Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

182
community was the first in the history of Riyadh to be platted by the new municipality
according to a gridiron layout in order to control the fast growing population of bedouin
and rural migrants. Land was subdivided into residential lots of 8-by-8 meters and
serviced by streets, eight meters wide. The platting of land into rectangular or square lots
for residential uses was the easiest, cheapest and most clear way of dividing land for rapid
development.
Interestingly, this very first land sub-division was laid to house bedouins and other
underprivileged immigrants, not the established residents of the city. By then, the
privileged opted for the north and west sides of town, following in the steps of the early
attempts by the King and his kin, and in the vicinity of the newly built administrative
buildings. Though aimed at curbing unplanned, illegally constructed groups of houses and
tents at the periphery, the Manfohah experiment was later to be limited to new subdivisions
for land speculation. The sprouting of squatter settlements housing bedouins and
immigrants, continued to tarnish Riyadh's development for decades to come.
This urban development would have not occurred had it not been for the improved
political and economic conditions of the country. King Abdul-Aziz's firm control helped
sustain the political cohesion of the country during its impoverished, boisterous formative
decades before the discovery of oil. His avid leadership was further bolstered when oil
production was finally attained in commercial quantities in March 1938, heralding the end
of centuries of austere poverty and enhancing the country's autarchy. But it was not until
the end of WWII when, in 1946, substantial dividends were to start reaching the
government treasury.
After his visit to Egypt in 1945, King Abdul-Aziz returned with an overwhelming
admiration for Egypt's prosperity. During his visit, he was presented a Dakota plane as a
gift from President Roosevelt during their summit meeting at the Suez Canal. With more
national income derived from the increasing oil revenues, he returned with a firm resolution
to rejuvenate his poverty ridden, backward country. At his behest, a landing ground was
laid for his plane, and a 577 kilometer railroad was constructed, connecting Riyadh with
the Persian Gulf. With the arrival of the first train from Dammam in 1951, the economic
position of Riyadh was greatly enhanced, due to the sharp drop in transportation cost,
without which the movement of essential commodities and the future modernization of the
desert town would have been impossible. The new landing airfield was soon to develop