assignment

Instructions:

a. Urban Planning Project: Choose a project to focus on for each of your

two cities ( Riyadh city+ Dubai city ) . This could be a historical or

contemporary project. It could be a major infrastructure project such as, for

example, the development of an underground metro system. It could also be

something such as what you are reading about in "The Dream of Delhi as a

global city" with a campaign to "beautify" the city and host the

Commonwealth Games.

a. Describe the project for each city and its context (eg. the when and why

behind the project).

b. Analyze whether there was a particular segment of the population who

may have benefited more from the project than others, and whether this was

discussed in the planning for the project or in the media surrounding the

project. For example, if it's about something such as hosting the Olympics,

did this benefit the poorest within the city and, if so, in what way? If it's

about something like an underground sewer system, this could arguably be of

benefit to the entire city because everyone would use it and it would promote

better hygiene. If it's about building subsidized government housing, was this

something that was objected to by the wealthier inhabitants?

b. Economy: Which type of economic system prevails in your cities? Would

you describe it as primarily a command (central control and ownership of

land, businesses, natural resources, etc.), primarily a market (mostly private

ownership and control), or primarily a mixed economy (for example, in which

private property ownership coexists with state ownership of some industries

such as transportation or natural resources, etc.)? As a general observation,

national economies are almost all a mixed type to some extent, but explain

your reasoning for your choice. You may analyze it differently than your

classmates for the same city. The goal is to explain the basis for your

conclusion.

c. Political system: Which type of political system prevails in your cities

(based upon the country in which they are located)? Examples: Democracy,

Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Communism, Dictatorship. Do your

cities have institutions of local and regional governance? For example: City

Council, State/Provincial Government. Do you think that your cities have a lot

of autonomy when it comes to governance and planning? For example, could

a City Council approve a major infrastructure project without regional or

national authorization? Again, you may come to different conclusions from

your classmates about the same city, but explain the basis for your

conclusion.