Abstract:In the face of rapid economic development, population growth, people increasing needs and changing lifestyles, most historic centers in the Gulf have experienced problems in making the necessary adjustment and adaptation to the present needs and changes. This paper examines the role of urban regeneration in revitalizing redundant historic areas and how they can be used to reinforce their cities urban identities. This study is based on the case study approach by focusing on the urban regeneration of Msheireb in old Doha, Qatar. Since the project is not yet completed, this paper will focus on the physical aspects of urban identity rather than its social dimensions. The empirical investigation used a comprehensive fieldwork undertaken through several site visits. This paper argues that one way of rediscovering the urban identity of the city of Doha is to go back to its first roots and try to sustain them in face of the emerging global environments. Through the Msheireb urban regeneration project, this paper explores a new experience in Qatar and the Gulf in creating a new urban identity inspired from the past.

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Saudi Arabia’s energy consumption is increasing astronomically. Saudi Building Code prescribes a fixed base temperature of 18.3℃ to estimate the heating degree-days and cooling degree-days. Using historical meteorological data (2005–2014), this article presents the heating degree-days and cooling degree-days estimated for the representative cities in all the five inhabited climatic zones of Saudi Arabia. We used the base temperatures of 14℃, 16℃ and 18℃ for heating degree-days, and 18℃, 20℃, 22℃, 24℃ and 28℃ for cooling degree-days for Dhahran, Guriat, Jeddah, Khamis Mushait and Riyadh cities. We developed multiple regression models for heating degree-days and cooling degree-days at various base temperatures for these zones. Degree-days for other cities in similar climates with limited input data can be computed with these. Lowering of base temperature by 2 K from 18℃ reduced the heating degree-days by 33–65%. At 14℃ of base temperature, the heating requirement reduced by 60–95%. Elevating the base temperature by 2 K from 18℃ lowered the cooling degree-days by 16–38%. At 28℃ of base temperature cooling can be completely eliminated in Khamis Mushait, and reduced by 65–92% in other cities. This observation merits rethinking about use of appropriate base temperatures that properly link the outdoor environment to reduce the energy consumption. Practical application: Using historical data, we developed regression models for predicting heating and cooling degree-days for five cities of Saudi Arabia in various climate zones without the historic data. Using these, we can estimate the changes in heating/cooling load due to the variation in base temperatures. For example, lowering base temperature by 2–4 K from 18℃ reduces the HDDs by 33–95% and elevating the base temperature by 2–4 K from 18℃ lowered the CDDs by 16–68%.