Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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Huraimla. 22 Between 1970 and 1975,20 hectares were added to the town's area. In
addition to land inside the walled area (either on demolished mud houses and/or in small
farms within the wall), the area north of the town in particular, was targeted in the post
1960s. Between 1975 and 1980, another 30 hectares were added to the old compact mass.
In 1989, the area of Hiiramila's residential use jumped to 329.9 hectares, and a total urban
area reaching more than 407.62 hectares (Table 8.1).
Because of Huramila's unique terrain, which limited the prospect of connected,
uninterrupted growth with the old town, and due to the dramatic economic developments
since the 1970s, detached suburban development ensued which resulted in a bipolar urban
form. Al-Hazm comprises the modern, planned, serviced part of the town, while the old,
compact area is the old town. As such, and to some extent, Al-Hazm can be considered as
an example of a wholly planned community more than a suburb. Table 8.1 corroborates
the dramatic government-led urban process: centrally-controlled municipal planning,
construction of public projects, generous housing subsidies (through the REDF) and the
private sector's pro-growth promotion, and distribution of free public land for residential
and industrial uses.
Yet, Huraimla's expansion to Al-Hazm ("New Huraimla") was not merely the
function of local market forces of supply and demand at inertia. Rather, the bold decision
to transfer the town's administrative and public center and substantial residential tracts for
residential use two kilometers to the west, must be seen in light of the policies and
programs implemented by the central state. Since its promulgation in the 1930s, the
government has been allocating substantial sums of capital in the provision of basic social
and physical infrastructure and public services and suburbanization-oriented policies. In
short, the transformation of the traditional built environment must be placed in the context
of political, administrative, and economic developments that have been orchestrated by the
central state. 23
5. The Urban Domain (1989-Present)
With the increase in national oil income in the 1970s, the state has been engaging the
traditional society in ambitious developmental programs. The modernization of the
economy has been supplemented by urban policies, such as free and subsidized housing,
agricultural loans and the distribution of free land to virtually all qualified adult residents.