أرشيف الوسم: Saudi

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.

For years, Kuwait has continued to face a major development crisis, and this is evident by the composite model that combines administration failure and addiction of wasteful (welfare) policies. The current paradigm exacerbates our economic and social problems, as we are witnessing widespread administrative and financial corruption.

Each passing day, citizens are confronted with tremendous pressures, and the middle class is losing many of its gains, while the individual is confronted with difficulties and an increasingly nebulous future.

Urban planners promote plans that meet development goals, which are long-term, sustainable, protect resources and the environment, and consider the rights of future generations. Further, planners rely on scientific theories and utilizes technical sensible tools to evaluate alternatives and make decisions. On the other hand, public opinion is led by pulpit groups that focus on an emotional and rhetorical narrative that is generally weak, simple, and opposes elites and governmental policies. It seeks to form a link between professional opinion and authority.

The populist play on the existing class division in society, and their rhetoric lack sound sense. It tends to encourage consumption demands and wasteful government spending despite their feasibility. This populist front is accepted and widely supported because it relies on the overall frustration as well as the failure of the democratic system to meet the ambitions of its citizens. Frustrations such as these spread the feeling of injustice and an inability to control its destiny.

At this moment, populists own public opinion through direct communication and controlling media platforms, especially social media. The populist movement began to lead plans, guide governmental proprieties, and determine the future of the country in all sectors including urban planning.

Under these difficult times, professionals must face mainstream populism head-on and reinstate professionalism and common sense. This can be achieved through:

• Building trust in professional, especially, urban planners;
• Engage in public discussions and debates and address the common citizen;
• Reform our democratic system for better representation and efficiency;
• Restructuring bureaucratic systems that became an obstacle to meet development plans;
• Reinforce awareness about the role of master plans in the creation of quality life;
• Establish transparency measures and integrity government to regain trust in authorities’ decisions;
• Empower the municipal council and expand its representation as well as broadening its powers and jurisdictions on municipal matters.

The Corona pandemic brought to the surface a set of problems that Kuwait suffers from in various administrative, economic, social, and other fields. Perhaps one of the topics that has been the most discussed is the issue of demographics and the need to adjust them.

One side effect of the unbalanced demographics of Kuwait is the housing of low-income expats. Due to caution directed toward the spread of infection, focus was placed on areas with a high concentration of labuorers, like Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh, Khaitan, and Bneid Al-Qar, among others. This increased the demand for the reduction of the number of expats as well as speeding up the creation of Labour Cities.

The Labour Cities concept is entirely unwise and necessarily leads to other problems. If it is considered as one of the alternative solutions, it will definitely lead to other complications that add to the problem of demographic imbalance. The magnitude of the problems related to the housing of foreign workers is obvious. Moreover, the Labour Cities solution may seem self-evident, but it is not necessarily the best or only choice.

This paper aims to make the case against the execution of Labour Cities projects and provide an alternative method to accommodate all expat workers within the metropolitan area.

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