An architectural expert from the prestigious Harvard University was in Dammam on Feb. 22 to study the architecture and development of urban areas in the Gulf. Nader Ardalan of the university’s Graduate School of Design was hosted by Dammam University’s College of Architecture and Planning. He interacted with the faculty members, researchers and students at the university to get a first-hand knowledge of current architectural developments and rapid urbanisation.
Hani Mohammad Al-Qahtany, faculty member at Dammam University’s College of Architecture and Planning, is coordinating the research project in Saudi Arabia, and it was he who introduced Ardalan to local researchers and academics.
Ardalan is a senior research associate for the Gulf Encyclopedia for Sustainable Urbanism (GESU) project. His university is carrying out a multi-faculty and multi-year research on the entire Gulf region, looking at the development in eight countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.
Explaining the finer details of his current research, Ardalan said: “The main focus of the commissioned research is the future of urbanism in the coastal region, on a sustainable basis, both environmentally and socioeconomically. The coastal region has been selected since coastal cities have an impact on each other through the water body, regardless of their own country, and the Gulf region is in a key geopolitical location, amidst global trade routes and with substantial natural resources.”