JEDDAH — In a video address filled with quiet passion, Prince Charles made an eloquent plea to the Jeddah Economic Forum for putting people and the environment at the center of future urban development. He said that if we continued to develop the economic system and not the fabric of our society it would leave the world a very much poorer place to live in.
“There is no reason why economic development should not go hand-in-hand with the development of art culture and heritage,” he told delegates. He referred to the huge projects taking place in Middle East and asked whether developers were just building physical structures or communities.
“The former give some short-term benefits but the latter is the only way to give true long term value — in other words to enhance social commercial and environmental value.” He said he was certain that there was a need to escape from the straightjacket of the conventional approach and look at the timeless principles that can assist in development.
“We must put the pedestrian at the center of the process — strive for functionality and beauty so that we satisfy both the material and the spiritual needs of society.”
Prince Charles used the example with his own involvement over the last 15 years in building communities that married, “the best of traditional design with first class modern structures and generate sustainable communities based on a subtle mix of affordable social housing, commercial properties and shops.”
He noted that the result was that the values of these properties had far outstripped others in the areas where these were built and extended an invitation to the delegates to travel to the UK and see for themselves.
Prince Charles cited a mixed-use, mixed income environment in Jizan with facilities for commercial and social development. The design drew on traditional styles but also met the wishes and needs of the local community. “We have high hopes we can recapture some of the tradition and identity and cultural heritage of the Arab world in this development,” he said. “It is possible, indeed vital, to blend the unique cultural identity with the necessary facilities as well.”
Mark Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League (NUL) and a former mayor of New Orleans, carried the theme of people in the urban environment forward. He noted that mixed urban environments where rich and poor lived in the same neighborhood were, in his opinion, the way to add cultural richness to a city.
He noted that there were several such developments in the US that he described as “challenging” but met with some success. What was needed he thought was a change in the way planners and developers thought. Echoing Prince Charles, Morial said that it was essential to build the cultural infrastructure in tandem with the economic. Gathering places and museums should form an integral part of the structure as well as centers of education. He recommended a holistic approach to planning rather than simply a structural one.
“If you do not invest in infrastructure,” he warned, “you will surely pay the price. You have to plan for the future, 20 to 25 years out.” He concluded that no nation, city or culture had ever gone wrong building infrastructure.
Bringing the local experience to the session, Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakieh outlined the developments currently under way in Jeddah and presented the plans for the future of the city.
