أرشيف الوسم: NEOM

On the twenty-first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran, with Iran now targeting GCC countries in retaliation, we are drawn into the center of a regional conflict. Yet, life here continues with unsettling normalcy. Sirens sound, news circulates, but the streets stay busy, and people maintain their routines. We are reminded how fragile welfare is.

In the last 60 years, the GCC populations have expanded fortyfold, and countries have built modern cities with extraordinary ambition. These cities are equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, abundant energy, and cityscapes that rival any on earth. Still, behind this prosperity lies profound vulnerability. Desalination plants remain the sole source of water for millions, even as the threat of sabotage hangs over critical infrastructure. The lesson is becoming impossible to ignore: a city should only grow as large as its water reserves can sustain !

International opposition to the war is rising, and deep Pan-Arab sentiment now aligns with anyone opposing the Israeli regime. This created tension with some expats and could pose a challenge to local governments.  Other highly qualified Expats begin to quietly leave. Cities should reassess their technical and infrastructural dependencies; The war exposes that immigrants are gifts, but immigration as a demographic strategy creates vulnerability !

Interestingly, the long-criticized low-density urbanization in GCC cities now appears to be an unexpected advantage. Sprawling cities with sparse populations mean that missiles and drones face different calculations of destruction than they would in more densely packed cities. High density proves beneficial, but not during wartime !

Meanwhile, while driving on the First Ring Road recently, I came across a painful scene: the damaged headquarters of the Public Institution for Social Security, which had been hit by a missile fragment. The view of the burned tower offers a sharp contrast to the ambitions of skyscrapers in a region known for its world-renowned landmarks and high-rise competition. In wartime, the tower is no longer a landmark, but a target. Working or living in them is considered more dangerous, and they pose a challenge for emergency teams. In wartime, towers turned out to be a useless burden !

Technology has also revealed its limits. Adapted apps, payment platforms, and digital conveniences have always formed a layer built upon stability, not the foundation itself. When conflict began, this distinction stood out unmistakably.

The war underscores the importance of the human and the local. In times of crisis, it is clear that people matter more than platforms. Immediately, we recognized the value of neighbors—those who share sirens and a stairwell. The neighborhood, humanity’s oldest settlement unit, stands as something technology cannot replicate. War reminds us to know and value our neighbors !

Additionally, the war has shifted our understanding of home, making accessibility and centrality essential for survival. A well-located home now holds value for its protection, access, and resilience, not for its aspirations.

Lastly, war strips cities down to their essentials and forces us to confront what we have long taken for granted. Amenities like Water, shelter, community, and proximity are not mere conveniences but the architecture of survival. This moment of reckoning is not unique in history, but it arrives with particular importance for cities built on the assumption of permanent stability. Maybe the deepest lesson of this war is not strategic or political, but fundamentally human: that the measure of a city was never its skyline, but its resilience, and that resilience was never found in its buildings and infrastructures, but in the people who live between them.

This series presents a vision for transforming Kuwait and Gulf cities into productive centers. In this article, I highlight the importance of defining the creative class’s role in this transformation. Achieving this goal requires shifting from the current practice of randomly attracting expatriate workers to intentionally recruiting creative talent. Reliance on expatriate labor has created structural challenges: low-skilled workers dominate the workforce, while nationals and skilled expatriates compete for mid-level positions. Additionally, existing laws hinder efforts to attract and retain talented individuals.

After decades of state-building, strong institutions, and a clear national identity, Kuwait and the Gulf are now positioned to adopt more open policies. These changes can liberalize the economy and enable individuals and expatriate groups to contribute more significantly to its development.

I would like to highlight the work of American urban thinker and economist Richard Florida, known for his theory of the “creative class” and its influence on city economies, as outlined in The Rise of the Creative Class (2002). Florida defines the creative class as individuals whose work is rooted in ideas and knowledge, viewing creativity as the primary driver of today’s economy. He argues that cities now compete to attract talented people, and companies follow these individuals to their preferred locations.

Florida suggests that cities can attract talent by focusing on three key areas (3T’s): talent, technology, and tolerance. Talent refers to an educated and skilled workforce. Technology involves strong innovation and technical capabilities. Tolerance means openness to diversity, including people from various backgrounds and cultures. According to Florida, cities excelling in all three areas experience the fastest growth. He also emphasizes the importance of high-quality living environments and vibrant urban lifestyles. His ideas have shifted urban planning from prioritizing industry to investing in people and culture.

Attracting and retaining the creative class offers multiple strategic advantages:

1. Growth and innovation: The creative class drives the creation of startups that diversify the economy beyond traditional sectors.
2. Global attractiveness: The creative class enhances the city’s reputation as a cultural and technological hub, attracting greater investment.
3. Urban renewal: The creative class revitalizes neglected areas, transforming them into active economic zones.
4. Knowledge exchange: Expanding the creative class fosters innovation, knowledge sharing, healthy competition, and stronger links between technology and culture.

Currently, Kuwait is adopting policies that diverge from the global trend of openness, making the environment less welcoming and moving away from its tradition of tolerance and diversity. Instead of promoting policies that attract and retain creative individuals, there is a tendency to undervalue diversity and overestimate local skills. We hope this approach will be reconsidered, with respect for the rule of law and the rights Kuwait has long upheld.

As global competition for talent intensifies, it is essential to develop laws and urban environments that enable creative expatriates to become active partners in progress. This approach will support lasting prosperity and create strong opportunities for future generations.

“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.