Khobar Planning: Modern Urbanism Revisited

Presented by: Atef Alshehri

When: Saturday, 4 July 2020 at 13:00 Eastern US time/
20:00 KSA / 21:00 UAE time

With the launch of its city plan in 1947, Khobar was the first experiment of urban planning in Saudi Arabia. The discovery & production of oil in 1938 led to drastic social, economic, and urban changes in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia where ARAMCO ran its operations. During that period, urban conditions were still deeply rooted in their old heritage. Oil enterprise accelerated growth by a few hundred years, by superimposing a 20th century business on a 15th century economy. Khobar’s urban growth was the first manifestation of this change.

The talk will be led by Atef Alshehri, an architect, consultant and urbanist based in Saudi Arabia.