FRAGMENTATION AND FRAGILITY OF SAUDI-ARABIAN CITIES

Analysis of urban fragmentation examining spatial expression of the phenomenon in the context of Saudi-Arabian cities Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Mecca.

Due to phenomenal growth of the country, the form and structure of Saudi cities has undergone a fascinating transformation. Moving from tribal settlements to vast metropolitan areas, the developments has caused a breakdown of the traditional structure of urban fabric and social coherence, continuing growing trends without a proper planning strategy.

The focus lies on understanding urban fragmentation as a consequence of shifting paradigms and ongoing crisis in urban development which we face as a global society due to mega-urbanization, ignoring urban realities and failing to react to current developments.

The work further reviews the polysemic character of the term fragmentation as operational tool used by urban scientists describing the phenomenon of increased differentiation within cities, its severe limitations and incapacity to identify the very mechanisms that generate fragmentation.

Deconstructed wholeness

The discourse appears to have a common denominator — fragmentation is perceived as a process of deconstruction of the former wholeness or entirety and instead creating fragmentary urban space as a reflection of a fragmentary state of social existence. A fragmented city should, according to these definitions, experience various levels of disconnection, even to a level of isolation, while fostering a strong feeling of otherness and mutual dissociating of groups in the public realm.

Fragmentation can often be viewed from a perspective of a narrow and totalizing functionalism, which correspondents with conceptualization of fragmentation as an explosion of the city and serves as a criticism of modernity. In the context of modernist city, it works as a two-end comparison between an ideal city and urban pathology, whereas in the context of the post-modern city it serves as a tool of assessing the complexities and the individual fragments. Their state can thus be used as indicators of urban evolution and interpreters of social behavior.

Studies suggest to associate overcoming the effects of fragmentation — the morphological discontinuities and physical disconnection as well as exclusive logics and consequently a community withdrawal — by integrative tactics and unification strategies. Urban fragmentation thus puts a direct emphasis on the question of the unity — one of the greatest challenges of the global humanity today.

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New legislative framework and the spatial network frictions

In the recent years, Saudi Arabia has made a significant progress in improving the capacities in both national and local planning. The governance on the national level, however, has taken up a dominant position, leaving the local level restricted in decision making. The centralized institutional structure is thus distinct in operational independence, overlaps in activities and functions, and is characterized by fragmented participation in development activities.

The current planning methods are rooted in formal regulations ensuring and maintaining certain dimensions and quality of the spatial network in order to progress in urban development. These legislative changes are created with the intention of progress and evolution with focus on economic efficiency, yet they fail to consider the environmental and mainly the socio-cultural dimension.

It is a consequential impact of a contrast between the two models: the contemporary planning model being dynamic and mechanical while the traditional model is static and human in scale. The role of the new planning processes is to install a new social order, different from the traditional one, which is causing a break up with the traditional urban design. It is assumed that in order to maintain the vitality of the economy as well as ensure the social transition, the urban environment needs to change to create a context that is supportive of range of modern economic activities. It creates a profound conflict which affects all areas of urban production and usage.