Middle East cities are, by-and-large, too spread out, too dependent on cars, and not focused enough on “centres”.
Single land usage is prevalent, such that people drive from single-use residential sites to single-use offices and, after work, to single-use shopping malls. “Dead Mall Syndrome” is a very real phenomenon because there are too many of these single-use sites where nobody wants to go.
Bahrain’s compact island nature stands to gain from a New Arab Urbanism based on the “15-minute city” concept (or indeed the “7-minute city” concept) – where everything you need is located within the same place, accessible by a short (and shaded) walk.
This means compact communities where people live, work and have access to outdoor recreational activity, restaurants and shops within the same urban “hub” – reducing or eliminating the urban commute.
It also means adopting traditional architectural forms such as colonnades and courtyards to promote shade and ventilation, together with climate-appropriate landscaping, planted intensively to promote urban cooling.
The New Arab Urbanism is a 360-degree concept which is both back and forward looking – learning from the past to create sustainable cities of the future – focused on families, safety and the pedestrian, which are vibrant and which plainly state: “community first”.
