Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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In most cases, even physical planning has been an ex post facto activity, coming after the
growing of an urban problems. Such apolitical approaches to control urban problems have
been done without public participation and with minimum governmental -appreciation for
societal values and long-range advantages. The resulting urban forms are rigid
representations of hasty, culturally and environmentally irrelevant development.
This study is a political economic approach to urban development. In this approach,
the focus is, first, on the dependent nature of a country's economy and its degree of
development in relationship with the world economy. The focus is, secondly, on the
significance of historical changes which have occurred in the structure of cities as a result
of the switch from traditional (precapitalist) to capitalist modes of production. The focus
is, thirdly, on the class structure of the cities, especially the role played by government
created economic opportunities. Finally, the political economic approach emphasizes the
role of the state and its relationship to the elite in shaping the urbanization process. In
short, to understand the modern built environment, I am taking an approach that places
urban growth within sociopolitical, economic processes and recognizes cultural and
historical differences among societies experiencing massive transition, that is the Third
World Countries.
Several attempts have been made to understand the contemporary physical
environment of the Muslim-Arab city. 20 These studies, whether explicitly or implicitly,
distinguish between the processes shaping the traditional physical environments and the
modern built environments created by the new nation-states following their emancipation
from colonialism. While some authors have questioned the validity of the distinction •
"Islamic city," others have shunned the whole concept of the Islamic city model. Still, to
some researchers, the Islamic city concept has been used in a substantial portion of urban
research on the Middle East and North African cities. 21 Nevertheless, research on the
Middle Eastern city is lacking. For example, in his 1976 review of the current state of
urban research in the Middle East, Bonine concluded that "The traditional Middle Eastern
city is still being explained in cliches and stereotypes...The modern city and processes of
urbanization have barely been touched upon." 22
A comprehensive and realistic approach to understanding the urban transformation is
employed. The urban transformation is seen as an integral part of societal change in which
settlements have had to respond to the new exigencies brought by national and international