| Author(s) | Mohammed Said Mousalli |
| Affiliation | Assistant Professor of Architecture and Planning College of Architecture and Planning, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
| Title | Inadequacies of Master Planning in the Physical |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Architecture & Planning. Volume 4, No 1. (1992/1412) |
| Abstract | Over the last thirty years, sites of seven major universities have been developed in the King-dom of Saudi Arabia. Their existing physical development was achieved through implementation of the "Master Plans". These physical master plans, formulated by various consultant firms, have shown several shortcomings since they presented a rigid concept of the University as seen by someone from beyond its borders. Besides these plans (each plan based on a colored land-use map of the future) failed to take into account how this map and detailed design could be achieved within the resources available. In essence, various master plans mainly portrayed physical improvement and addition to existing situations which the local technical and engineering department already intended to carry out. However, the printed form of these master plans was so expensive and inflexible to the extent that they could not be modified fast enough to take into account the unexpected developments. Therefore, master plans of the Universities for this period and their updates, drawn by the outside "consultants", were not of much use, and thus stored on shelves of libraries as an evidence of substantial amount of money spent or as items of historical or academic interest. A new approach to the university planning, and a different kind of plan is needed to replace the master plan end-state concept, since it allows for little or no modification as the on-going comprehensive planning process evolves. To a much greater extent that the "Master Planning", or "Comprehensive Planning" incorporates up to date data, analysis and information concerning a wide variety of conditions and relevant events is needed. If these are to be long range plans, they must be limited to a time period feasible for realizations, that is from about five to ten years. They also need to represent the outcome of a succession of action and anticipations rooted in the present administration of universities, and directed to the future. Therefore, in this process, certain elements are projected into the future, others, into the middle range, and some into the near future, and still others may demand immediate action. To function in this way, a well established process of planning need to be established into a permanent responsible department. Such a department would produce different range plans supported by a "continuous process" of planning. Arising from this understanding, the paper records a historical background in illustrating the achieve-ments in the development of universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The paper gives a detailed cussion of inadequacies of the existing planning procedure followed in the development of the university sites, illustrated with the help of several examples. The concept of "Comprehensive Planning" as applied to the planning of universities is simplified and several recommendation are outlined. |
