Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Optimising Crowd Management Strategies for Mass Gatherings: The Case of the Hajj Pilgrimage(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) Alshammari, Falah; Bang, HenryThis study takes a critical look at crowd management strategies utilised during the Hajj pilgrimage: one of the most complex mass gatherings in the world. It identifies key gaps in the protection of crowds and offers recommendations on emergency preparedness, risk management, crowd governance, and the interrelationships between crowd behaviour, technology, and institutional frameworks. Under an exploratory case study design, the study uses an entirely qualitative approach. It draws on secondary data from academic writings and reports by governments and NGOs, standards of international agencies, and technical documents for the period between 2015 and 2024. The data were analysed thematically under ten key areas relating to crowd management theory, practice, and policy. The findings reveal that the culture of crowd behaviour in Hajj is dependent on religious identity, ritual obligation, and cultural patterns-making factors that have often been disregarded by traditional crowd control models. There are ethical concerns in applying AI and surveillance systems, which also find scant usage due to poor infrastructural synergy in the decision-making process. The policy framework reveals weak coordination among agencies, with emergency preparedness planning rarely affording any flexibility or cultural relevance. Such findings reveal the persistent chasm between theory and practice. Despite reforms and technological advancements, challenges in coordinating, adjusting, and culturally sensitive governance for collective safety remain. This study then contributes from the culture side by calling for a holistic, integrated, and flexible approach that holistically addresses infrastructure, governance, technology, and ethics towards safer crowds during Hajj and the like.27 0Item Restricted Post-Explosion Emergency Planning and Recovery in Urban Lebanon: Evaluating Crisis Response to the 2020 Beirut Port Blast(Saudi Digital Library, 2025) ALMUTAIRI, ABDULLAH; Bang, HenryThis Working Paper analyses Lebanon’s preparedness, crisis management, and recovery after the 2020 Beirut Port explosion-a hazard which shows the extreme vulnerability of coastal cities, coupled with the frailty of disaster governance in Lebanon. The gross destruction and unstable socio-political context laid into bare systemic governance failures, institutional fragmentation, and political interference throughout the whole disaster management cycle, being preparedness and mitigation all-way through response and recovery. Based on an interpretivist qualitative single-case study on secondary data, the study revealed entrenched weaknesses in governance, coordination, communication, resource mobilisation, and resilience. Findings established that Lebanon's fragile institutions, deficient coordination, and lack of communication mechanisms rendered a timely yet equitable response almost impossible. Community-led activities helped plug some gaps but were not enough to provide adequate scope and authority to supplant formal reforms. In providing suggestions with practical application, the paper sets forth evidence-based recommendations aimed at sustaining/employing preparedness and recovery from disasters in fragile urban settings through institutional reform, enhanced inter-agency coordination, and incorporation of community resilience within formal systems thus providing a bridge over the divide between an informal coping mechanism and structured crisis governance20 0Item Restricted The Role of Social Media in Crisis and Disaster Management: Effective Pathways of Social Media Usage(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-12-19) Mazyu, Mohammed; Aryal, Komal RajThe ever-increasing prevalence of digital communication has highlighted the crucial function of social media in disaster and crisis management. This thesis investigates the power of social media in depth, focusing on its potential to improve disaster response, management, and cleanup. This study uses a mixed-method strategy: quantitative survey analysis and qualitative information gleaned through in-depth interviews. This study's quantitative component, a questionnaire survey, sheds light on the far-reaching influence of social media in crisis and disaster management. It proves how crucial it is to ease the flow of information in real time, encourage cooperation among different groups, and stimulate participation from the public. The results show a strong and statistically significant relationship (R2 = 0.574) between social media use and successful crisis management. Social media takes the front stage in maintaining public order and facilitating the rapid dissemination of vital information. This paper highlights the efficacy of technologies like social media analytics in overcoming these impediments and admitting the inherent difficulties in exploiting their potential. In-depth interviews with seasoned crisis management specialists were done alongside the quantitative analysis to provide depth and nuance to this study. These discussions provide new perspectives on the far-reaching effects of social media. Throughout the pre-crisis, crisis, and post-crisis stages, they provide diverse viewpoints on the impact of social media and underline its central role in crisis-related information distribution. The results of this inquiry highlight the importance of social media in the complex network of crisis and disaster management. Fostering cooperation among stakeholders, investing heavily in training and resource allocation, resolving ethical issues, pushing for continued research and innovation, and guaranteeing fair access to these revolutionary technologies are all recommendations from this study.19 0