HOUSING IN THE SAND AND SOCIAL INERTIA; A CASE STUDY FROM SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

There are many kinds of war. They span from typical military conflicts to socially and politically charged environments, from fiscal colonization to ghostly war about information and the internet. But what about the fear of a possible war? Could housing initiatives be connected to that? What kind of design methods and standards as well as processes would that specific case entail? What other factors would add pressure towards studying and implementing housing projects in this context? What could be the possible measure of such projects’ eventual assessment? This paper commences with a hypothesis concerning that fear of a possible spreading of the so-called Arab Spring in the Arab Peninsula, and namely the Saudi Kingdom, triggered a massive state funded housing project. It will be argued that in such a case, where the overall project is basically founded on the dubious ground of political tactics, success is unlikely to happen. Focusing of the ambitious case of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Housing (MoH), the whole argument will be discussed and gradually unfolded within the political, social, cultural, economic and technical-design conditions of such an endeavor, both before its launch-conceptualization and throughout its implementation. At the end of the day, housing and urban planning stereotypes seem to prevail and justify their title. Paradoxically though, their role in reinforcing social cohesion and political stability is acknowledged and exploited through standardization. Inertia by choice

HOUSING IN THE SAND AND SOCIAL INERTIA; A CASE STUDY FROM SAUDI ARABIA | Request PDF. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293781434_HOUSING_IN_THE_SAND_AND_SOCIAL_INERTIA_A_CASE_STUDY_FROM_SAUDI_ARABIA [accessed Mar 26 2018].