Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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Mohammad (1803-14) the grandson of Mohammad ibn Saud, the co-founder of the
Wahhabi cause. Ibn Saud, who hoped that a well-defended Huxaimla would serve as an
additional defense against the marching forces of Ibrahim Pasha, ordered the ruler of
Huraimla, Musa ibn Gasim, to build the longest wall ever, commonly known as Soor Ibn
Gasim. The 6.5 kilometer wall which surrounded the entire developed territory, buildings
and farms, encircled an area of 2.9 square kilometers (290 hectares). The wall system
included twenty watch towers and several gates. Huraimla managed to survive the scourge
of confronting the unprecedented army of Ibrahim Pasha who, after meeting with
representatives of Huraimla headed by Hamad A1 Mubarak, agreed to safeguard the
destruction of the town.
Following the destruction of the Diry'ah, Najd entered an era of political hiatus
interspersed with waves of disorder. The expansion of Huraimla's traditional physical
environment typifies building processes of pre-industrial Najdi oasis towns. Under
conditions of the perennial war environment, meager water resources, geographic isolation
and adherence to stern Islamic teachings, the traditional Najdi built environment evolved.
In the dramatic developments following the promulgation of the new Saudi nation state, the
Najdi traditional model of physical development ceased to exist, and the traditional built
environment has since undergone a profound metamorphosis under the modern political
economic and technological imperatives. In the remaining part of this chapter, I will
discuss the early, gradual changes which emanated from the new political and economic
order and the later (post-1970s) dramatic incidents which forged the contemporary built
environment in the Kingdom.
IV. POST-UNIFICATION HURAIMLA: TRADITIONAL (1900-1970) GROWTH AND
POST-1970S "PLANNED" GROWTH
The unification of Saudi Arabia under King Abdul-Aziz brought a new era of farflung
security, growth and prosperity. The consolidation of power in the form of a central
state meant the cessation of feuding towns' populations engaging in an ongoing struggle
over the meager resources offered by the desert environment. The establishment of a
modern state ushered in political stability and, due to the discovery of oil in enormous
quantities, economic support under the aegis of the central power focusing the population's
energies toward growth, ostensibly starting in, and reflected upon the physical
environment.