urban pulse
Middle Eastern Cities: A Framework for Analysis
IS315 Week FIVE 2025 Dr Nazanin Shahrokni
agenda
01
Song of the Week + Announcements
02
Urban Pulse: An Overview
03
Cities: Ideological Stages and Shapers
04
Middle Eastern Cities: A Typology
05
City-Making as a Tool of Governance
Song of the week
Thank you Jessica Tsigaros
Ya Tal3een - Dana Salah
Last night I had a dreams
In the land of olive trees
From the river to the sea
People tasted freedom
Soon those hellish skies
Turned to blue and starry nights
As their voices start to rise, we're
Ending an apartheid
Hold on
Questions?
The deadline for your first assignment is fast approaching. Do not leave writing your essay until the last minute!
Thursday, October 166:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Attend the Event write a 250 word reflection earn up to 5 Bonus points
Let's get the facts straight! Urbanisation in the middle east
By 2030 urban areas are projected to house 60% of people globally, and 1 in every 3 people will live in cities with at least half a million inhabitants. The Middle East has the second highest urbanization rate in the world, with its urbanization rate rising from 35% in 1960 to 66% in 2023. Almost two-thirds of the population of the Middle East lives in cities.
66%
The Pearls & Perils of Urbanization & City Making Projects
Urbanization is positively correlated with economic & social development trends for a number of reasons. It is easier & less expensive to provide basic services such as education, sanitation, and health care to more densely populated & geographically compact areas. Larger cities also provide economies of scale that allow for the “sharing, matching, and learning” of common infrastructure, industrial risk, employee pools, & the like, all of which facilitate economic productivity. Concurrently, neoliberal authoritarian urban development policies in the MENA region accompanies increasing socio-economic & spatial fragmentation and inequality.
City making as a political & economic project
The materialized vision of the ruler fascinates people & provides him legitimacy in a nondemocratic state. Thereby, fascination not only has a political impact, but is becoming an economic resource in its own right (Steiner and Wippel 2019).
The whole region is becoming "visionary": Saudi Vision 2030; Cairo Vision 2050, Qatar National Vision 2030, Visions for Oman’s Economy 2020 & 2040; Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, Amman 2025; & Istanbul 2023, all formulate prospects for a bright future of their nation states and cities.
CitiesIdeological stages & shapers
Ideologies manifest through urban design, architecture, and governance. However, cities do not merely reflect ideologies; they also shape them.
Cities are more than just physical spaces; they serve as stages where various ideologies—Islamic, neoliberal, modernist, and others—are performed. These ideologies manifest through urban design, architecture, and governance. However, cities do not merely reflect ideologies; they also shape them. The spatial arrangements, social dynamics, and policies enacted within cities can reinforce, challenge, or transform ideological frameworks.
Middle Eastern CitiesA typology
Cities can be categorized into distinct typologies, each reflecting different forces at play
One, two, and three but there could be more...
Cities as Spectacle
Cities of Ideological Aspiration
Urbicide
Cities of Conflict
We teach life sir!
city-making as a tool of governance
City-making serves as a powerful tool of governance, where urban design is used to control populations, enforce ideologies, and shape social order.
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Transcript
urban pulse
Middle Eastern Cities: A Framework for Analysis
IS315 Week FIVE 2025 Dr Nazanin Shahrokni
agenda
01
Song of the Week + Announcements
02
Urban Pulse: An Overview
03
Cities: Ideological Stages and Shapers
04
Middle Eastern Cities: A Typology
05
City-Making as a Tool of Governance
Song of the week
Thank you Jessica Tsigaros
Ya Tal3een - Dana Salah
Last night I had a dreams In the land of olive trees From the river to the sea People tasted freedom Soon those hellish skies Turned to blue and starry nights As their voices start to rise, we're Ending an apartheid Hold on
Questions?
The deadline for your first assignment is fast approaching. Do not leave writing your essay until the last minute!
Thursday, October 166:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Attend the Event write a 250 word reflection earn up to 5 Bonus points
Let's get the facts straight! Urbanisation in the middle east
By 2030 urban areas are projected to house 60% of people globally, and 1 in every 3 people will live in cities with at least half a million inhabitants. The Middle East has the second highest urbanization rate in the world, with its urbanization rate rising from 35% in 1960 to 66% in 2023. Almost two-thirds of the population of the Middle East lives in cities.
66%
The Pearls & Perils of Urbanization & City Making Projects
Urbanization is positively correlated with economic & social development trends for a number of reasons. It is easier & less expensive to provide basic services such as education, sanitation, and health care to more densely populated & geographically compact areas. Larger cities also provide economies of scale that allow for the “sharing, matching, and learning” of common infrastructure, industrial risk, employee pools, & the like, all of which facilitate economic productivity. Concurrently, neoliberal authoritarian urban development policies in the MENA region accompanies increasing socio-economic & spatial fragmentation and inequality.
City making as a political & economic project
The materialized vision of the ruler fascinates people & provides him legitimacy in a nondemocratic state. Thereby, fascination not only has a political impact, but is becoming an economic resource in its own right (Steiner and Wippel 2019).
The whole region is becoming "visionary": Saudi Vision 2030; Cairo Vision 2050, Qatar National Vision 2030, Visions for Oman’s Economy 2020 & 2040; Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, Amman 2025; & Istanbul 2023, all formulate prospects for a bright future of their nation states and cities.
CitiesIdeological stages & shapers
Ideologies manifest through urban design, architecture, and governance. However, cities do not merely reflect ideologies; they also shape them.
Cities are more than just physical spaces; they serve as stages where various ideologies—Islamic, neoliberal, modernist, and others—are performed. These ideologies manifest through urban design, architecture, and governance. However, cities do not merely reflect ideologies; they also shape them. The spatial arrangements, social dynamics, and policies enacted within cities can reinforce, challenge, or transform ideological frameworks.
Middle Eastern CitiesA typology
Cities can be categorized into distinct typologies, each reflecting different forces at play
One, two, and three but there could be more...
Cities as Spectacle
Cities of Ideological Aspiration
Urbicide
Cities of Conflict
We teach life sir!
city-making as a tool of governance
City-making serves as a powerful tool of governance, where urban design is used to control populations, enforce ideologies, and shape social order.
תודה לך