Sustainable Neighborhoods in the State of Qatar: Msheireb Downtown Doha

Abstract

Over the past three decades, rapid urban sprawl, a changing economy, and shifting demographics have caused rapid developments, which included the urban regeneration of existing neighborhoods. In the 1940s, after oil and natural gas discoveries in the State of Qatar, Doha experienced massive transformations on social, economic, cultural and environmental levels. These transformations have created (A) the need for creating sustainable neighborhoods and (B) raised questions related to how existing neighborhoods can be more sustainable in the future. This study investigates the neighborhood of Msheireb Downtown Doha and the reasons which have caused its urban regeneration. The study investigates (1) practical forms of sustainable urbanism principles by analyzing the Msheireb project and (2) how this urban project can be enhanced according to these principles. The research design encompasses a summary of the literature, the site analysis, structured interviews and a resultant vision of a sustainable concept for Msheireb to define the actions needed to implement the sustainable neighborhood concept. The findings reveal that, comparing the image of old Msheireb with the current regenerated one, the later neighborhood is compact, pedestrian-friendly and mixed use, which in turn encourage people to engage and promote a higher level of social interaction and therefore, contribute to enhancing the urban livability of the neighborhood.