Social Housing as a State-Funded Mega Project: A Case Study from Saudi Arabia

Abstract

There are many kinds of war. They span from typical military conflicts to socially and politically charged environments, from fiscal colonization to ghostly wars about information and the internet. But what about the fear of a possible war? Could housing initiatives be connected to that? What kind of design methods and standards as well as processes would that specific case entail? What other factors would add pressure to studying and implementing housing projects in this context? What could be the possible measure of such projects’ eventual assessment? This paper is based on the assumption that fear of a spreading of the Arab Spring in the Saudi Kingdom triggered a massive state-funded housing project. The ambitious case of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Housing (MoH) will be discussed and gradually unfolded within its social, cultural, economic, and technical-design conditions. The project’s development is discussed both before its launch-conceptualization and throughout its implementation. The original insight given stems from the authors’ participation as lead urban planners in one of the major companies awarded the project.

Critical Junctures in Sustainable Social Housing Policy Development in Saudi Arabia: A Review

“…Efforts moved from a philanthropic perspective to industrial interests shaping the social housing policies applied by many governments; however, dire economic conditions caused by the two world wars caused development and social housing policies to take a different turn. Although the state's strategic move was generous and promising, Kyriazis and Balasis [85] point out that, "this political tactic was not strategically matched by a parallel concern regarding chronic high unemployment rates, extreme social segregation, and scanty housing". Even though a common goal for social housing is observed globally, each country has contributed to setting and developing policies commensurate with its capabilities and their way of defining social housing as well as the targeted groups in their societies.…”

“…The traditional housing delivery patterns and application of non-pragmatic policies struggled to cope with the emerging urban challenges. Around this time, several failures of state-funded public housing projects were noted in the literature advocating for an inclusive and sustainable policy framework to engage the beneficiaries in the planning process of the public agenda [85]. In response to the shortfalls of the previous plan, the Ninth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015) called for a national housing strategy focusing on low-income groups and highlighted the role of the private sector [84].…”

“…The REDF has been exhausted, with a long queue of families (over 62,000 applications) waiting for housing loans [86,87]. Moreover, "the pressure on the supply side for middle-and low-class housing remains unaddressed" [85]. It is reported that due to the lack of specific eligibility criteria to determine disadvantaged beneficiaries, many users resorted to circumventing housing regulations [88].…”