The Evolving Arab City Tradition, Modernity and Urban Development

Today cities of the Arab world are subject to many of the same problems as other world cities, yet too often they are ignored in studies of urbanisation. This collectionreveals the contrasts and similarities between older, traditional Arab cities and the newer oil-stimulated cities of the Gulf in their search for development and a place in the world order. Theeight cities which form the core of the book – Rabat, Amman, Beirut, Kuwait, Manama, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh – provide a unique insight into today’s Middle Eastern city. Winner of The International Planning History Society (IPHS)Book Prize.

1. Introduction: The Great Divide: Struggling and Emerging Cities of the Arab World Yasser Elsheshtawy 2. Prologue: The New Arab Metropolis Fuad MalkawiPart I: The Struggling Arab City 3. Amman: Disguised Genealogy, Recent Urban Restructuring and Neo-liberal ThreatsRami Farouk Daher 4. From Regional Node to Backwater and Back to Uncertainty: The Refashioning of Beirut, 1943–2006 Sofia Shwayri 5. Rabat: From Capital to Global Metropolis Jamila BargachPart II: The Emerging Arab City 6. Riyadh: A City of ‘Institutional’ Architecture Mashary A. Al-Naim 7. Kuwait: Learning from a Globalized City Yasser Mahgoub 8. Manama: The Metamorphosis of a Gulf City Mustapha Ben Hamouche 9. Rediscovering the Island: Doha’s Urbanity from Pearls to Spectacle Khaled Adham 10. Cities of Sand and Fog: Abu Dhabi’s Arrival on the Global Scene Yasser Elsheshtawy

Yasser Elsheshtawy is Associate Professor of Architecture at theUnited Arab Emirates University. His most recent publication is an edited book published by Routledge (2004) titled Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a Globalizing World. He has lectured at Harvard Design School, Tianjin University, China, and Virginia Commonwealth University, Doha.