Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

288
12 Doxiadis Associates (September, 1974).
13 This may be attributed to the Tapline's lack of interest; in their attempt to reap the greatest profits
possible, Tapline might have justified the building of modern communities though lacking appropriate
services, on the basis that the prevailing traditional and nomadic population would not appreciate such
modern novelties.
Royal Decree no. 8/6/1607 dated 15/9/1365H. (1935) dictated that undocumented or undeveloped land
belonged to the state, henceforth.
15 MOMRA's Circular no. 1855/4 dated 6/6//1390H. (1970) based on Royal Decree no. 5774 dated
26/3/1390H. authorized the transfer of residential land from the Tapline to Saudi workers free of charge.
Both decisions were built on Royal Decree no. 2720/1 dated 9/5/1376H. (1956) which gave Aramco's
workers free land to build their units which were financed by Aramco. MOMRA, 1975, Volume II,
157.
16
See for example, Royal Decree no. 2/1/13/1009 dated 17/6/1374H.(1954), no.l 1003 dated 8/5/86H
(1966), no. 24540 dated 1/12/1388H., and MOMRA's Circular no. 563/3 dated 26/2/1387H. (waw)
gave control over peripheral land to municipalities. According to Circular no. 23/5 dated 17/1/1395H.
and 381/5 dated 16/11/1395H. (waw) municipalities were urged to speed up the distribution of free land
to limited-income citizens to counter the illegal take over of public and private land by poor
immigrants. Circular no. 211/5 dated 6/7/1398H., for example, attribute the proliferation of squatter
settlements in various Saudi settlements to the slow distribution of free land by municipalities.
17 The conditions concerning construction and freedom to sell or rent were dropped In 1981, the year
which alone witnessed the distribution of 46,000 lots free of charge (Council of Ministers Order no. 59
dated 19/4/1401H. and 9698 dated 28/4/1401H and(C.1981)).
18 Circular number 15/5 dated 14/1/1398H. (waw) referred to municipal land and Circular number 1700
dated 25/4/1398H. (waw) concerned rural land. However, Circular number 1700 dated 25/4/1398H.
(waw) concerns land lying in villages and "cluster villages." It lists prices per square meter ranging
between SR 1 and SR4 (approximately $.25-$1.00).
19 For more details, refer to Royal Decrees no. 11003 dated 8/5/86H (1966), no. 437 dated 1/6/1398H (c.
1978), and no. 59 dated 19/4/1401 (c. 1981) concerning criteria for low-income groups (LIG) to qualify
for free land. Some of the conditions attached to an LIG's grant that he or she is 18 years or older,
must not own land or has previously obtained a REDFs loan. He or she must build within a five-year
duration and may not sell or rent the property without due process. The 1401H legislation was
amended in the Council of Ministers' Decision number 153 dated 9/7/1407H. (1987).
20 High Commission for the Development of Riyadh. Madinat Arriyadh: Lamahat Mukhtasarah (Riyadh
City: Brief Aspects) (Riyadh: Al-Obaican Press, c. 1989), 2.
21 Government legislation concerning the development of squatter settlements has been ambivalent. On
the one hand, there is strict interest in obliterating shantytowns within the urban areas (e.g. Council of
Ministers' Decision no. 977 dated 3/7/1388H. empowered municipalities to demolish shantytowns).
On the other hand, the government has been considerate toward the impoverished and "limited-income"
groups. For example, Royal Decrees no. 2410 dated I7/1/1386H and no. 1003 dated 8/5/1386H and
Circular no. 961 dated 21/4/1386H (waw) stipulated that squatters who own no land are entitled to land