Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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In 1976, the government authorized the construction of the provincial airport 11 kilometers
to the south of Arar. The new airport, which occupies a substantial area of the desert, has
since become a magnet of urban growth on the Tapline highway leading to Rafha, 280
kilometers to the south. Several major land subdivisions, most of which were earmarked
for free distribution to citizens, were located on the road to the airport, hence confirming
the town's growth toward the new airport, contrary to Doxiadis' projections of
northeastern and eastern urban growth. These military facilities constitute what is
designated as "private (exclusive) government" land uses. Along with other government
civil developments, these large-scale developments and urban functions match the
predominant contribution of the government in the making and shaping of the
contemporary Saudi built forms in Arar and other settlements.
D. The Subdivision Plan of The 1960s
The process of platting larger lots en masse, coupled with the widespread use of the
automobile set in motion an urban growth of high magnitude, between 7 and 24 percent per
annum, the highest in the nation's history. Nevertheless, up until the late 1970s, Arar
remained essentially a "walking city," 76 percent of Arar's residents (above 13 years old)
walked to their destinations. At the rim of the existing Arar grid, shanty towns sprouted
housing Bedouins and other poor residents, inevitably taking the traditional organic form.
Rapid population growth hindered the subdivision obsolete as growth proceeded outside
the gridiron area taking inevitably a combination of the traditional organic form and
scattered Bedouin camps. An attempt to circumvent the haphazard growth outside the
Tapline development was made by the government during the early 1960s
In its attempts to impose order on the rapidly growing city, the municipal staff
extended land subdivisions outside the 'Tapline Houses' original nucleus in the early 1960s
(Figure 7. 3, B).. The new land subdivision added an area of 3.75 square kilometers to the
Tapline's original one square kilometers grid area (Figure 3, area A). King Abdul-Aziz's
central road was built over the Badnah wadi along King Abdul-Aziz road which improved
accessibility to the tarmac road leading to Rafha to the south and Turaif to the north (Figure
7.5). A new bridge facilitated physical growth across the wadi toward the international
highway. The plan also implemented modifications to the existing Tapline plan (i.e., the
"Tapline Houses" subdivision of 1950) in light of cultural needs and past experience. For
example, residents were given freedom to build their own houses with flexible setback