Rebuilding the Transportation System in the City of Doha
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Journal of Traffic and Logistics Engineering Vol. 2, No. 3, September 2014 Rebuilding the Transportation System in the City of Doha Khaled Shaaban Department of Civil Engineering, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar Email: [email protected] Essam Radwan Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, University of Central Florida Email: [email protected] Abstract—This paper discusses the past and future of the transportation system in the city of Doha, Qatar. The city of II. THE TRANSFORMATION OF DOHA, QATAR Doha, the capitol of Qatar, is one of oldest cities in the gulf area and has witnessed a rapid change in its demographics Qatar covers an area of 11,437 square kilometers, with over the past decades. Qatar has grown dramatically a coastline of 563 kilometers long. The country is a through the last 40 years from fishing and pearling based mostly low-lying, flat, and with a terrain stretching into economy to a diverse economy. After the discovery of oil the Arabian Gulf from the lands of Saudi Arabia. The around three decades ago, the country witnessed a growth Country’s central location in geographical terms is spurt in its economy. Doha has changed physically, politically supported by its position with the states of the economically, culturally, and demographically. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC); Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, remarkable increase in Qatar’s population from 750,000 in 2004 to 1,700,000 in 2010 had resulted in major changes to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. Qatar’s Doha’s land use. The city has grown from a single core and total population has reached 1.7 million people, compared expanded outwardly along main routes leaving Doha’s to 1.5 million in 2008. It is forecasted to reach 2.0 million downtown heavily congested. It was highly necessary to in 2015 with a constant annual growth rate of 3.97%, and redevelop the transportation system in the city to about 3.2 million people, more than double, by 2030. The accommodate the urban expansion in the heart of the city. rapid increase in population over the last few years is Qatar plans to spend an estimated 100 billion USD over the attributed to the strong performance of the economy, next five years on infrastructure projects to expand and which has resulted in a large number of projects, thereby enhance the quality of road, water, air, and rail networks. leading to the influx of professionals, service and Many projects were commissioned to improve the conditions of the transportation system and these projects contracting sector staff and others [2]. The composition were envisioned to have a holistic approach with the aim of of the overall population of the country in 2010 was 76% integrating heritage, economic, sustainability, environment, males and 24% females. The total population has and social enrichment of the country. increased by 128% since 2004, GDP grew 210% at current prices from 2004 to 2009, and total government Index Terms—transportation system, city rebuild, urban expenditures increased by 316% for the same period. [3]. expansion Qatar’s urban movement has gone through three significant phases; the traditional phase, the transition phase, and the modern-oil-related phase. Each phase, I. INTRODUCTION along with factors of a political nature and trade, has Qatar has witnessed an unprecedented growth that has played key roles in the rise and fall of early towns of affected the country’s physical, economical, cultural, and Qatar as shown in Fig. 1. The lower scale of the figure demographical status through the past few decades; its depicts the timeline of the country’s vast growth in the economy has changed from fishing and pearling based transportation system development and it is evident that economy to a diverse economy after the discovery of the this mark coincides with the country globalization in the oil in 1939. Qatar plans to spend an estimated 100 billion early 1990's [4]. USD over the next five years on infrastructure projects Doha, the state’s capital, is the largest city, the including road, water, air, and rail networks to cater to the administrative and economic center of the country, and rising demands of the population [1]. This paper with over 80% of the nation's population residing in this discusses the history of the development of the city of city’s core center and its suburbs. The capital is located Doha. It provides some insights into the pre-oil era, post- on the Eastern Coast of the State of Qatar midway oil era, rapid modernization phase till now, and the future between the country's Northern Coast and its southern transportation system in the city. border that stretches around 190 kilometers, 98 kilometers north of Doha and 92 kilometers to the south Manuscript received January 16, 2014; revised April 10, 2014. of the city. According to Qatar Census [3], the city of ©2014 Engineering and Technology Publishing 241 doi: 10.12720/jtle.2.3.241-247 Journal of Traffic and Logistics Engineering Vol. 2, No. 3, September 2014 Doha is a house for 744,029 people who reside on a total developed, seaports were established which later made area of 11,427 km². “Doha City” or “Ad-Doha” refers to the city as a main trade center. Politically. Doha has the city’s circular shape that reflects the bay, which lies to emerged as the head quarter of the ruling tribes, which the east of the city. hosted the new governmental foundation and, therefore, According to Al-Buainain [5], there are five factors became the main capital of the state. Fig. 2 shows for the that contributed to urban growth. First, factor is Doha’s city’s development since. geographical location at the center of the settlements, which provides easy access to people. In addition, Doha’s flat topography, lacking natural physical barriers aided the expansion. Second, Doha’s variety of transportation facilities such as motorways, airways -international Figure 2. Llewellyn Davies master plan [6] airport, waterway, and seaport-was another aspect that enhanced urban growth. Third, the city’s national wide scale development plans have been highly invested and Doha’s Transitional Phase; Post-Oil Era (1960’s) implemented such as construction of housing projects and Oil was discovered in 1939, but its exploitation was providing good infrastructure. Fourth, Doha’s remarkable halted between 1942 and 1947 because of World War II population growth promoted urban development and and the Bahrain embargo. Accordingly, the oil wealth created new neighborhoods. Finally, the rapid economic acted as a catalyst for the urban development and the true activities that are centered in the capital city provided sense of development in the country began at 1955 when various employment opportunities, which attracted local the need to accommodate expatriates emerged. The citizens and international residents. The above factors period between 1949 and 1969 witnessed an increase in contributed in changing the image of the city and the the population by 600 inhabitants and new administrative Doha’s skyline by the sea. centers sprang up to manage the vast revenues. Doha’s Rapid Modernization Phase; (1970’s till today) Following the withdrawal of the British, the State of Qatar declared its independence on September 3, 1971. Doha as the capital of the new state attracted thousands of foreign experts and workers, employed in the construction and engineering industries. During early seventies Qatar witnessed an extreme increase in the construction of its infrastructure and transportation system. Between 1978 until 1981, the reclamation of land from the sea started to empty out the downtown (what do you mean by this statement? You mean the downtown expanded?). The reclamation project formed a symbolic and functional tool for the future of Doha where the Figure 1. Qatar’s development time line since 1939 [4] Cornish Road has become a symbol for the new city. Since then, Doha has seen the most extraordinary Doha’s Early Traditional Phase; Pre-Oil Era to 1950’s expansion in international banking, sports and tourism activities, as evidenced by the many modern towers, Qatar’s ancient inhabitants were referred to as skilled malls, hotels and seats of power scattered throughout the seafarers and merchants. They were settled in the North- city, and through massive housing developments like the Western area of Qatar, Al Zubara, the oldest seaport in Pearl, a commercial, residential, tourist and leisure Qatar. In early 1800‘s, Al Bida’a, the original site of complex. This unprecedented rapid urban growth Doha and other cities in Qatar, were developed at a experienced by the State of Qatar for the last few decades distance from the tribal conflicts that took place at Al made effective and coordinated planning difficult which Zubara territory in the north of the peninsula. Moreover, in turn resulted in several problems such as urban sprawl, it was considered as partially secure from the conflicts traffic congestion, and improper spatial allocation and between Abu Dhabi Emirate and Bahrain. In addition to distribution of public facilities and infrastructure. these reasons, Doha’s deep-sea water and its circular shape were the major attractive factors to fishermen and III. PLANNING OF DOHA AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF other inhabitants at that time [3]. During the early THE OLD CENTER twentieth century, people migrated to Doha and continued their pearl-diving, fishing, and nomadic Planning in Qatar was essentially seen as a practical herding activities. In fact, pearling was the major source process that mainly aimed at the distribution of electricity, of living in addition to some other trading activities like water and sewer systems around Doha and the smaller importing commodities from Iran, India, and other towns within the peninsula, based on a hierarchical road adjacent countries.