Master Plans for Urban Districts a C the Prominence of Public-Private Partnerships a C a C a C a C a C
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c a c a c 13 a c a c Master Plans for Urban Districts a c The Prominence of Public-Private Partnerships a c a c a c a c a c Some of the urban districts featured in media coverage are the massive man-made this chapter are the equivalent of a city islands. All are intended to represent a neighborhood, as with the commercial specific object (a palm tree, the map of district competition for central Ramallah, the world, a necklace) and may be clearly the Central Market project in Abu Dhabi, or distinguished from an airplane or through Madinat al-Fahaheel in Kuwait. Others rival satellite images. Creating spectacles has cities in their size, as with Palm Deira or the been repeatedly mentioned in this book as Dubai Waterfront. Although both are part a primary tool for differentiating projects of the city of Dubai, each was conceived belonging to the massive construction with the intention of eventually housing boom that overtook the region. With hundreds of thousands of people. these man-made islands, however, creat- The projects of this category differ not ing spectacles is carried to fantastic levels. only in size but also in their relation to the Criticism regarding these islands abounds. city. In the case of Beirut and Ramallah, the These concentrate on their outlandishness, aim is to redevelop the city’s central area the uncertainty regarding their economic in a manner that incorporates and builds and social sustainability, and the unknown upon a preexisting fabric and heritage. This environmental consequences that such is in contrast to Amman’s Abdali project reshaping of nature on a massive scale may and Abu Dhabi’s Central Market. Although cause, particularly regarding the disruption they occupy central urban locations, each of marine life. treats its massive site as a tabula rasa. What All these projects are intended as upscale previously existed on their sites was not developments for an affluent clientele, of- considered of any architectural or urban fering high-end housing, office, shopping, merit, and therefore it was not preserved or and entertainment facilities. Dubai Water- incorporated into the new developments. front provides a limited exception as sec- Other districts occupy undeveloped sites tions of it are to be set aside to accommo- located outside current urban boundaries. date workers’ housing. In the Gulf region, The functions of these projects also vary. there may be enough wealth to support As urban-scale developments, they are all these facilities. Their supply, however, out- mixed use by definition. A number of them, strips demand. This was not apparent when however, have specific functions. Business the region’s economy was booming because Bay in Dubai and the Financial City in Ri- of record oil prices, resulting in a real estate yadh focus on business and finance; Dubai buying frenzy. However, it became painfully Marina and Shams Abu Dhabi emphasize a clear with the advent of the 2008–2009 residential character. financial crisis and the subsequent drying The projects that have received the most up of buyers and tenants. 232 This discrepancy between supply and of primary developer, it brings in develop- demand also applies to the projects located ers from the private sector to develop plots outside the Gulf. It may be argued that or even complete sections of these dis- they create conditions of urban segrega- tricts. Examples include the King Abdullah tion. They are intended as massive zones Financial District, which is being devel- of wealth. Only the wealthy are able to live oped by the Saudi Public Pension Agency. in them or use their commercial facilities. There are also the projects carried out by Such criticism has been made with con- Nakheel and Dubai Properties. Both com- siderable severity against Solidere’s Beirut panies are wholly owned by the authorities Central District project, the first of these in Dubai. Public shareholding companies urban master planned districts to be con- also may develop projects, but their gov- ceived in the region. The counterargument ernments would own a controlling share in has been that although the Beirut Central them. This is the case with Emaar in Dubai District project may be intended for a high- and Aldar in Abu Dhabi. end clientele, it also provides an ample sup- In other cases, these projects are devel- ply of pedestrian-friendly public spaces not oped through joint public-private sector available elsewhere in Beirut. These spaces ownership. Examples include Amman’s are open to all the city’s residents, who are Abdali project and Durrat al-Bahrain. The using them heavily. structures of these partnerships take very Many of these projects cater to tourists. complex forms that differ from one project They have considerable hotel, retail, and en- to the other. The public sector’s share tertainment facilities. Even their residential may be assumed directly through a public components often are intended primarily sector organization or through a company for foreigners. that the public sector fully owns. This These projects, of course, reflect the ris- share usually consists of the value of the ing interest in the urban scale in the region land. This is to be expected, since no single and also bring attention to various urban private sector body in the region owns challenges. Transportation is of prime im- such massive tracts of real estate in or near portance. These projects add new major ur- cities. In turn, the private sector contrib- ban nodes to cities that already have highly utes the capital. stressed transportation networks. In Dubai At the other end of the spectrum is the and Riyadh, the intention is to link them to example of Solidere, a private sector public the new rail metros being developed there. shareholding company with no govern- In Amman, the road network around the mental ownership. The project, however, Abdali project is being extensively redevel- could not have been realized without oped and expanded to accommodate the active governmental support and facilita- dramatic increase in traffic that the project tion. The Lebanese government granted will generate. This redevelopment, however, Solidere various urban development au- does not challenge the private automobile’s thorities, including the power of eminent supremacy as the city’s primary form of domain. Moreover, Solidere’s main inves- transportation. The project therefore may tor, the late Rafic Hariri (1944–2005), was result in increased and serious traffic con- also Lebanon’s prime minister when the gestion problems. company was formed. Not surprisingly, his Because of their overwhelming scale, opponents accused him of using his politi- these projects cannot be realized without cal clout to realize the project. This issue active public sector involvement. Such continues to be a source of controversy. involvement takes various forms. These in- In all cases, the public sector’s close clude the public sector leading the develop- involvement in these developments does ment project, actively participating in it as a raise legitimate concerns, since it con- partner, or enabling private sector develop- strains the state’s ability to effectively ers to implement it. assume the role of impartial regulator of When the public sector assumes the role large-scale real estate developers. Master Plans for Urban Districts: The Prominence of Public-Private Partnerships 233 Bahrain Bay, Master plan and architectural designs developed by the The project’s primary focus is a 275 m American firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The high building located on its central island Manama, Bahrain CapitaLand District is designed by the Uruguayan- and intended as the highest in Bahrain (fig. American architect Rafael Vinoly of Rafael Vinoly 13.1.4). The high-rise, which will house a Architects. hotel, takes the form of two linked, slen- Under construction. der monolithic slabs. It will function as an anchor for the overall development along This $2.5 billion urban development is situ- with the nearby low-rise headquarters of ated on a 34-hectare reclaimed island off the Arcapita Bank (fig. 13.1.1), the project’s northeastern shore of Manama, opposite main investor. the Bahrain World Trade Center. It is con- The development also will include nected to the mainland by two bridges that residential, commercial, and retail areas, form an inner harbor. Upon completion, as well as schools, parks, mosques, and a the project will have a total built-up area of yacht club. Its most prominent section will 1.1 million m2. be the CapitaLand District Center, an $800 The project is designed according to million residential and retail zone that will a plan of concentric circles that carve a occupy about 20 percent of Bahrain Bay’s central island and define the project’s road total development area. The district is be- system, and also by two intersecting axes ing developed by the Singapore-based real that define vistas, with one of them fol- estate developer CapitaLand. It features a lowing the path of a canal. It will include pedestrian seaside promenade, residential seven main districts featuring buildings towers, and shopping areas. All are con- with highly modernistic architectural ceived as a series of concentric “waves” that vocabularies. culminate in four concave towers. 234 Master Plans for Urban Districts: The Prominence of Public-Private Partnerships Figures 13.1.1–13.1.5. The 34-hectare Bahrain Bay reclaimed island development features a series of semicircular concentric strips that surround a central island. The central island has a 275 m high hotel tower as its focal point. Durrat al- Overall master plan developed by the British firm WS It also will include five islands, each in the Atkins. The master plan and architectural designs for shape of a jewelry pendant, as well as a Bahrain, near the project’s main island have been developed by the circular island housing a luxury hotel and a Manama, Bahrain Australian firm Woods Bagot.