أرشيف الوسم: Corona

In 2005, Kuwait Municipality amended building legislation and raised the FAR and allowed the construction of various residential units within one house, which complicated the housing condition and resulted in unaffordability of housing in Kuwait. As houses prices rocketed in parallel with the scarcity of land and housing alternatives.

Coupled with neglecting professional opinions, the exclusion of the Municipality’s planning role and following the populist voices that calls for the expansion of the housing units, increasing the FAR and the number of units. Citizens may think that the are benefiting from these decisions, however in fact there are harming themselves and the rest of society in the short and log terms.

Thus, we call to revise the current building regulation and if necessary, to start to apply a new revised version on new residential areas to conserve the single-family land use, to improve the built environment, contribute to the availability of affordable housing for all. Lowering the FAR would reap the following advantages:

Compact cities that limit random urban sprawl:

Compact cities are more sustainable, as they limit random urban sprawl that consumes natural land. We should seek a new efficient model that better utilize urban land to lower waste and reduce harmful gas emissions. Reducing house size has a direct impact on the reduction of urban sprawl and achieve higher efficiencies.

Reduce the cost of Infrastructure:

Decision makers in Kuwait drifted toward allowing expanding houses sizes and facilities according to the current unsustainable model.   Coupled with the determination of beneficiaries of public housing of larger homes and wider roads, which lead to waste of land and increase the cost of infrastructure. And accordingly impede the government’s effort to construct new projects and more homes. And achieve a viable solution to the housing crisis. In Kuwait Housing projects seek to achieve housing densities that reach 8 to 10 units per Hectare. Reducing housing sizes through the reduction of FAR will allow planners to accommodate higher number of units and contribute directly to solving the housing crisis.

Reduce the cost of house construction:

Through firsthand experience in the design and construction of houses in Kuwait, one can see that individual households to use the maximum allowed FAR. Consequently, build homes that reach 1000 square meters of built-up area. Currently this cost each household more than 150 thousand Kuwaiti Dinars. Which makes double the granted governmental housing loan. Usually, this difference is covered through individual loans from local banks, which burdens households and makes an indebted society, which leads to negative social and economic problems.

Empower the Real Estate Developer:

While the government is foreseeing the involvement of the private sector in the development of Housing projects and to contribute to the provision of housing units to ease the demand. Obviously, the current form of houses in Kuwait are financially unfeasible. For the Real Estate Developer to succeed, our regulation must allow for the production of various types of hosing unis that cater for alternative tenants. These alternatives must include smaller homes and higher density for them to be feasible.

Ease the pressure on utilities and services:

When designing residential projects, planners and engineers build their assumptions on total foreseen population. Which is based on the average size of Kuwaiti household and the number of units. Taking into consideration that each house would house one household. However, the actual situation differs; due to the overcrowding that result from rented units, which increase the planned population of every neighborhood. This increase traffic congestion, random parking, and increase demand on electricity, water and sewage networks. In addition to pressures on other amenities like schools, parks, and other social and commercial services.

Decrease the attractivity of housing as an investment:

There is a direct correlation between increasing the FAR and the increasing housing prices. After the permission of establishing multiple units within the single-family house, residential areas began to attract investments and it became a speculation tool, and a preferred investment option.  This process raised prices and owning a home became beyond the reach of middle-income families. Renting became so common in residential areas as the current FAR allows the creation of more than eight rental units per home. And consequently, led to huge economic defect.

Accordingly, we call upon Kuwait Municipality planners, members of the Municipal Council and other decision makers to study the degrading condition of Residential neighborhood, revise the existing building regulation and appreciate the necessity to reduce the FAR in all Single-Family areas or at least in newly established residential neighborhoods to achieve sustainability and welfare.

The “Before It’s Too Late” report was prepared by 29 Kuwaiti academics who set out to shed a light on the dire state of Kuwait’s economy. The report included a call for major reforms to correct the current trajectory of Kuwait’s chaotic urban sprawl and rescue the general condition of the State while it is still possible.

The report states that “the sustainability of the welfare state for future generations is not possible without sacrifices and concessions made by our current generation.”*  In this context, reforming Kuwait’s urban growth model is key to its overall transformation. Although the model of urban growth that Kuwait followed for more than 50 years may have been suitable when the population was limited and the resources vast, it is no longer appropriate or sustainable.

After many years of explosive population growth and a surge in spending and subsidiaries coupled with wasting resources and missing opportunities to create a productive sector, many challenges have arisen. Thus, we are obliged to reconsider our urban growth policies and unwise expansion, which is the source of massive governmental and individual wastage.

Reestablishing urban development in Kuwait on sustainable principles that protect the rights of future generations must be made a priority. The first step toward this goal is to control the model of chaotic urban sprawl, which is rejected worldwide due to its disastrous effects on the economy and environment.

Chaotic urban sprawl has a negative economic impact, as the segregated new cities require the construction of new roads, infrastructure, and services. They also require the employment of many services and an administrative workforce that would increase the State’s spending. This cost is felt now, and in the near future, it would constitute heavy obligations, which the State may not be able to keep.

The model employed today provides a single housing option that drains the state’s and the individual’s budget. Moreover, this model forces families to spend their entire savings on the procurement of housing, leaving them in debt for the rest of their lives. This cost does not even include the price of furnishing and maintaining large homes secluded on the outskirts with inadequate amenities. Also, in the future, the peripheries would receive the least amount from municipal and public services and become locations of complex economic and social problems.

The chaotic urban sprawl negatively impacts the environment. Urban sprawl consumes natural land, destroys the environment, and increases greenhouse gas emissions that result from a dependency on private vehicles and road usage. These factors contribute to increased temperatures as well as other climatic disasters, such as seasonal floods.

Chaotic urban sprawl also imparts a negative social impact in addition to its economic consequences. Chaotic urban sprawl increases class disparity and hinders the creation of coherent communities. The secluded urban setting, the time spent on roads, the large distance between home and work, and the lack of physical movement directly impact psychological and physical health.

We must take a stance while it is still possible and reconsider our urban development model. We need to choose a sustainable approach that meets our aspirations and protects the rights of future generations. Decision makers should urgently take these steps:

• Review the state’s master plan and reevaluate the location of future housing cities to ensure their suitability and efficiency, measuring their life cycle cost based on real givens.
• Conduct detailed studies on the existing metropolitan area, consider the possibility of redistributing land-uses, and introduce new land-uses that correspond with current conditions, requirements, and circumstances.
• Update housing design criteria and establish highly efficient guidelines that consider long-term costs and meet economic and environmental standards.
• Revise current building regulations and produce new ones that propose alternative housing options that accommodate different families and individuals.

… Before it’s too late!

• *kuwaitimpakt.com

منذ سنوات والكويت تواجه مشكلة تنموية تتمثل في نموذج مركب يجمع بين الفشل الإداري وإدمان الهدر الريعي. وفي ظل هذا النموذج تتفاقم المشاكل الاقتصادية والاجتماعية، ويستشري الفساد الإداري والمالي، ويوماً بعد يوم يزيد الضغط على المواطن البسيط، وتخسر الطبقة المتوسطة العديد من مكاسبها، ويجد الفرد في مواجهة ذلك صعوبات حاضرة ومستقبل مجهول.

وبينما يسعى مخططو المدن لتحقيق الأهداف التنموية، والتي عادة ما تكون بعيدة المدى ومستدامة، وتتبع خطط حريصة على حفظ الموارد، وحماية البيئة، ومراعاة حقوق الأجيال القادمة. ويعتبر المخططون أنفسهم نخبة تستند على نظريات علمية، وتستخدم أدوات فنية وعقلانية للمفاضلة بين الخيارات ولاتخاذ القرارات.

ولكن من جهة أخرى، فإن من يقود الرأي العام مجموعة شعبوية تستند على الأسلوب الخطابي العاطفي والتبسيط المخل، ويتسم خطابها بمعارضة النخب، والسياسات الحكومية، والسعي لربط آراء المختصين بالسلطة الحاكمة، والتكسب من خلال اللعب على الانقسامات الطبقية في المجتمع. ويفتقر طرحها للمنطق السليم، ويشجع المطالبات الاستهلاكية والخطط الريعية الحكومية بغض النظر عن جدواها.  لكن هذا الخطاب الشعبوي يجد قبولاً لأنه يستند على حالة الإحباط العام، وانسداد الأفق، وفشل النظم الديمقراطية في تحقيق طموحات الشعب، وشعور المواطن العادي بالظلم، وأنه غير قادر على التأثير على واقعه.

إن هذا الاتجاه الشعبوي الذي أصبح يمتلك الرأي العام من خلال تواصله المباشر مع المواطن البسيط، وامتلاكه لمنصات إعلامية عديدة وعلى رأسها منصات التواصل الاجتماعي، فأصبح يقود الخطط، ويوجه الأولويات الحكومية، ويحدد مستقبل البلد في كل المجالات ومنها التخطيط الحضري والعمراني.

لذلك، وفي ظل هذه الظروف الحرجة التي نمر بها، أصبح لزاماً على المختصين السعي الحثيث نحو مواجهة هذا التيار الشعبوي وإعادة الاعتبار للمهنية والمنطق السليم، وممكن أن يتم لك من خلال:

• إعادة بناء الثقة بذوي الاختصاص لاسيما في مجال التخطيط العمراني والحضري.
• المشاركة في النقاشات الشعبية والتواصل المباشر مع المواطنين.
• معالجة الخلل في نظمنا الديمقراطية بحيث تحقق أفضل تمثيل للشعب.
• معالجة الخلل في النظم البيروقراطية التي باتت عائقاً نحو تحقيق الأهداف التنموية.
• تعزيز الوعي بدور الخطط الهيكلية العمرانية في رفع جودة الحياة.
• تعزيز الشفافية والنزاهة وتعزيز ثقة المواطنين بالقرارات الحكومية.
• إعادة الكوينالمجلس البلدي، وتوسيع دائرة تمثيله، وبسط سلطاته على القرارات البلدية.

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected our lives in many ways, and just like the rest of the world, social and economic sectors in Kuwait suffered greatly. A tremendous impact on individuals and institutions has been seen as a result.

While the world is adapting gradually to the pandemic and we have started the gradual reopening of the economy and returning to our previous way of life, we must pause and analyze the experience that we have been through since February 2020, and draw a new trajectory for the future.

Our urban paradigm is one of the most critical aspects that needs to be reviewed and given careful consideration. We need to realize that the identification of a new urban model is crucial for ensuring future prosperity and sustainability. This Post-Pandemic Urban Paradigm should be built on seven fundamental pillars:

Leadership and administration:

The sudden occurrence of the pandemic and the measures that followed have to provide us a lesson in the importance of selecting leaders and managers based on their merit and qualifications. In times of difficulty, the state can only face challenges with a strong team of qualified, experienced, and wise leaders.

We have to put emergency plans in place, ready for implementation, and support them logistically in a way that allows our cities to face disasters of all kinds. Following the path of leading cities around the world, we have to be crisis-ready and prepared for the worst. It seems that the world is moving into a period of instability, where constant change will be the new norm.

Priority setting:

High oil revenues that we have enjoyed since our independence allowed us to follow a specific developmental path. This path formulated the urban environment in Kuwait and contributed to the creation of certain consumption habits and ways of life that have characterized the Kuwaiti and GCC citizens.

However, the pandemic and its consequences must force us to rearrange our development priorities and re-evaluate our lifestyles as individuals. The government has a more significant role in identifying a smarter spending scheme and addressing the following:

• Spending wisely and paying more attention to the long-term cost of megaprojects.
• It is time to bring the environment to the forefront of our priorities. We must address the environmental impact of urban projects and realize the high cost of urban sprawl and its consequent effects on transport and the side costs of infrastructure, energy, and water. We need to be aware of the adverse effects that this leaves on our natural environment (seas and desert) and their condition for future generations.
• Perhaps we must consider focusing on the development of existing mismanaged urban land and find better ways to wisely utilize it, rather than moving toward continued urban sprawl. It is more economically and environmentally feasible to repurpose existing neighborhoods and to additionally rehabilitate old buildings and structures to serve our emerging needs in the post-pandemic era.

Smart systems:

The pandemic has illustrated that cities that employed smart systems before the crisis benefited from these technologies to collect and analyze data and manage procedures. Thus, we must take firm steps toward equipping our urban environment with smart systems that empower our cities to utilize the latest technologies. These would manage security, public transport, emergency services, entertainment, and other services while taking into consideration the legal aspects to protect an individual’s rights and privacy.

Modern technologies and tools can improve the quality of life in cities and contribute to protecting the public during emergencies, such as:

• Provide open access sharing platforms that allow citizens to submit information that may serve decision-makers.
• Solicit community efforts to participate in solving local challenges.
• Support the digital economy as a central component, especially during the pandemic.
• Activate social media platforms to create a positive public domain, to compensate for the diminishing public spaces.

Population density and composition:

The pandemic has brought with it feelings of fear of high population densities in urban areas. Citizens have expressed concerns over a lack of resources and health services. They are increasingly worried about shanty town housing in places like Jleeb, Farwaniya, and other areas.

There have been calls for a decrease in population size and applying pressure to ex-pat workers, all the while acknowledging a real problem within the population and a high percentage of exploited unorganized workers and the spread of the illegal work contracts trade. The problem is complex and requires careful study and a proper plan that achieves high social and economic returns. Thus, we should seek to fix the quality of the population rather than merely its quantity.

The quality of homes and residential neighborhoods:

Houses and residential neighborhoods are the main components of any city; thus, they demand special attention. During the Covid-19 pandemic and the various levels of lockdown, cities should review their design and pay more attention to the quality of residential neighborhoods to ensure the welfare of its residents. It is time to focus on urban design and implement small interventions to improve local environments, such as:

• Develop local parks, children’s playgrounds, and youth sports fields.
• Build upon the success of the walking tracks within residential neighborhoods, and develop a model of linear parks that raises the quality of the tracks and the overall environment.
• To support the efforts of the Cooperative Societies, which played a critical role during the pandemic, and provided valuable services to local communities. Coops must be enabled to be engaged more in the provision of various social, commercial, and urban services, to create local independence and sufficiency within residential neighborhoods. Thus, lowering the need for travel.

Public transport:

The pandemic shocked the basis of urban services and caused significant doubt in the role of cities, high-density urban areas, and public transport.

Before the pandemic, Kuwait was suffering from severe traffic problems and a high dependency on private vehicles. The average Kuwaiti spends at least one hour a day commuting to work, and the state spends billions of dollars in road improvement and expansions, and tens of millions on annual road maintenance.

After the pandemic, it will be time to review our planning model and seek feasible alternatives. World cities are transforming and redesigning their road networks to create a better urban milieu:

• More emphasis must be given to pedestrian networks, to encourage walking, observe social distancing, and to provide the highest levels of comfort and safety for all.
• Redesign our roads to provide adequate bicycle lanes, achieve safety and comfort to encourage more use.
• Allocate special lanes for public transport (buses and taxis), to increase efficiency and encourage more use.
• Increase spending on public transport to improve their quality and fulfill health and safety requirements to attract more users of all ages and economic backgrounds.
• Encourage working from home and plan for a diversity of uses to decrease the need for travel, thus reducing traffic congestion.

Health and hygiene:

The pandemic illustrated the importance of urban health and hygiene. Kuwait Municipality spends enormously on waste collection contracts, which employs tens of thousands of laborers to keep our neighborhoods clean. However, the pandemic and its consequences must lead us to find better ways to manage waste and keep our cities clean. Aspects we should consider:

• Change of personal habits and adopting wiser practices to lower our waste and increase recycling.
• Increase fines for environmental pollution and waste.
• Encourage individuals and establishments to participate in efforts to manage waste and allocate central locations within neighborhoods and blocks to dispose of waste, which will decrease the need for laborers and trash collection trucks. This decrease will also lower the cost of waste management contracts.
• It is time to equip new neighborhoods with automated waste collection systems, which will lower the dependency on laborers and trucks while reducing the visual pollution that results from the distribution of garbage containers.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has affected almost every aspect of life, it is vital to learn lessons from it when planning for the future. The identification of a new urban model for this Post-Pandemic Urban Paradigm has been outlined in this article through seven fundamental pillars. From ensuring competent leadership to rearranging our priorities, the implementation of smart systems and fixing issues inherent to our population, ensuring the quality of our homes and residential neighborhoods, and finally providing urban health and hygiene, we can be crisis-ready during periods of instability.