Sustainable Neighborhoods: West Bay, Business District of Doha (State of Qatar)

Abstract

Over the past two decades in Qatar, designers and planners focused on design merits of high-rise buildings and the impact on the skyline and the city image, discarding the integration of the buildings with the ground level. This research study investigates the sustainability and livability of the public realm within high-rise districts, focusing on the business district of West Bay, Doha, State of Qatar, as a case study. In West Bay, tall buildings have security gates and parking spaces on the ground level that weaken the livability and vitality of the street. Therefore, to enhance livability, the built environment should provide a vibrant social urban ground level. Insufficient parking spaces along with the lack of public transportation choices frustrate people and intensify the traffic congestion in West Bay. The lack of services and amenities within the residential towers accompanied with poor pedestrian circulation make it hard to perform everyday activities. The spatial segregation in West Bay translates into a distinct functional spatialisation. Also, most buildings in West Bay are single-use occupancy, with clusters of retail, services and catering activities, their spatialisation does not provide for an overlap of movement between the working occupants and the recreational ones. The research study aims to study the relationship between built environment and livability on the street level of the existing spatial environments on the micro urban scale of West Bay. Therefore, this research project aims to fill the gap in the literature regarding design-based research that provides solutions to existing limitations in the physical environment. The strategy includes a summary of the literature, site analyses and resultant design vision for a sustainable livable development concept for the study area, the business district of West Bay