أرشيف الوسم: Saudi

The Municipal Council’s latest decision to allow for the construction of a fourth floor on the residential plots that are less than 400 square meters drew the ire of many people in Kuwait. Most people expressed dissatisfaction with the likely adverse effects of The Council’s approval and application. This decision highlights the failings of our planning system and calls for a serious review of the path we are taking.

This decision will increase densities, encourage renting, and eventually lead to increased real estate prices, making owning a home unaffordable. In turn, we will see more pressure placed on utilities, services, and roads as well as parking congestions.

We need to take note of the distortion occurring in Kuwait’s built environment. According to the 1985 regulation, the allowable built-up floor ratio was 120%, with wide setbacks to allow private vehicles to park within home boundaries. However, in 1996, setbacks decreased, and FAR increased to 170%. Also, in 2006 FAR increased to 210% and 240%. Today, we are about to experience another FAR increase.

The issue is more than the addition of a fourth floor: we have reached the point of no return. We destroyed an urban model that was once the best among the Arabian Gulf countries. Frustrations grow as decision-makers are taking such decrees lightly. Even worse, the decisions made lack insight from formal studies or consultancies or awareness of long-term effects—some of which would be unfixable.

We respect people’s choices and understand the absurdity of applying a standard building regulation countrywide. Various households carry different preferences, needs, lifestyles, social, and economic situations. And so, the built environment must reflect the diversity of its residents. We need to develop our master planning mechanisms and building regulations to achieve integrated solutions in a diverse ecosystem of neighborhoods. Now, the standard model is no longer suitable, as the state is more complex than ever, requiring dynamic building regulations that meet people’s aspirations.

The Municipal Council’s decree embodies its inability to address the problems facing Kuwait. It is no longer tenable for one board represented by 16 members to decide on all municipal and urban issues that cover a wide geographic space, which has multiplied many types since the establishment of the modern state. We are obliged to amend Kuwait’s municipality law and establish various local municipalities and councils with authorities and clear boundaries.

We hope to see a withdrawal of this decree and a major review of Kuwait’s urban strategy, master planning, and building regulations. This strategy must align with our national goals and rise to the level of our social and economic challenges and aspirations.

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.

Every now and then, GCC citizens wake up to a new announcement for the launch of another novel megaproject. These megaprojects often share the same promises and goals, such as creating financial centers, attracting foreign investments, job creation, transfer of knowledge, an alternative income stream, or economy diversification. Past projects include Silk city in Kuwait, NEOM and the unique Line in KSA, the Duqm in Oman as well as many others. Unfortunately, the problem is that more often than not, these mega builds deliver on only a fraction of their stated promises.

The primary issue with these megaprojects is their clear lack of citizen participation. Despite elaborate marketing campaigns directed at the public, the projects rarely manifest from community input or interests. Lofty promises are made by organizers, and citizens remain skeptical. Further, these ambitious plans ask citizens to make sacrifices and contribute to their success, even though community members feel alienated throughout the process.

We cannot deny the positive impacts generated by these projects and the wide international coverage they receive. They infer attempts to move the stagnant economy and escape the repetition of traditional endeavors that proved unsuccessful in the past. Nevertheless, we must raise some worthy questions, as projects of this scale should not pass without careful study and examination. If the project fails, it’s very difficult to undo without high economic, social, and environmental costs.

Here are the questions to ask when considering a megaproject:

• Do the GCC countries have the luxury of investing future generations’ funds for immature/high-risk projects?
• Are these projects worth risking untouched land that is financially and environmentally costly to develop while ignoring existing urban centers suffering from complex problems and when GCC countries face an unprecedented lack of financial/human resources?
• Can the Arabian Peninsula accommodate an additional influx of migrant workers, population, tourists, and consumers? Were the associated environmental and financial costs resulting from further urban sprawl and population expansion taken into consideration?
• Will GCC countries truly benefit from this project, or does it only serve to add another item on the portfolio of international mega consultancies and contracting companies?
• Should national investments of this scale necessitate more citizen participation?

In this moment, we are moving against the current. Nations worldwide invest in wise valuable projects where the environment, conservation, and recycling are all priorities. Advanced nations approach projects with an intense analysis of cost and returns. Contemporary successful projects are local, compact, smart, and efficient, while our present proposals are foreign, mega, conventional and wasteful.

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.