Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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study emphasized that the "need calls to the preparation of a master, comprehensive plan
and a planning system to follow the general development of the city." 32
The Doxiadis Consultants projected population and urban growth based on the
current growth rate of 4.6 per annum. Accordingly, a population of 31,600 inhabitants by
1993 was estimated. A master plan covering an area of 840 hectares, compared to the
town's area of 270 hectares, was approved by the Council of Ministers (Figure 7.9). The
Doxiadis planners acknowledged the peculiar nature of Arar's growth factors: it was a
regional center, a border city lying at the locus of nomadic migration routes, had national
and international traffic, was a city of vital significance to the nation's security and one
which symbolized the monarchy's hegemony and sovereignty in the northern ulterior
region.
Similar to Riyadh's master plan, Doxiadis planners charted a flexible, open-ended
plan to allow for high growth rates suited to the dynamic city of Arar. 33 An open-ended
grid iron pattern was adopted with King Abdul-Aziz Road as its central commercial spine,
hence strengthening the east-west expandability. The plan included an hierarchical system
of discrete residential districts, circulation space and parking, ostensibly based on the
automobile as the popular mode of transportation. The plan was supplemented with
copious, well produced and illustrated documents containing diagrams, growth trends,
detailed maps for land use and zoning, all neatly packaged to convey an ideal urban setting
bound for a smooth and prosperous future. For example, the plan envisioned recreational
parks occupying the wadi beds, given the implementation of measures to circumvent
floods. 34
The plan estimated the city's future density to be 49 inhabitants per hectare and the
formula was followed which designated 50 percent of the city's land for residential uses,
25 percent for circulation space, with the rest earmarked for commercial and other urban
services, as well as open and recreation space. Residential districts were designed around
sub-centers, each housing residential community services. Residential districts were
allocated to partake in the ideal circulation space, pedestrian and vehicular, and calculated
relationships between homes, schools and open space. Typically, the various sub-centers
were arranged in space in relation to major commercial spine of King Abdul-Aziz Road
serving the city at large. In short, Doxiadis' planners postulated an ideal Western
organization of urban elements in space. They envisioned an urban society congenially