أرشيف الوسم: crime

Municipal decisions shape a city’s soul. Smart cities are built on empathy; they preserve order through regulation and strong communication with communities, offering supportive alternatives and applying subtle, data-driven interventions. Therefore, what is happening in Jleeb al-Shuyoukh these days is of great importance and calls for attention.

Over the past two weeks, a group of government institutions has launched a campaign in Jleeb al-Shuyoukh, a densely populated area known for sheltering low-income workers and for its high number of construction violations and other encroachments. As reported by newspapers, the campaign targeted more than 1,000 buildings, resulting in the evacuation of large numbers of residents and difficult conditions for vulnerable segments of society.

Officials see the deteriorating condition of the area as the result of decades of neglect and unregulated growth, with landlords dividing single-family homes into high-density housing. This has led to negative effects on services and infrastructure and presents risks to security and safety. Thus, the time has come to find quick solutions to this corrupt phenomenon.

Although the official authorities’ diagnosis is correct, an intervention of this magnitude requires more practical planning that examines the problem in depth and from all sides. Many cities around the world have faced similar, perhaps even more frequent, problems and have succeeded in solving them by matching intervention to context.

In Kuwait, we have precise tools to address the subject with professionalism, sensitivity, and humanity. We should have looked at the big picture and considered how the urban area could accommodate low-wage housing in a humane and practical way. Prudent planning favors improvements over demolition and prioritizes preserving the structure and social networks, while taking into account for the requirements of security, safety, and engineering efficiency.

Despite all that we see, the Jleeb area has succeeded in attracting workers, housing them, and providing a central location in the heart of Kuwait, offering affordable housing for the simple worker and access to various areas in the north and south of Kuwait. It also provided residents with a relatively acceptable environment, serving as a social incubator for communities, with restaurants, playgrounds, mosques, markets, shops, and both official and informal services. Therefore, it has the elements that have enabled it to survive and operate for decades.

But when we do not find an alternative to human relocation, it would have been better to discover viable alternatives that take into account the requirements of the state and society and do not neglect the priorities and needs of the worker. Hence, we should seek to develop systems that integrate corporate responsibility for workers’ housing, along with work and residence permits. Develop policies that encourage investment, or spending when investment is not feasible, in affordable housing for workers. In addition, involve the community as a whole in making such decisions. Scientific tools, supported by reliable information, are also needed to monitor ongoing compliance with building regulations and security and safety requirements.

Finally, we call for wisdom and compassion, because urban planning is centered on human beings. The imposition of the law does not imply policies of abstract erasure, and illegal or dense housing does not justify sudden evictions, which expose individuals and sometimes families to harsh conditions. Often, this worker is only a victim of system breakdowns or the pressures of circumstances. The sight of workers scouring the roads and surrounding areas, carrying what they could or sleeping on roofs in the heat of summer, is an indication of a moral failure in a country that has always presented itself as a country of humanity and goodness!

Cities are built on compassion; smart municipalities study the steps, know how to implement soft interventions, provide alternatives, and listen to residents, while also developing and enforcing laws and regulations through transparent procedures and accountable measures. We must realize that abiding by the law is rooted in trust, while fear leads to exporting problems or creating new ones.

“Utopia is on the horizon. When I draw nearer by two steps, it retreats two steps. If I proceed ten steps forward, it swiftly slips ten steps ahead. No matter how far I go, I can never reach it. What, then, is the purpose of utopia? It is to cause us to advance.”

              – Eduardo Galeano

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Sometimes, turning to radical ideas can be helpful. These ideas challenge what is familiar, encourage new ways of thinking, and offer solutions we might not have considered. Even if they seem impractical, bold ideas can still make a positive difference.

To complete the topic of productive cities, I thought it necessary to present the ideas of the urban thinker Dr. Jamil Akbar, who has made significant contributions to urbanism and seeks to offer a new vision derived from Islamic culture that challenges the prevailing situation. It deals beyond the urban form to the methods of politics and the general administration of the state and the people. Dr. Jamil Abdulqader Akbar is one of those who put forward big ideas, and he works honestly and diligently to spread and defend them. He was a professor of architecture and planning at King Faisal University and the author of the book “Architecture of the Earth in Islam” and the great book “Cutting the Truth”.

Dr. Jameel Akbar sees productivity and work as more than just employment and earning a salary. He connects them closely to property, freedom, and urban development. In his view, work is the only valid way to gain rights, and it is the main force behind the urban energy that is missing in many modern cities.

Dr. Jameel highlights the old legal principle: “Whoever revives a dead land, it is his.” Here, labor becomes the true way a person earns the right to own property, not just through money or government support. In the past, people gained ownership by doing real work like building fences, digging wells, or farming. This was direct and productive. Today, this has changed to borrowing from family, waiting for housing, or speculating, so the connection between people and land is now temporary and based on benefit, not hard work and creation.

Akbar believes that real action is shown by a person’s ability to change their surroundings. When someone opens a window, adds a room, or cleans a shared yard with neighbors, they are working. Modern planning has replaced this kind of work with bureaucracy. Instead of using their energy to build and improve, people now spend it on getting permits and dealing with paperwork, which Akbar sees as unproductive and wasteful.

In his book “Cutting the Truth,” Dr. Jameel goes further in his criticism of how labor is seen in modern states, especially welfare or rentier states. He argues that much government work has become fake work. He points out that government offices are filled with employees, like supervisors and planners, whose main job is to stop people from working or using their property. He believes this wastes national resources and blocks real production.

Dr. Jameel says that society becomes productive when people remove barriers and too many rules, allowing them to work and run small businesses freely and responsibly. He suggests using a “No harm, no foul” rule instead of a system where everything is banned unless you have a permit.

Dr. Akbar calls for responsible freedom. He believes people should be free to manage their surroundings, land, and businesses, as long as they do not harm others. When strict laws stop people from doing this, they stop being producers and become consumers who rely on the state to act for them.

Dr. Jameel thinks that modern planning systems, which come from the West, have taken away people’s ability to shape their own environments. In the past, residents helped decide how their buildings looked, often working with neighbors, so they were active in creating their cities. Now, people mostly buy ready-made homes like villas and apartments, designed by the state or developers, with strict rules about things like building heights and distances. This change has led to people feeling disconnected and less involved.

One of Dr. Jameel’s key ideas is that the more control people have, the more responsibility they take. When the state or city takes away residents’ control over public spaces like streets and parks, it also takes away their sense of responsibility. People stop caring about keeping these areas clean or maintained because they see them as the state’s job. This means the state has to spend more on maintenance and security, while in the past, residents handled these tasks themselves at little cost.

Dr. Jameel connects the loss of personal responsibility to the rise of consumerism. When central authorities control everything, people start to compete over things like fancy homes and cars instead of working to improve their communities. Cities then become collections of isolated consumers who depend on air conditioning and cars, rather than using natural or community-based solutions.

Dr. Jameel points out that urban problems are not just about economics, but also about human rights and regulations. He says we cannot improve productivity, use resources wisely, or even keep cities running unless people regain control over their local environments. This way, people can once again become caretakers of the land, not just consumers.

Some people think Dr. Jameel’s ideas are unrealistic or too idealistic, and others may see them as fitting only a certain traditional or scientific view. However, their real value lies in their inspiration from Islamic culture and in offering smart, thought-provoking examples. These ideas challenge the usual ways of thinking, encourage reflection, and might help bring about change, even if only in small ways.

ضمن التدوينة السابقة، ناقشت أهمية التخطيط لمدن الكويت الجديدة كمحركات للإنتاجية بدلا من الاستهلاك. ولفهم كيف يمكن تحقيق هذا التحول، يمكننا النظر إلى المدن التي حولت مزاياها الفريدة وخلقت نتائج ملموسة. وهنا تعد مدينة برشلونة نموذجا فريداً، حيث يبرز التفاعل بين الإبداع والهوية الثقافية والنجاح الاقتصادي.

إن صعود مدينة برشلونة كمركز ثقافي عالمي هو نتاج التخطيط الاستراتيجي، والإرث التاريخي، والاستثمار المستمر في الفنون والهوية والفضاء العام. لقد وضع أساس هذا التحول في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر وأوائل القرن العشرين، عندما شهدت المدينة نمواً صناعياً سريعاً وازدهاراً ثقافياً يعرف باسم رينايشينسا، الذي أعاد إحياء اللغة الكتالونية والفنون المحلية والحياة الفكرية. وقد أنتجت هذه الفترة عمارة حداثية أيقونية – وأبرزها أعمال أنطوني غاودي – مما منح برشلونة جمالية واضحة وهوية ثقافية مميزة.

وبعد عقود من القمع السياسي، استغلت برشلونة الانتقال الديمقراطي في أواخر السبعينيات كفرصة لإعادة تعريف نفسها. واستغلت المدينة دورة الألعاب الأولمبية لعام 1992 كنقطة تحول كبير. حيث استخدمت المدينة البطولة ليس فقط كحدث رياضي، بل كاستراتيجية شاملة للتحول الحضري والثقافي. فقد جددت الواجهة البحرية، وأنشأت مساحات عامة جديدة، وحسنت وسائل النقل العام، واستثمرت المدينة بشكل كبير في المرافق الثقافية. وقد جعل هذا التجديد مدينة برشلونة نموذجاً لصناعة الهوية الخاصة.

وبالتوازي مع ذلك، رعت المدينة الصناعات الإبداعية، ومنها التصميم والعمارة والموسيقى والفنون البصرية – من خلال دعم الاستوديوهات الصغيرة والمهرجانات والمؤسسات الثقافية. وقد ساهمت مؤسسات مثل متحف بيكاسو، ومتحف الفن المعاصر (MACBA)، ومجمع قاعة الحفلات الموسيقية L’Auditori في تنويع العروض والاسهامات الثقافية إلى ما هو أبعد من السياحة.

كما روجت برشلونة لثقافة الشارع النابضة بالحياة. وأصبحت ساحاتها وممراتها ومساراتها ومساحاتها العامة مسرحاً للتبادل الثقافي اليومي، مما جعل المدينة تبدو حية ثقافياً حتى بدون فعاليات رسمية. إن مهرجانات مثل لا ميرسي، وهو مهرجان ثقافي وديني، ومهرجان سونار المكرس للموسيقى والإبداع والتكنولوجيا، وضعت برشلونة أكثر مركزاً للتقاليد العريقة والابتكار العصري.

وأخيرا، سوقت المدينة نفسها عالمياً كوجهة متوسطية منفتحة ومبدعة. وركزت سرديتها على نمط الحياة، والإبداع، والتصميم، والجودة الحضرية – مما يجذب الفنانين ورواد الأعمال وملايين الزوار. فمن خلال التراث، والتجديد الحضري، والاستثمار الثقافي، وصناعة الهوية القوية، نجحت برشلونة في إثبات نفسها كواحدة من العواصم الثقافية الرائدة في العالم.

وهنا نعيد التأكيد بأن الأسس لتحول مدن الكويت موجودة بالفعل – فهي ذات حجم يمكن التحكم فيه، وتركيز ديموغرافي، وموارد وفيرة، وسكان ذوي رؤية. مع هذه المزايا، يمكن للكويت تكييف استراتيجيات برشلونة المثبتة لتطوير مدنها الجديدة إلى مراكز نابضة بالحياة تزدهر فيها الإنتاجية الاقتصادية والديناميكية الثقافية.