| Local and detailed planning field | |
|---|---|
| Site | Al-Kharj |
| Client | Municipality of Al-Kharj Governorate Client |
| Duration | 18 months |
| Type of work | Preparation of local and detailed plans for Al-Kharj and preparing a document of the proposed building controls, rules and regulations of Al-Kharj until 1450 H |
A brief overview of the work
Al-Kharj city is considered one of the most important cities in Riyadh region, where it is characterized by rapid urbanization and population growth due to its proximity to the city of Riyadh (the national capital of the Kingdom), in addition to the settlement of several large investment projects, the city includes a variety of economic activities (commercial activities, agricultural services and local light industries and governmental jobs). One of the most important tasks of the project (preparation of local and detailed plans for Al-Kharj city) is the preparation of (the proposed local plan for Al-Kharj city until 1450 H), which aims to address the important issues of the city and develop general frameworks for its solution, as well as dealing with and developing appropriate solutions to the problems of building regulations and everything related to urban controls in the city. So, a third technical report entitled (Local Plan for Al-Kharj City for the year 1450 H) was prepared
whose most important contents can be refined as follows:
- 1. Initially, the future vision of Al-Kharj city was formulated, which reflects the best picture of the city's situation in the near future. Accordingly, it was determined what the city will come to within a specified period of time (the target year). Therefore, the future vision of Al-Kharj city has been determined in light of the directions of the regional plan for Riyadh approved in 1434 H, which stipulated that the city of Al-Kharj will be considered as a metropolitan sub-regional for Riyadh, and further development can be achieved by taking advantage of the retreat effects of Riyadh (the national capital of the Kingdom) because of the presence of an attractive area, represented in the presence of areas of light industries and medium and small projects. The natural environment is an important strategic element within Al-Kharj and the surrounding areas, as it tends to acquire the ability to provide distinguished services, manage its land use plan according to its population growth, and its role as a prominent regional growth center in the eastern part of Riyadh region. Al-Kharj can serve as an area of good tourist attraction, although not yet ready for this purpose).
- 2. The strategic frameworks for the future economic development of Al-Kharj city were formulated, which were based on several key factors, the most prominent of which were: - Adopting the strategy of economic development on a set of strategic plans to enable the city to attract investment and development (Supply Side). - Maximizing the benefit of the city from the development satiety of the city of Riyadh (the national capital of the Kingdom) and attracting the development surpluses from Riyadh to Al-Kharj, and maximizing the benefit of the city of Al-Kharj from the presence of the industrial city in its geographical economic scope, either directly, indirectly or induced. - Optimization of national and regional highway lines with high level of competitiveness. - Then, the main constituents of achieving economic development in Al-Kharj city were identified and the challenges were laid. Economic development strategies were laid on all developmental sectors, defining the development outlines, proposing scenarios for future economic development in Al-Kharj city, and then selecting the optimal scenario that fits with the developmental data of the city, all the way to proposing a number of giant economic projects that aim to achieve the future vision of the city, and the future population of the city of Al-Kharj was concluded until 1450 H based on studies of the economic base of the city, direct and indirect work opportunities, and dependency ratio at the level of Al-Kharj city
- 3. The proposed population densities were studied within the boundaries of the approved urban area of Al-Kharj city until 1450H, in line with future visions towards Al-Kharj city, and then dividing the areas within the boundaries of the urban area into (high - medium - low) densities. The appropriate population densities were proposed for each of these areas separately based on rates and standards adopted and in force with the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs. Consequently, the population capacity of Al-Kharj city was studied based on the current population figures for 1436 H, in addition to the number of inhabitants that can be absorbed by the available land for development within the boundaries of the urban area in 1450 H. Eventually, the future population of Al-Kharj city was deduced based on the city's capacity.
- 4. The development of population up to the target year was also dealt with. It was found that according to the population projections, the population of Al-Kharj city will reach 418531 people in 1450 H (308671 Saudis and 109860 non-Saudis). According to the likely population growth scenario, there will be a population increase of (183924) people added to the total population in the census in 1435 H, which requires working on the population redistribution and spread on the neighborhoods under construction and residential neighborhoods with large areas, and accordingly part of the proposed population increase has been distributed on the areas free of population and that has already been planned. These increases are, of course, due to the natural increase of the population (the difference between the number of births and deaths) and the result of reverse migration towards the main city (internal migration from within the Kingdom, and the introduction of labor from outside the Kingdom sometimes accompanied by their families) where the rates of population growth within the already occupied neighborhoods should correspond with the city-wide average of previous years, which is estimated at about (2.57%).
- 5. Consequently, the proposed alternatives for the local plan of Al-Kharj city were prepared, and then the future land use plan was prepared until 1450 H. The preparation of the planning alternatives was based on the simulation of the reality of Al-Kharj city, which was reviewed with the results of the study of the current situation and analysis in the framework of this project. The preparation of the planning alternatives was also based on several basic considerations to achieve the objectives of the local plan. These considerations include all planning levels (national, regional, local, detailed) that serve the development processes of Al-Kharj Thus, the planning alternatives of the proposed local plan for Al-Kharj city were formulated to achieve all the objectives of the proposed local plan until 1450 H by several different directions in the methodology of thinking, to achieve those development goals which vary among them and include (distribution of uses, proposed growth trends, distribution of services, roads and transportation network). Based on these planning parameters and constants, three proposed planning alternatives were offered for the local plan of Al-Kharj city. In light of achieving the objectives of the proposed local plan for the city of Al-Kharj and the requirements of exploiting the resources, wealth and potentials available in the city in a balanced way, it was possible to define a set of evaluation criteria and determine their relative values according to the importance of each of them in achieving the desired development, and the best alternative was chosen to formulate the proposed local plan for the city of Al-Kharj for the year 1450 H. The distribution of land uses was based on the urban ideas presented by the likely alternative in the distribution of areas and centers of vital activities and all other uses within the study area, which contributes to determine the form of urban development at the level of plots in the neighborhoods of the city, and the interdependence and integration of the proposed building systems and provide an urban environment appropriate to the needs of the population. The main roads and streets network have been planned to meet the future needs of the population in Al-Kharj and to ensure easy access to all proposed activities in the proposed local plan for 1450 H. The general idea of the main roads and streets network proposed in the local plan of Al-Kharj city until 1450 H was based on formulating the objectives of the proposed local plan which resulted from a good study of the current situation of the city and determining the available possibilities, and the ability to link the theoretical ideas put forward by the concerned people in the municipality of Al-Kharj and members of the municipal council as well as the local council in the province and translated into reality that serve the population within the city of Al-Kharj. It includes a proposal for a ring road route to connect the proposed planning sectors with the city, and also serve transit from outside the city to the inside and vice versa. A number of main and arterial roads and streets were proposed with the development of some existing roads and streets, by proposing its expansion to link the north and south of the study area, in addition to linking all the proposed planning units within the same sector. After the formulation of the components of the proposed local plan for the city of Al-Kharj until 1450 H and determining the uses of the proposed land in all the main planning sectors within the study area, the priorities of the proposed urban development in the urban areas of Al-Kharj city have been determined until 1450 H.
- 1. In order to activate the objectives of the proposed local plan for Al-Kharj city in 1450 H, the existing neighborhoods in Al-Kharj city have been reformulated into urbanely balanced planning units that form correlated nuclei of a homogeneous urban community to meet the needs of the population in Al-Kharj city in equitable distribution of services to all major sectors and urban areas in the local plan. This can't be achieved by the current administrative division of the existing neighborhoods in the city, where we find a large difference in size between these neighborhoods, which leads to a clear contradiction in the distribution of population and services for each neighborhood, and this is considered one of the obstacles to achieving the objectives of the future vision of the city of Al-Kharj. Based on the rates and planning standards adopted by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in dividing the urban areas into (urban sectors, districts, neighborhoods, residential groups), the study area was divided into (6) main sectors that define the main features of the proposed local plan for Al-Kharj city. In 1450 H, each of these major sectors was divided into balanced urban sectors in form and size that achieved the equitable distribution of services within them to meet the future needs of the population in Al-Kharj until the target year. Appropriate plans have been drawn up to distribute public services theoretically to a proposed urban sector randomly selected by the proposed local plan for Al-Kharj city in 1450 H based on studies of the absorptive capacity of the population in this sector and the proposed general density, so as to be a guiding model for guiding developers when developing their plans to provide all services at all levels without disturbing the distribution, as in the distribution of existing services in Al-Kharj in light of the current administrative division of existing urban neighborhoods.
- 2. The housing and public services needs of Al-Kharj city until 1450 H were also addressed as follows: First, in terms of the future expectations of housing in Al-Kharj city, which was based on the future population census in 1450 H (418531 people), it was found that the total need of Al-Kharj city of housing units in 1450 H is estimated at (25620) housing units, and by studying and analyzing the current situation of the city, showed the availability of (2950) vacant housing units. Accordingly, the total need of housing units until 1450 H is estimated at (22670) housing units. Second: As for the needs of the city of Al-Kharj for public services, it was estimated in the light of the rates and planning standards adopted by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs within the guide (Preparation of planning standards for regional and local public services and their different levels) for the year 1436 H, which contributes to the assessment of the size of the needs of urban communities of various types (educational, health, religious, administrative, government, cultural, social, recreational and sports) until 1450 H, note that the proposed public services of the highest level were settled, which is the regional uses serving the entire population of the city of Al-Kharj in general in the appropriate areas. Also, the rest of the lower-level services within residential neighborhoods and urban planning sectors and the sectors proposed local master plan for the city was distributed until the year 1450 H.
- 3. A plan was also proposed to develop the road and transport network until 1450 H, where the situation of transport and traffic in Al-Kharj city was studied and the objectives of the study were determined. A detailed study of the current situation of the road and transport network was conducted, in addition to conducting field surveys of the movement of vehicles. The main recommendations proposed to improve the status of the road network, transportation and traffic safety on the road network and the main streets of the city and at the relevant intersections were concluded. Accordingly, a model for transport in Al-Kharj city has been proposed and developed to contribute to the preparation of transport and traffic planning processes. In addition, a city-wide public transport plan is proposed to be implemented in phases up to the target year.
- 4. A plan was also proposed to develop the public utilities in Al-Kharj city until 1450 H, where the study of household water and sewage networks, the study of electric power supply networks, and the study of ground-based and aerial telecommunications networks, and accordingly the actual needs of these services were determined taking into account the rational use as one of the most important principles and objectives of Vision (2030 G). By studying the size of solid household waste, it was estimated that the production of solid household waste in Al-Kharj city is expected to reach 1450 H. It was proposed to build factories for recycling waste with the selection of an additional site for collection and landfill of solid household waste in accordance with the municipal requirements in this regard.
- 5. Finally, the most important policies and recommendations have been formulated to deal with the valleys and flood streams through the preparation of a detailed study of the valleys and flood streams passing through the province of Al-Kharj in general and their relationship to the city of Al-Kharj, and study the current status of those valleys within Al-Kharj plain and the risk of those valleys on urban development within the boundaries of the study area. Then, recommendations were proposed to deal with these valleys in the light of the results of the current situation studies and analysis of Al-Kharj city, to achieve the objectives of the future vision of the city until 1450 H.
- 6. In the light of the preparation of the proposed local plan for Al-Kharj city until 1450 H, a document of buildings requirements and regulations proposed for Al-Kharj city until 1450 H has been drafted and prepared, which aims to achieve the vision and objectives of urban development of Al-Kharj city until the target year. This document represents the legal framework that regulates urbanism in Al-Kharj. This document specifies the building regulations for residential areas as well as buildings regulations on corridors, streets and commercial areas, it also sets general controls for all uses in the city until 1450 H