters of which internal affairs were left to residents discretion.
The modern practice of city master plans and government-ordained building codes lacks
established connection with the Islamically-based building practices of the past, namely, the
concern over privacy. While modern Saudi built environments have ignored efficiency
(e.g. no property taxes, sprawl and disregard for environment), the form of traditional built
environments reflected climatic solutions and adhered to social-religious values.
Yet, the contemporary metropolis is a result of the pressures of rapid urbanization,
heavy reliance on Western models of architecture and planning, the economic peculiarities
of oil and the Kingdom's political system. The transformation of the medina to the
contemporary metropolis has been a byproduct of the modernization process consistent
with the leadership's vision, influence and affluence. All in all, the government planning,
of which urban planning is one facet, has been open to technically-rational innovations, as
long as such practices do not involve the questioning of the established government's
preemptive right to decision making, allocation of national resources and the distribution of
power and wealth.