Mahmoud AlSaeed

Purpose: West Bay, the Business District of Doha, the capital city of the State of Qatar, is facing an urban regeneration phase due to the construction of the West Bay Central Train Station, a four-storey underground building hosting the intersection of two metro lines – one long-distance train and one people mover. The development of the transit village, or transit-oriented development, is raising concerns related to the need to enhance liveability (as urban quality of life) and sense of place (considering the local cultural identity). The purpose of this paper is to investigate existing urban elements, such as transit stations, as well as their impact on the liveability and identity of the place and to define a comprehensive urban regeneration strategy for the development of the distinctive urban village of West Bay. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis and data collection were based on the type of data as tangible aspects which mainly include the physical, and aspects such as diversity, density, connectivity, transportation systems and public realm. Intangible factors are concluded from close and direct site observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews, as a face-to-face type of data collection with key persons in Qatar Rail, the Ministry of the Municipality and public work authorities, where the intangible aspects were briefed by economic aspects, environmental situation, social pattern and human behaviours. After siting the base ground of theoretical knowledge and site condition analysis, the authors identified a group of key factors that respond to the targeted (tangible and intangible) aspects and threats, to propose a design treatment for the site threats and highlighted issues in addition to a group of recommendations and design strategies (Charmaz, 2006; Marshall and Rossman, 2010). Findings: From the data analysis of the site and by revisiting the literature review, a group of recommendations are formulated. The authors divided the recommendations into two types according to their method of application. The first is the design approach, where the authors propose integrated design proposals to tackle and solve the highlighted issues from the findings of site analysis (diversity, density, connectivity in addition to economic, social and environmental factors). Meanwhile, the second part represents the systematic recommendations that should be adopted and implemented to enhance the existing situation and form a guideline for further developments. Research limitations/implications: This research study could be further expanded to urban planning, urban design, social development and environmental engineering. Urban design and social development chiefly focus on the relationship between built and unbuilt forms with an eye to creating healthy, sustainable communities for current and future generations. Originality/value: Because issues of social sustainability and urban design have failed to attract suitable levels of attention from local scholars, gaps have arisen in the research. Accordingly, this research study investigates the relationship between social sustainability and urban design standards in the State of Qatar with an eye to translating theoretical knowledge into applicable principles of urban planning. In doing so, it will help close the gaps in knowledge related to Qatar and GCC countries.

The documentation of vanishing architectural heritage includes intensive information and data gathering, filtering, classification and digitization. Enabling such an endeavor necessitates the act of documentation, which requires the cooperation of several professionals from different fields, extensive resources, precise organization, and robust structuring. Therefore, the design and development of an innovative digital platform to facilitate the interaction between users from different specialties is highly desirable to enable dynamic real-time preservation and protection of such invaluable heritage. The aim of this study is to investigate the existing Qatari built heritage, urban conservation methods and the principles of modern digitizing and archiving techniques to create a sustainable and interactive archiving platform—Qatar Historic Buildings Information Modeling (Q-HBIM) platform. This unique digital platform aims to respond to the needs of the society as well as the experts in the fields of urban heritage conservation and buildings restoration. A literature review was conducted on topics relating to Qatar urban heritage and the principles of three-dimensional digitization technology including an exploration of the aspects of sustainable urban preservation. Accordingly, site analysis (physical, photogrammetric and 3D scanning techniques were used), and in-depth interviews were adopted as the main data collection techniques. The findings of this study elucidate the principles of innovative architectural heritage digitization tools involving Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology and processes. It is anticipated that the present work will formulate an advanced and unique interactive archiving tool in the context of Qatar and GCC/MENA regions in the shape of the: Qatar Historic Building Information Modeling (Q-HBIM) platform.

Historic urban cores are the backbone of a city’s cultural identity. Maintaining and preserving the socio-cultural, environmental and economic characteristics of the built heritage is vital for cultural identity survival. The Gulf region gathered important architectural and urban richness observed through the massive military towers, mosques, houses, palaces and grand souks. The state of Qatar is under huge pressure to preserve its cultural identity, which resulted from the rapid development, population growth, urban expansion and economic boom since the 1970s. The cities of Qatar are facing difficult challenges to preserve the cultural identity and built heritage without compromising the need for development. Consequently, this study aims to define a set of heritage restoration-preservation tools and an integrated sustainable conservation strategy as part of deliberate planning and design processes. This, certainly, will help achieve sustainable future scenarios for the survival of vernacular architecture and historic buildings in Qatar through their sustained adaptive (re)use.