Understanding the Multi-Dimensionality of Urban Decline: A Case Study of Riyadh Central Area

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Currently, some of the world’s largest cities are facing the challenge of urban decline, which is facilitating significant economic and social changes and also could be caused by these changes. Such decline can also be viewed in conjunction with slowdowns or reductions in population growth, and the movement of people out of urban centres. It can also be associated with an increasing shortage of economic opportunities and investment within these areas. While a variety of definitions of the term ‘urban decline’ have been suggested, it is used herein to refer to the phenomenon characterised by social, economic, physical and/or environmental problems concentrated over time and experienced by stakeholders (i.e. public, private and community sectors) as outcomes of long-term downgrading. This phenomenon seems to be a result of a chain reaction that involves a combination of factors, each of which has powerful and complex ripple effects. Due to the scale and complexity of this issue, research to date has focused on exploring the various dimensions through discipline-specific or bounded parameters, resulting in a body of literature that lacks a holistic overview of the problem and potential solutions to it. Drawing on archival material and qualitative semi-structured interviews with the representatives of key stakeholders, this research contributes to a wider understanding of urban decline by developing a conceptual model that explores and articulates the multi-dimensionality of this issue via a single case study upon Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - which has experienced severe urban decline since the 1970s. Studying the situation that has developed in Riyadh enables the issue of decline to be explored in depth in order to refine the conceptual model and provide recommendations on how to deal with this issue. This thesis focuses on Riyadh’s city centre and how it has been influenced by various social, economic, administrative, physical and environmental factors. After identifying these factors, the root causes of problems were determined, and the influence levels of these factors were evaluated.

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