Dissertation_Dr Faisal Almubarak

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such a chaotic sprouting of hijar, measures have been taken to abort unpromising locations,
including the denial of government housing loans to its inhabitants.
Abdul-Aziz's first attempts, and the Saudi government's later efforts to settle the
roving bedouins were rooted in several factors. Hijar programs have been promoted for
religious, military, political and economic reasons. Nationalism required a civil population
glued by national allegiance rather than recalcitrant herds of men and livestock bound by
tribal association. I consider this intervention by the state to be the inception of state
intervention in Saudi urban development which was to continue in the developmental
programs of the various monarchs. Economically, urbanization was induced by connecting
the national economy to the international market system. Politically, the government's
modernization programs have become means to attain political stability and economic
prosperity in line with the prevailing cultural imperatives.
HI. POLITICAL STABILITY, GROWTH OF BUREAUCRACY, AND OIL ECONOMY
A. The Saudi Economy: From Traditional Subsistence to Oil Economy
For centuries, the Saudi society has engaged in agricultural production, pearl diving
and fishing, trading and the nomadic nurturing of livestock by nomads. Prior to the
creation of Saudi Arabia in 1932, an integrated national economy did not exist. Industry
was limited to production of simple tools by craftsmen who lived in small towns and urban
centers of the Hijaz in western Saudi Arabia (where the two holy cities of Makkah and
Madinah are located). The Hijazi dwellers of Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah were
essentially urbanites who practiced trade and commercial activity because of the annual
influx of pilgrims visiting the holy places in Makkah and Madinah. Jeddah served as an
entrepot on the Red Sea and as a gateway to Makkah, taking advantage of its littoral
location along the the Red Sea.
The traditional economy of towns was that of the bazaar economy. Merchant and
trade economies were located mainly in major towns and cities. The traditional economy
was based on customary inheritance of family occupations or crafts. The family head
supervised whatever craft he inherited from his father and so he handed down the
profession to his progeny. He maintained the quality of the family craftsmanship on which