Urban Planning Legislation in Saudi Arabia A Systematic Classification

Abstract

The rapid physical development experienced in many Saudi Arabian Cities made it necessary for the government to intervene and control urban growth. Accordingly many regulations and directives have been developed and issued in different periods and by different governmental agencies. Consequently the existing legislation is found to be fragmented developed in a pieceful way and laqged behind physical developments. This research aimed to accomplish two objectives: first to determined criteria for classification system for urban planning legislation in Saudi Arabia; second to classify existing urban planning legislation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. First objective of this study was satisfied through the extensive review of the urban planning legislation in the United Kingdom and United States, where a set of criteria. was created. Given the experience of developed countries and the conditions of Saudi Arabia, this research proposed classification system for urban planning legislation in Saudi Arabia. a Second objective of this research was satisfied through the detailed review and analysis of the working of all governmental agencies related directly or indirectly with the field of urban planning in Saudi Arabia. The analysis of the urban planning legislation has been done on the basis of the proposed classification system in this study. Reviewing the role of governmental agencies in the Kingdom and analysing the existing urban planning legislation practice it was found that many of those governmental agencies contribute to the physical development in Saudi Arabia at the national and local levels and hence participate in the urban planning process. Moreover, the research observed many deficiencies in the existing practice and proposed several recommendations for improvements.