Saad Hanif

The discovery of oil in the mid-twentieth century marked a profound rupture in Kuwait’s urban trajectory, triggering rapid modernization, demographic expansion, and large-scale urban transformation. From the 1950s onward, Kuwait City emerged as one of the Gulf’s most explicit manifestations of globalization, where imported planning models and Western architectural inspirations reshaped the urban fabric. These transformations, however, also led to the fragmentation of the historic urban core and excluded significant phases of the twentieth-century urban interventions. This study investigates the impact of globalization on the urban identity of Kuwait City and examines how glocalization can pave the way for the process of heritagization as a strategic intervention for repositioning this evolving urban identity. Adopting an exploratory qualitative case study methodology, the research draws primarily on archival documents, planning records, academic literature, and historical sources to trace both material and discursive shifts in Kuwait’s urban identity. The analysis is situated within theoretical debates on globalization, glocalization, and critical heritage studies, revealing how postwar and postoil urban environments have been selectively devalued or omitted from heritage recognition processes. The findings demonstrate that heritagization can counter homogenizing global forces by enabling context-sensitive reinterpretations of Kuwait City’s contemporary urban identity. By foregrounding locally grounded narratives, this study contributes to broader discussions on evolving heritage regimes in rapidly globalizing cities and advocates for more inclusive, interpretive, and locally embedded approaches to urban identity.

Post-oil modernisation transformed Dubai from a modest trading port into a globally connected Emirate. However, this shift led to the demolition and redevelopment of most of the historic districts. Al-Fahidi is one of the few surviving heritage sites and since 2011, has been activated through the Sikka Art and Design Festival, which converts its architectural heritage and surrounding spaces into platforms for exhibitions, performances, and digital creative practices. Temporarily relocated to Al-Shindagha for three editions (2024-2026) and returning to Al-Fahidi from 2027, the festival was lifted from one conserved district, staged in another, and returned intact, questioning whether the authenticity resides in the historic district or the event. This study examines how the Sikka Art and Design Festival interprets Dubai’s historic districts through contemporary artistic practice, and how such interpretation produces staged authenticity. It employs a qualitative approach, combining a literature review with interpretive content analysis of festival programming, promotional materials, and observation of the temporal socio-spatial settings read through MacCannell’s concept of staged authenticity.

This study examines how the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach, proposed by UNESCO, can support the integration of leftover heritage buildings while balancing conservation with sustainable urban development. Furthermore, it investigates how the HUL approach can contribute to Manama’s ongoing efforts toward UNESCO World Heritage inscription aligning with the Vision 2030. The research adopts an exploratory case study methodology, utilizing qualitative research techniques including document analysis and fieldwork. The data analysis follows the six-step process of HUL, which focuses on managing and safeguarding these leftover heritage buildings as part of urban heritage, while field observations provide direct evidence of physical deterioration and underutilization. The analysis reveals persistent fragmentation within the historic core of Manama, despite multiple conservation phases led by state authorities. Findings highlight that, while the heritage buildings were deprioritized during the post-modernization era, their integration through the HUL approach can act as a catalyst in sustainable urban development. By providing a framework, findings illustrate that such integration will enhance socio-economic vitality, contributing to Manama’s UNESCO inscription, after being on the tentative list for nearly a decade. The research findings are anticipated to inform Bahrain’s Development Strategy of the Vision 2030, which emphasizes continuous strategic planning to guide policy decisions, emphasizing sustainability-oriented planning that responds to national opportunities and constraints.

The UNESCO World Heritage designation is widely recognized as a global benchmark for cultural significance and heritage excellence. Contemporary UNESCO heritage management extends beyond the preser...

Over the past decade, state-led waterfront projects in the Gulf region have emerged as an intriguing urban phenomenon, repositioning World Heritage Sites (WHSs) located along coastal zones within large-scale urban development. In a region increasingly exposed to urban transformation and a hot-arid climate, these waterfront transformations also intersect with the emerging need for climate-adaptive urban resilience. While such projects are often framed as a means of contemporary extension of heritage assets, their implications for WHSs remain underexamined. This study investigates how state-led waterfront developments in the peripheries of the World Heritage Sites function as socio-spatial mediators that reconnect maritime heritage with these sites while enhancing or undermining urban resilience and climate adaptability. Drawing on comparative case studies from the Historic Jeddah (inscribed in 2014) and the Pearling Testimony of an Island Economy, Muharraq, Bahrain (inscribed in 2012), the data collection comprises literature synthesis, policy and planning documents, state-led waterfront proposals, and site observations, analyzed through the Comprehensive Waterfront Development Index (CWDI) framework. The analysis expands the existing six dimensions of the CWDI framework to eight dimensions and dissects two of the dimensions to a further two more. This expansion and dissection contextualize waterfront developments as socio-spatial mediators re-connecting maritime heritage with the WHSs. Findings reveal that while both cases integrate CWDI dimensions, social integration is limited, whereas climate adaptation remains absent, diminishing the urban resilience of the WHS. By doing so, this study contributes to broader debates on sustainable development and climate-adaptive urban resilience in rapidly transforming peripheries of WHSs.

Since At-Turaif’s inscription as a World Heritage Site in 2010, Al-Diriyah and its peripheries have witnessed massive urban development. With the recently proposed Wadi Safar project, the expansion of Al-Diriyah has taken another turn, as it is conceptualized as a luxury driven mixed-use district, integrating cultural experiences that are rooted in the past. This research examines the urban development of Al-Diriyah through the lens of the Experience Economy Model (1998), in which value is derived not just from objects or spaces but from the memorable and immersive experiences they tend to incorporate. This study employs a qualitative-case study methodology structured through a five-phase analytical framework that spans from 2010 to 2025/2030. Utilizing a deductive qualitative approach, the analysis demonstrates a differentiated application of the four experiential realms of the Experience Economy Model across the study sites. While At-Turaif predominantly engages two experiential dimensions and the broader regeneration of Al-Diriyah incorporates three, the planned development of Wadi Safar is designed to encompass all four dimensions of the Experience Economy. This configuration produces a balanced spectrum of active and passive participation as well as absorption and immersion, positioning Wadi Safar within Al-Diriyah’s broader transformation into the world’s largest heritage-led urban development. The findings contribute to the theme of a thriving economy of KSA Vision 2030 by advancing heritage-oriented experience as a pathway towards economic diversification.