____ _..,. ,/. Sources: Bindagti, Hussein H. (1979); Ministry of Planning (1980). Figure 1.2. ...... Hawaii: New Dynasty in Renewable Energy. Solar Age (May).
MODERN DESERT SETTLEMENTS: REQUISITES, RESOURCES, AND HIGH TECHNOLOGYA MODEL PROCESS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
A Dissertation by MAHMOUD AHMED ABDEL-LATIF
Submitted to the Graduate College of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
May 1985
Major Subject: Urban and Regional Science
MODERN DESERT SETTLEMENTS: REQUISITES, RESOURCES, AND HIGH TECHNOLOGY-A MODEL PRo"CESS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING
A Dissertation by MAHMOUD AHMED ABDEL-LATIF
Approved as to style and content by:
~2 Da\fidLPUgh
~~ (Interim Department Head)
May 1985
ix
Table of Contents (Continued) CHAPTER
Page
3.4. Constraints Facing the Development Process of Jubail and Yanbu ...... 3.4.1. Manpower constraint .................................. 3.4.2. Education, science, and technology constraints ............... 3.4.3. Institutional structure constraints .......................... 3.4.4. Constraints of the physical environment ..................... 3.5. Potentials Affecting the Development of Jubail and Yanbu ............ 3.5.1. Financial strength of Snudi Arabia ......................... 3.5.2. Abundance of natural resources and energy .................. 3.5.3. Human potentials ..................................... 3.6. The Planning and Conduct of the Development Process of Jubail and Yanbu .................................................. 3.6.1. Overall structure of the development process ................. 3.6.2. The role of the Saudi government ......................... 3.6.3. The role of the private sector ............................ 3.6.4. The role of foreign expertise and entrepreneurs ................ 3.7. Conclusion ............................................. IV
59 59 60 61 63 64 65 65 69 70 72 72 75 77 80
TESTING THE CLAIM OF PERMANENCY AND ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF SURVIVAL FOR JUBAIL AND YANBU ........................... 83 4. 1. Meeting the Basic Criteria of Urbanization ........................ 84 4.1.1. Availability of raw materials and energy ..................... 84 4.1.2. Securing capital requirement ............................. 85 4. 1.3. Meeting the manpower requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 4.1.4. Meeting physical and locational requirements ................. 87 4.2. Alternative Sources of Survival for Jubail and Yanbu ................ 88 4.2.1. Anti-survival policy .................................... 88 4.2.2. Pro-survival policy .................................... 89 4.2.3. Alternative economic resources and activities . ·. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 4.3. Alternative Energy Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 4.3.1. Solar energy utilization ................................. 93 4.3.2. Wind energy utilization ................................. 95 4.3.3. Integrating solar and wind utilization systems ................. 98 4.4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
V
A MODEL PROCESS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESERT COMMUNITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST ............................ 105 5.1. Basic Characteristics of an Industrial Desert Community in a Resource-rich Country in the Middle East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.1. The IDC as a complex system .......................... 5. 1.2. The IDC involves substantial corporate actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1.3. The IDC is a self-reliant and permanent system .............. 5. 1.4. The IDC produces substantial impacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. 1.5. The IDC is a collective, large-scale, planned development . . . . . . . 5.1.6. The IDC is based upon an advanced approach to development technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
106 106 107 108 109 11 0 11 0
X
Table of Contents (Continued) CHAPTER
Page
5.2. Theoretical Bases of the Model Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1. A system's approach to the development process of a complex , system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.2. A system's approach to technological knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3. The Structure of the Model Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3. 1. Conceptualization of the development process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.2. General structure of the model process .................... 5.3.3. The nature of the model process ................ , ........ 5.4. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI
111 112 114 118 118 120 122 124
A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE MODEL PROCESS ................. 127 6.1. System Definition Stage .................................... 6. 1.1. Needs analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 .2. Problem identification and definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1.3. Goals formulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 .4. Resource exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2. System Integration Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1. Organizing and linking the system components ............... 6.2.2. Generation of alternative solutions ........................ 6.2.3. Selection of the best system ............................ 6.2.4. System design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3. System Implementation Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3. 1. Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.2. Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4. System Evaluation and control ............................... 6.4.1. Evaluation ......................................... 6.4.2. Controlling the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
127 127 130 135 138 140 141 142 142 144 148 150 150 151 151 152 153
VII CONCLUSION: A FRAMEWORK OF REQUISITES FOR SUCCESSFUL DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN HOT-ARID LOCATIONS ... 157 7.1. Unavoidability of Developing Arid Locations ...................... 7.2. Availability of Arid Locations which Satisfy the Basic Criteria for Urbanization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3. Ability to Plan and Conduct Preconceived Large Scale Projects and Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4. Ability to Acquire Sophisticated Industrial Technology ............... 7.5. Ability to Afford Long Term, Comprehensive and Systematic Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6. Availability of Large Amounts of Energies ....................... 7. 7. Availability of Sufficient and Lasting Capital ...................... 7.8. Ability to Politically Deal with Transnational Complications ........... 7.9. Existence of Popular Internal Desire to Go through Grand Scale Social and Physical Transformation Processes .................... 7.1 0. Willingness of the Advanced World to Effectively Participate in the
157 159 159 160 161 162 162 163 163
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 .1. 1.2. 1.3. 1.4. 1.5. II
Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Research Questions and Hypothetical Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Research Objectives ............................. , ......... Research Methodology and Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scope of the Research .....................................
. 1 10 12 13 16
APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY: DEFINITIONS, BACKGROUND, CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK, AND ASSESSMENT ....... 19 2.1 . Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. 1. 1. Definition of a system .................................. 2. 1.2. Definition of desert .................................... 2.1.3. D~finition of an industrial desert community IDC ............... 2.1.4. Definition of development as a process ...................... 2.1.5. Definition of technology ................................ 2.2. Technology as a Vital Resource for Development: a Background Review .... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1. Technology and the developmental status of countries ........... 2.2.2. Technology and the settlement of adverse desert regions ........ 2.2.3. Technology and the establishment of desert communities ........ 2.3. Conceptual Framework ..................................... 2.4. Approaches to Desert Development Technology ................... 2.4. 1. The traditional technology approach TT ..................... 2.4.2. Advanced industrial technology approach AIT . . . . . . ........... 2.5. Preliminary Assessment of the Appropriateness of AIT for the Development of Arid Countries of the Middle East ................... 2.5.1. Argument against the use of AIT in developing countries ......... 2.5.2. Argument for the use of AIT in developing countries ............ 2.5.3. Discussion of the arguments ............................. 2.6. Conclusion .. : ..........................................
19 20 21 21 22 22 23 24 26 28 31 34 34 36 38 39 40 41 44
Ill THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESERT COMMUNITIES IN HOTARID COUNTRIES: THE SAUDI EXPERIENCE ........................ 49 3. 1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2. Physical Characteristics of Jubail and Yanbu ...................... 3.2.1 . Jubail industrial city ................................... 3.2.2. Yanbu industrial city ................................... 3.3. Goals and Rationale for Jubail and Yanbu ........................ 3.3.1 . National dimension .................................... 3.3.2. International dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50 52· 52 52 54 54 58
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .
I deeply thank God for granting me the guidance and the strength needed to accomplish this work. 'I am grateful to all members of my Advisory Committee for their kind understanding, advice, and support.
Particularly, I wish to first thank Dr. W. G. Roeseler, the chairman of
the Advisory Committee.
With his creative ideas, efficient directions, and generous
encouragement he enlightened the entire reseach process. Appreciation is also extended to Professors Jesus H. Hinojosa, David L. Pugh, and Rodney C. Hill, who consented to serve on the Committee, and who contributed to this work through constructive critiques.
I am also
. indebted to Dr. Arthur J. Roach for his service as Graduate Council Representative. Technical information forwarded by Mr. Barney Buldi, manager of Jubail project, is acknowledged with much appreciation. Acknowledged also is the data supplied by Mr. Jim Williamson, United States Program Director of SOLERAS, the joint United States-Saudi Arabian Program for Cooperation in the Field of Solar Energy, and by the Saudi authorities and many other persons and organizations. I am grateful to my friend Gauhar Rehman for proofreading the first draft of the dissertation.
I wish also to thank Mrs. Pat Haberstroh for
the time and .effort she spent in proofreading the final draft. This research has been possible through the sponsorship of the Egyptian Government. Computer time required to finish the dissertation was generously provided by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, by the Center for Urban Affairs, and by the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, all of Texas A&M University. The advice, encouragement, and support of my wife, Samia Fahmi, herself an architect, through a long journey of dedication and self-denial on her part are deeply acknowledged. It is my sincere hope that the ideas presented in this dissertation, some day, will be put into i
I
action, for a better future for my children Reham, Ahmed, Noha, Mohammad, and for subsequent generations.
vi
DEDICATION
To the soul of my mother, to my father, and to my sincere wife, Samia in appreciation for their love and support.
v
ABSTRACT Modern Desert Settlements: Requisites, Resources, and High Technology-A Model Process of Strategic Planning . (May 1985) Mahmoud Ahmed Abdel-latif, B. Arch., Assiut University, Egypt; M. Arch., Assiut University, Egypt; M. Community and Regional Planning, Iowa State University Chairman of Advisory Committee: Dr. Wolfgang G. Roeseler
A review of advanced industrial technology as an approach to developing industrial desert communities in arid countries of the Middle East is offered.
Appropriateness of the new
approach for the development of the physical and the social environments of these countries on the national, on the desert regional, and on the desert community levels is assessed. A close examination of the Saudi Arabian experiment in developing Jubail and Yanbu industrial communities is presented.
The ability of these desert cities to survive and to evolve into
permanent human settlements is tested and alternative sources for their sustenance are explored. A model process which is based on an advanced, systematic and comprehensive approach to development technology is proposed for the development of a permanent desert community in an arid region.
A framework of requisites for successful development of
permanent human settlements in adverse desert locations is proposed.
xi
Table of Contents (Continued} Page
CHAPTER
Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 7.11. Ability to Protect National Identity and Culture and Survive Risky Intercultural Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 7 .12. Staying Alert to Changing Conditions Emerging along the Life Cycle of the Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
REFERENCES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
APPENDIX A ACRONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 8 TYPICAL PROCUREMENT, CONSTRUCTION, AND CONTROL ACTIVITIES .... 177 Procurement Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Construction Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Control Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
VITA ............................................................ 179
Ji• _;,. .,
.
xii
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
Page
1. 1 Cumulative Surplus for Oil-producing Countries of the Middle East in Billions of Dollars for 1973-1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . · . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.1 Technology Assessment Through Comparison ......................... : 45 3.1 Indicators of Achievements in Some Sectors of Human Resource Development in Saudi Arabia in the Period from 1970 to 1982 ............. 71 7.1 Requisites for Successful Development of Permanent Human Settlement in Arid Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
I,
xiii
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURE
Page
101 Arid Land of the World and the Desert "Surplus" of the Middle East . 0 0 • 0 0 • 0 0 • 0 0 3 102 Geographic Context of Jubail and Yanbu Industrial Cities . 0 • 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 . 0 • 0 • 0 0 0 9 2.1 The Basic Components of a System 0 •• 0 •• 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ••••••••• 0 0 •• 0 • 0 • 20 202 ClassifiGation of Countries According to their Resource Situations and to their Developmental Status 0 0 0 .••• 0 0 0 • 0 • 0 0 . 0 •.• 0 0 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 203 Areas of Technological Advancements in the Post-industrial Era and their Impact on Settling the Desert and Utilizing its Resources . 0 •.••• 0 0 •..••••• 29 2.4 Conceptual Framework: Types of Human Settlements as a Function of Environmental Suitability levels and the Application of Technology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ••• 33 205 Advanced Industrial Technology Generates Wealth as well as Products 0 . 0 • 0 • 0 . 37 301 Jubail Industrial City Master Plan . 0 .• 0 •••• 0 0 • 0 • 0 •.•.••• 0 0 0 0 •• 0 •••• 0 • 53 3.2 Yanbu Industrial City Master Plan 0 •.••• 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 . 0 0 . 0 0 ••• 0 0 • 0 0 55 3.3 Distribution of Mineral Deposits in Saudi Arabia 0 0 0 ••.• 0 0 0 •• 0 •••••.. 0 0 0 . 0 67 3.4 Overall Structure of the Development Process of Jubail and Yanbu . 0 • 0 0 0 0 .••. 73 5.1 A Systems Approach to the Development of a Country 0 • 0 0 0 • 0 0 •• 0 •••••.• 0 115 502 Levels of Technological Knowledge Required for the Existence and Productive Functioning of an Industrial Desert Community .. 0 • 0 0 0 • 0 0 ••.• 0 117 503 Conceptualization of Development as a Multi-Dimentional, Continual Process .. 0 0 119 504 A Conceptual Framework of a Model Process for the Development of an IDC 0 0 0 121 6.1 Explicit Identification and Definition of Problems 0 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 .••••.•• 0 •• 0 0 •• 133 6.2 A Hierarchy of Goals and Objectives of Various Sectors of the National Development Process 0 0 . 0 0 • 0 0 ••• 0 0 0 . 0 ••• 0 0 0 0 • 0 0 • 0 0 0 .• 0 0 ••.• 0 0 • 137 6.3 Screening of Alternative Solutions .... 0 . 0 ••• 0 ••••. 0 0 ..•••• 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 • • • 145 6.4 Phasing the Development Process of the Proposed Desert Community by the Breakdown of the Community into Independent Projects . 0 • 0 0 0 • 0 0 0 0 0 0 • 149
1
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. 1. Statement of the Problem
World population increases at an exploding rate.
From a total of 3 billion in 1960, world
population jumped to 4.8 billion in 1984 and is predicted to reach 8.3 billion by 2025 (Time 1984, 24-25). At a certain point in the future, the supply of land in the physically favorable ecological zones of the earth will run short.
Such a supply can maintain a certain level of
density beyond which man's life will be socially and physically endangered.
Modern
technology provides mankind with an option to satisfy the ever growing demand for shelter by making settlement possible in physically adverse regions, thereby opening entirely new frontiers of civilizations. Hot, arid deserts are among the adverse environments which man can now consider for future expansion. According to Eckholm and Brown (1977, 1), one-third of the world's land area is arid or semi-arid desert. The expansion into adverse desert environment is practically inevitable in countries which are totally contained in desert zones, Saudi Arabia, for example, and many other countries in the arid Middle East region. distribution of cold deserts, II
II
Figure 1.1 shows the world
north and south of 60° latitude, and
II
hot deserts,
II
particularly
near 30° north and south. The largest expanse of desert is that occupied by the geographic region of the Arab World in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (Eckholm and Brown 1977). Approximately 6 per cent of Saudi Arabia is semi-arid, 84 per cent is arid, and 10 per cent is extremely arid deserts (Dregne 1970, 4; McGinnies and Goldman 1968, xxiv). Consequently, in order to satisfy its growing demand for shelter, an arid country has no
This dissertation follows the style of the Journal of the American Planning Association.
2
choice but to consider settling adverse desert locations. However, the demand for shelter is not the only reason for an arid country to consider human settlement in desert locations and by itself does not sustain a required urban economy. other basic criteria for urbanization.
Successful habitats must also satisfy
The locations must be economically attractive and
phsically accessible (Weber 1958). Many desert locations have abundant natural resources and energy, both the conventional and the nonconventional types, and have other potentials for industrial, commercial, and other economic activities. excellent land, sea, and air transport.
Many of these locations facilitate
However, these locations are not settled or even
considered for settlement. It is simply the physical adversity of the desert regions which has deterred man from settling many locations in the past which are otherwise viable for human settlement.
Physical adversity of the hot, arid desert region is attributed mainly to two
factors: the.lack of potable water, and the hostile climate (Hodge 1963, 21). Historically, technology has. always played a significant role in overcoming the physical adversity of the desert environment.
For instance, cooling and heating technologies and
water pumping, purification, and desalination technologies have been used to control the hostile climate and to provide water to many desert locations.
Irrigation technologies have
converted desert unsettled lands into fertile regions upon which powerful states prospered. However, in modern times, the use of technology to control the physical adversity of the desert has largely been limited to such situations as the exploration and exploitation of natural resources or the maintenance of temporary strategic and military stations (Weingrod 1981 ). Once the resources are depleted or the temporary purposes are terminated, desert locations typically are abandoned. In a few cases the intensive use of technological advances has helped man transform hosti.le deserts into large urban centers. This is evident, for instance, in cases where largescale irrigation and water resource utilization technologies were used to supply parts of the Southwestern American desert with water.
Climate control, transportation, communication,
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resource utilization, and other service oriented and production oriented technologies have been used to establish and to develop desert settlements such as Tucson and Phoenix in Arizona, and Fresno and Palm Springs in California.
With the effective use of advanced
technology these cities have become metropolitan centers. The development of these cities, however, has followed a pattern of slow and gradual growth (Edmunds 1979, 487-496). It is interesting to note that already in pre-Columbian times apparently extensive desert settlements by native Indians were sustained for centuries in Arizona and New Mexico as a result of complex irrigation techniques.
These settlements vanished, perhaps because of
adverse impacts of irrigation that was not understood in ancient times, but it serves as a .•
reminder that the positive aspects of the desert climate and the fertility of the soil once irrigated, have always facinated man. The intensive use of modern advanced technology to establish industrial desert communities as planned large-scale projects is an experience in development technology which has never occured anywhere before to the extent currently realized in the deserts of the Middle East 1 • An arid country may use one of two approaches to technology in national and desert development proccesses:
(1) the traditional technology approach (TT) which is based on
simple methodology, fairly basic equipment, with limited energy requirements, intensive labor, and a low level of capital investment;
or (2) the advanced industrial technology approach
(AIT) which is based on complex and advanced methods, energy intensive equipment and facilities, and corresponding intensive capital investment.
While the type of labor required
under TT conditions is generally simple with moderate skills, the AIT methodology requires high skill levels initially and to sustain the developed systems over time. For centuries, the TT approach has been regarded suitable for social and physical development of arid countries of the Middle East. It is only recently that some resource-rich countries in the region have started to adopt the AIT approach in their development processes. The AIT approach has been perceived by policy-makers in the region to be an
5
appropriate tool for achieving their countries' developmental goals more rapidly and more effectively (Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu 1978). Before the mid 1970's, desert development policies in the Middle East were oriented toward small scale conventional settlements that accompanied land reclamation projects. These settlement practices have utilized low and intermediate technologies and followed an incremental growth pattern. They have been applied on the fringe of urban and rural lands or within the boundaries of oases in semi-arid areas. The economic base for these settlements has been either agricultural or pure pastoral activities. Examples of the application of the TT in desert development can be found in land reclamation projects carried out in the Western Desert in Egypt and in the Haradh Desert in Saudi Arabia 2 . The TT approach has continued for years to be advocated by experts in technology and development in the region and abroad as a more appropriate approach than other advanced and sophisticated methods which have been considered exogenous to the social environment of the Middle East. There has always been the fear that such imported technologies might alter the established values of the environment. Technical, economic, and political conditions of most of the countries in the region were not considered favorable for application of advanced technological systems. Through the years the gap has widened between the kind of technology applied in developing countries of the Middle East, the TT, and the advanced technology used in the developed world, the AlT. It is easy to see that conditions generally improve with technologial sophistication. As Pellegrini (1980, 4) noted that in economic development "growth creates growth," similarly in technological development technology creates technology.
Despite
possible harmful side effects of technology, there is agreement among scientists as well as professionals that technology in itself is a vital resource for the development of humankind (Poats 1972, 6-7), perhaps mankind's only hope of survival. All depends on the ability of man to keep technological impacts within acceptable societal limits.
6
It has been noted that developing countries which depend largely on the TT approach are considerably less prosperous than developed countries which intensively use the AIT approach (Pellegrini 1980). This fact seems to apply in desert development as well. Desert development practices guided by the TT approach have produced a handful of small scale ;,:,
desert settlements and have resulted in little change in the quality of physical and social environments of desert countries. This is particuiarly evident in the Middle East. Since 1975, a major change has taken place in the economic status of some resourcerich countries of the Middle East causing subsequent change in the direction and nature of their national development plans and eventually their desert development programs.
In that
year, resource-rich countries of the Middle East began to experience high rates of surplus funds.
With a dramatic increase in the price of crude oil, the five major oil-producing
countries of the Middle East received revenues estimated at $72.4 billion in 1974 alone. Saudi Arabia earned the highest return of $28.9 billion, followed by Iran with $20.9 billion, Kuwait with $8.5 billion, Iraq with $7.6 billion, and the United Arab Emirates with $6.5 billion (Kapoor 1975, 12). This accumulation of wealth by the oil-producing countries will not be a short term phenomenon.
Another increase in the price of crude oil occured at the end of
1978. With the expected depletion of the world oil reserve, the price in real terms is likely to increase in the future pushing the surplus even higher.
Table 1.1 shows estimates of the
growth of oil revenues and of the surplus for major Middle East oil-producing countries on a cumulative basis between 1973 and 1983 (AI-Bazzaz 1974). Any accumulation of surplus capital represents a challenge to the resource-rich countries as well as to the developed countries.
Traditionally, most of the economic surplus of the
resource-rich countries of the Middle East is invested in the developed world. With such an unprecedented high rate of accumulation, however, the opportunity for some part of this surplus to be recycled within the Middle East region itself has increased dramatically. Under traditional development policies which utilize the TT approach, however, the domestic
7
Table 1.1.
Cumulative Surplus for Oil-producing Countries of the Middle East in Billions of Dollars for 1973-1983
Estimated imports
Estimated oil earning
Saudi Arabia . Iran Kuwait libya Iraq Algeria Abu Dhabi Qatar Dubai Oman total
Surplus
min.
max.
min.
max.
177.6 175.9 72.0 69.2 47.4 34.0 32.8 14.3 5.9 5.3
53.3 140.7 28.8 34.6 23.7 30.6 13.1 5.7 2.4 1.6
88.8 175.9 43.2 41.5 30.8 34.0 19.7 8.6 3.6 2.7
88.8 0.0 28.8 27.7 16.6 0.0 13.1 5.7 2.4 2.7
124.3 35.2 43.2 34.6 23.7 3.4 19.7 8.6 3.6 3.7
634.5
334.5
448.7
185.8
300.0
Source: AI-Bazzaz, Mahdi (1974).
absorbtive capacities of the resource-rich countries of the Middle East was very limited (EIMallakh 1977, 14)3 . More ambitious development plans capable of absorbing money surplus were needed.
More
ad~~nced technology, represented in the AIT approach, was
recommended to and accepted by policy-makers in the region as the tool which would assist in utilizing some of the economic surplus for domestic development to bring economic order and prosperity to oil-producing and to oil-consuming countries (Turner and Bedore 1979, 46). Starting from the mid 1970's, resource-rich countries of the Middle East have launched ambitious national development programs which include even more ambitious desert development policies. A common goal in all plans has been to achieve economic diversity, security, and prosperity through industrial development, or what is popularly known as "industrialization."
Other major goals have been to absorb future population growth and to
create more balanced regional distributions of population and economic activities (AI-Sabab 1979, 149-190; Ministry of Planning 1980, 3-26).
8
Since 1975, Saudi Arabia has implemented two industrial port cities in the desert. Jubail Industrial City is located on the Persian Gulf and expected to have 270,000 people upon its completion. Yanbu Industrial City is located on the Red Sea and will have around 150,000 people (Newsweek 1983). Figure 1.2 shows the location of these new industrial cities and their relationship to other cities and administrative provinces of Saudi Arabia and to major water ways of the region. · Jubail is located on the Persian Gulf north of Dammam in the Eastern Province, where most of the natural resources of Saudi Arabia are produced. Yanbu is located on the Red Sea west of Medina and was originally intended to be the terminal distination for crude oil pumped from the Eastern Province through an east-west crosscountry pipe line. The AIT approach followed in developing these industrial communities in the Saudi Arabian desert marks a drastic deviation from the TT approach previously applied in the Middle East.
The nature, the size, and the speed of deviation in development technology,
from the TT to the AIT, coupled with the complex social and physical environments of the desert region of the Middle East have made the process of developing an industrial desert community (IDC) in the region complex, indeed, in size and scope.
The delicate special
conditions of the desert environment which demand a greate deal of responsiveness to cultural heritage and ecological balance have added other complications to the process. If one accepts the notion that man will have to consider settling adverse desert locations in order to satisfy his growing demand for living space, it seems logical to evaluate the Saudi experience in some detail. This is not only true for countries of the Middle East, but for other arid countries of the world, including the American deserts.
In looking for shelter, arid
countries are faced not only with physical constraints of the desert environment but also with heavy social constraints of their developing societies. As has been stated, two approaches may be followed in settling desert areas: industrial approach (AIT).
the traditional approach (TT) and the advanced
Preliminary observations indicate that the TT approach has been
9
. IRAQ AI JIIWf •
e
IRAN
NATIONAL CENTERS REGIONAL CENTERS
e DISTRICT CENTERS •
Saklka
OTHER TOWNS
,_,BOUNDARY OF PLANNING REGIONS
NORTHERN REGION
eTIYIN
•
e
._1.
eBureyda
•
Unaiuh Ar Rane
Shaqree
..--,
I
i I
\
Rubul- Khall
i
i \
,.) /./·
UDAN
,..-·--·-·- ____ _..,.
• Sharourah
.
v·
0
100
,/
/
·
/
.../
,/
200
.--F=::p!III~==J.km
0
.. ,."i-
.tO'
t>"
100 200 300 400
Sources: Bindagti, Hussein H. (1979); Ministry of Planning (1980).
Figure 1.2. Geographic Context of Juball and Vanbu Industrial Cities
10
less effective in bringing social and physical progress, while the AIT approach has contributed considerably to the progress of the advanced industrial countries. History also suggests that the TT approach has been less effective in overcoming the physical constraints and utilizing the natural resources of the desert environment than the AIT approach. technology in the
past,
however,
was
used
to
support temporary
Advanced
settlements
or
conventionally grown desert cities but not to facilitate the establishment of these settlements as large-scale collective projects.
The recent Saudi Arabian experiment is an attempt of
settling adverse desert locations where AIT is intensively used to facilitate the establishment of the new cities as large-scale collective, planned projects; and where AIT is perceived to be a tool for enhancing the overall social conditions of the country.
The development of the
Saudi desert cities is conducted under favorable financial, natural, and other resource conditions. Yet, the process is faced with several social and physical constraints.
1.2. Research Questions and Hypothetical Answers
Upon selection of the AIT approach in Saudi Arabia's new desert communities, major questions arose for researchers, designers, planners, and policy-makers in the region and elsewhere, including the following: (1)
Is the AIT approach an appropriate tool for the development of the social and physical environments of arid countries?
(2)
Is the AIT approach an appropriate tool for the development of permanent human settlements in adverse desert locations?
(3)
How can the AIT approach achieve these goals, if at all?
(4)
What are the requisites for successful development of permanent human settlement in arid locations using the AIT approach? Based on preliminary observations, stated above, it can be hypothesized that given stable
economic, social, political, and physical conditions, the AIT approach is an appropriate tool
11
not only for general development of better social and physical environments of arid countries on temporary basis, but specifically for the development of permanent cities in the desert, provided the locations selected for the cities and subsequent settlements also meet traditional criteria of urbanization. Putting it in another way: Adverse desert conditions that have previously prevented urban development on a large scale can now be overcome through advanced technology.
The
preconditions for such development are: (a) that the cost of energy of whatever kind is not excessive within local financial parameters; (b) that the locations under consideration are accessible preferably by land, air, and water routes; and (c) that an economic base exists for the long-term support of the new towns, such as exploration of marketable raw material, trade and distribution opportunities, local manufacture of goods from available resources, possibly administrative or military objectives, or some appropriate combination of these traditional incentives for urbanization. The present study clearly substantiates this contention. The process of developing an industrial desert community (IDC) in an arid country using the AIT approach is complex.
It involves the use of substantial amounts of human and
material resources at local, regional, national, and international levels. The process requires major capital resources and technical expertise not fully available to every arid country considering the adoption of such a technology. For instance, the development of Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities will cost some $60 billion over a period of 20 to 30 years. Hundreds of experts and workers from the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are required to carry out the projects.
The process is expected to generate numerous positive and
negative impacts both short term and in the long run. The range of the impacts is expected to include and affect countless individuals, institutions, and constituencies in Saudia Arabia as it adopts the new technology, and in the countries supplying the technology.
Economic
growth and security, balanced regional development, and enhanced social conditions are among expected positive impacts of the new desert cities. The development of large-scale
12
desert cities may also negatively impact social and physical environments. Rapid and heavy use of foreign technology for instance may cause cultural adjustment problems.
Heavy
industrial projects, as in the petrochemical sector, are often accompanied by environmental risks. The impacts of the process must be kept within acceptable guigelines of social order and of the political framework of the country. It is further contended that if the realization of the desired goals of desert development in general, and of industrial desert development in particular, can be achieved only through the adoption of AIT, that this approach to development differs from the TT approach which has been applied previously in the Middle East.
The traditional approach failed to master the
processes capable of coping with "imported," transfered advanced technology which is universal in character as it benefits from a wide range of inputs from numerous sources of · the scientific community.
1.3. Research Objectives
In order to test the stated hypothesis, the experience of the industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu was examined to ascertain the appropriateness of the AIT approach for the development of the social and the physical environments of arid countries of the Middle East, on the national, and on the desert community levels. The question of potential permanence was tested by application of classic criteria of urbanization to the subject cities.
Based on
theoretical and practical examinations, an attempt was made to structure a model process for such development in the future.
This development model follows systematic and
comprehensive procedures through which the development process can achieve the most desirable output maximizing positive impacts and minimizing negative impacts of advanced industrial technology on both the social and the physical environments on the various levels of societal existence, on the local, regional, national, and international levels. As a concluding observation, a framework of requisites for future development of desert cities under adverse
13
conditions was outlined. The research and its conclusions are intended to serve as planning and decision-making tools for planners, policy-makers, and others involved in programming and managing the development of industrial desert communities.
1.4. Research Methodology and Limitations
The data base used in conducting the analysis is drawn from both secondary and primary sources.
Previous research and statistics related to desert, development, technology, and
industrialization in developing countries and in developed countries were extensively reviewed.
The principal method for data collection is literature search.
In addition, the
researcher has managed to check and to update the secondary information through extensive formal and informal inquiries of various persons and agencies involved in the development processes taking place in the desert of the Middle East.
Telephone interviewing and
correspondence augmented the research and provided informative response from the Cultural and Educational Bureau of the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in in Washington, D.C. and the Saudi Mission in Houston; from the Bechtel Corporation of San Francisco and the Parsons Company of Pasadena which are managing the construction of Jubail and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia; from the Midwest Research Institute of Kanssas City which is conducting research on the application of solar energy technologies to the development of the Saudi desert, and from the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu the governmental agency supervising the development of these cities. Informal interviews were made with several Arab experts who were in the United States during the research period. The assessment of the appropriateness of the AIT approach for social and physical development of arid countries and for the development of permanent desert communities is drawn from three basic sources: (1) views of experts on technology and development; (2) historical observations in the use of technology in the development of countries and desert environments; and (3) empirical data from the Saudi Arabian experiment in using the AIT
14
approach to develop Jubail and Yanbu. Based on the first two sources, a preliminary assessment is made.
In the preliminary
assessment, the AIT approach is compared with the TT approach in terms of two major criteria of appropriateness:
technology responsiveness, and technology effectiveness.
To
this research, a technological approach is considered appropriate for the development of a social system (be it a country, a region, or a community) if it proves to be: (1) responsive to the social and the physical conditions prevailing in the system under development; and (2) effective in guiding the development process of the system , to achieve significant enhancement in the developmental status of the system. Technology responsiveness is determined by experts using several criteria some of which are: economic feasibility, technical possibility, social acceptability, cultural responsiveness, and environmental sensitivity. A technological approach is considered economically feasible when the investment made to acquire it is affordable by the country and is expected to generate reasonable social or economic returns or both.
This approach is considered
technically possible if its acquisition is possible under the prevailing technical, institutional, and other social and physical conditions of the country.
Social acceptability of a
technological approach is measured by the existence of popular and favorable attitudes toward the acceptance and the utilization of the approach in the country.
Cultural
responsiveness is measured by examining the impact of the technology on the value system of the society and how such impact can be kept within the predefined cultural framework. Similarly, environmental sensitivity is assessed by examining the impact of the technology on the physical environment and how the impact can be held within an acceptable limit. Technology effectiveness can be determined using several criteria. To this research, a technological approach is considered more effective than any other approach when it denonstrates higher capabilities in enhancing the "developmental status" of the system under consideration. The developmental status of a system is measured by identifying the levels
15
the system attains: (1) in solving its social and physical problems; (2) in utilizing its human and natural resources; (3) in satisfying its individual and collective needs; and (4) in realizing its material and spiritual goals. In regard to the development of human settlements in adverse desert locations, technology effectiveness is measured by determining the levels the technology attains in facilitating the achievement of two goals: (1) the establishment of desert settlements, and (2) the assurance of their permanency. The establishment of a desert settlement is considered to be achieved when both the physical and social structures of the settlement are completed or are feasibly under completion.
Permanency is considered to be achieved when the
established settlement can, through healthy and feasible social interactions and economic activities sustain the basic needs of its residents. These needs are shelter, energy, food and water, clothing, and social and cultural attributes4 • Final assessment was made when empirical evidence drawn from the analysis of the Saudi Arabiar;l experiment substantiated the results of the preliminary assessment.
The
development of the two Saudi industrial desert communities is examined to determine the appropriateness of the AIT approach for social and physical development of the country as a whole and for the establishment of permanent human settlements in arid locations.
The
appropriateness criteria described above were used to assess the Saudi experiment. The proposed model process for the development of permanent desert settlements in arid countries was based on actual experience gained from the Saudi experiment and from theoretical considerations drawn from principles of the system's theory in planning, design, and decision-making. The method applied to structure the proposed model is a combination of conceptual drawings and descriptive statements.
A developmental scenario technique,
based on Hirschhorn ( 1980, 172-183), was used to describe the proposed model process and to prepare the social, political, cultural, economic, and physical framework of requisites for the use of the AIT approach in the development of permanent desert settlements.
16
There are several limitations which have restricted data collection and data analysis stages of this research.
As is the case with most research investigating developmental
issues in developing countries, particularly when the research is conducted from outside the study area, there is a lack of ready-to-use data, i.e., data which is systematically organized and highly dependable. Since concrete and final data is not yet available on the experience of developing industrial desert communities in the Middle East using the AIT approach, all attempts to study such an experience, including this research will be based on the best available data which may, due to its nature affect the final conclusions with regard to several research questions.
The political nature of the problem and the questions raised above,
caused by the involvement of a great number of interest groups and the complex social, economic, and political conditions in the Middle East has restricted data collection and analysis somewhat, but has not invalidated the study and its program 5 .
1.5. Scope of the Research
Adverse desert regions of the world are found in four primary zones: (1) the cold dry polar zone of Northern Canada and the poles; (2) the cold continental dry zone of central Asia and Australia; (3) the cold upland dry zone surrounded by mountains such as in central Analotia; and (4) the hot dry global zone of both sides of the tropics as in North Africa, the Middle ~ast,
and parts of the Southwestern Desert of the United States (Golany 1982, 3).
McGinniss and Goldman (1968, 7) consider the desert of the Middle East a part of the North Africa-Eurasian desert province which is larger than all the remaining dry lands of the world combined. The desert of the Middle East is further divided into two climatically distinct parts: (1) the milder cool-winter dry areas of the mediterranean coast and Iran, and (2) the hot areas of the eastern part of the Sahara Desert of North Africa and a series of other hot deserts and semi-arid areas continuing east-ward through the Arabian Peninsula and along the Persian Gulf. The scope of this research is limited to the desert areas of the Middle East
17
which belong to the hot dry zone. Taking into account the diversified nature of the socio-economic and political context of the Middle East region, which varies from country to country, and from one geographic location to another, it was necessary to limit the subject as well as the geographic boundaries of the study. Among the various programs, projects, and activities of desert development, this research ·concentrates more on the issues related .to the development of desert communities. The inquiry examines the process of developing industrial desert communities in the Middle East and attempts to present the local, the regional, the na.tional, and the international aspects of this complete process. Resource-rich countries of the Middle East have greater opportunities than other desert countries, because of their financial strength, to adopt the AIT approach in their development plans.
Moreover, they have experienced considerable pressures to use their national
resources and wealth to build a reasonably secure future for their peolple for the inevitable point in time when these resources will be depleted. For this reason, resource-rich countries of the Middle East became the principal group of states studied in this research. Within the group, Saudi Arabia was selected as ·the focus of the inquiry. Saudi Arabia is a country with a unique socio-economic and political structure, and more importantly, a country which has recently initiated and implemented ambitious desert development programs that are based upon advanced industrial technology.
These plans are manifested in the establishment of
Jubail and Yanbu industrial communities in the Saudi Arabian desert.
18
Notes: 1
The most relevant experience concerning the use of advanced industrial technology in the development of collective, large-scale, planned projects is the new town experience as in the case of Brasilia, the U.S., and Europe. However; all of the new towns which were developed as such are not located in adverse desert locations as is the case in the newly developed Saudi Arabian industrial desert communities.
2
In Egypt there are projects such as Madinat AI-Tahrir and Alkhargah in the Western Desert. In Saudi Arabia one of these projects is called the King Faisal Settlement in Haradh area, designed to settle 1,000 Beduin families on 4,000 hectares of irrigated land (Fogel 1979, 140-141). In these settlements water is usually ~upplied by digging canals from an existing water stream or by utilizing underground aquafirs.
3 The limited domestic absorbtive capacity of the oil-producing countries in the Middle East
is a major hindrance to heavy industrial development. Different from advanced industrial countries, the oil-producing countries are practically unable to increase their domestic expenditures even if their national financial capabilities allowed that. This is mainly due to several obstacles which are not only social in character, but include such factors as an undiversified resource base, inhospitable environments, primitive infrastructures, scarce and unqualified labor, and rudimentary government infrastructures and institutions incapable of dealing effectively with multi-dimensional problems associated with rapid economic growth and social transformation (EI-Mallakh 1977, 14). 4
It is noted at this point that due to lack of data some aspects of the technology appropriateness could not be covered in detail.
5
For instance, foreign companies and personnel involved in the development process of industrial desert communities in the Middle East are reluctant, for political reasons, to release information on several issues of the development process especially those related to financial arrangements. The phrase "confidential" is frequentlly used to prevent access to areas of information.
19
CHAPTER II APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY: DEFINITIONS, BACKGROUND, CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK, AND ASSESSMENT It is the purpose of this chapter to assess the appropriateness of development processes based upon advanced technological concepts. To this end, definitions of terms used in the analysis are provided.
A background review is presented, and a conceptual framework is
drawn to visualize the role played by traditional technology (TT) and the potential role to be played by advanced industrial technology (AIT) in enhancing the status of countries, in improving the settlment of adverse desert regions, and in facilitating the establishment of industrial desert communities.
A detailed description of the two basic approaches to
development technology, the TT and the AIT, is then offered.
Finally, based upon the
background review, a preliminary assessment of the appropriateness of the development process applying the AIT approach for the development of the resource-rich countries in the Middle East is made.
2.1. Definition of Terms
Before starting the analysis, it is important to define the basic terms to be used in the research.
Since the basic approach to structuring the model process is the systems
approach, the meaning of the term "system" is explained. Then, based upon the problems and the potentials of the desert environment, the term "desert" is defined.
Definitions are
also provided for "industrial desert community" IDC as a complex system and for "development" as a continuous process which takes places in any social system.
Finally
"technology" as a resource for the development of societies, its connection to "science," and its different levels are explained. the analysis.
Most of the definitions are augmented further through out
20
2. 1.1. Definition of a system
Ackotf (1969), Catanese and Steiss (1970), and Chadwick (1971)
define the term
"system" to be any entity, physical or conceptual, that is composed of interrelated parts. A community, for example, is a system composed of interrelated units arranged to meet basic needs of its residents.
A system should have a set of particular characteristics.
It should
have a structural configuration (an arrangement of component parts), and it should perform certain functions. Any system operates in a larger environment (or as a subsystem of larger system) and requires certian input from this environment.
A system can be thought of as
moving through various states, following some definable process or set of procedures (the dynamic aspects of a system). The process the system passes through produces an output that is related to the functional aspects of the system.
The output, in turn, creates a
feedback effect on the system as a whole by providing new input in subsequent cycles and suggesting necessary modifications in the structure and process of the system so as to improve the system's performance. Figure 2.1 presents the basic components of a system.
Environment
Conversion Mechanism Structure Process
Feedback Environment
Figure 2. 1. The Basic Components of a System
21
To this research effort, a system is an entity which has articulated social and physical environments, the components of which are sets of needs, problems, and resources. These components are arranged in certain ways which allow the system to perform identifiable functions in order to achieve desired goals.
A system can be an entire country, a region
within a country, a community within a region, or a project or a program within a community. In the context of desert development, the term system may be applied to a wide range of entities such as a desert region in a country, an industrial desert community IDC, or any project or program such as an industrial or business firm that produces goods and offers services within a desert community.
2. 1.2. Definition of desert
Based upon the physical problems of the desert environment, the literature uses the term "arid" to describe the word "desert". Aridity is defined as an expression of water deficiency; and water deficiency is induced not only by the lack of precipitation but also by conditions of soil moisture and permeability, evaporation, transportation by plants, and the intensity and duration of sunlight, heat, humidity, and wind (Hodge 1963, 21 ). Yet, a recent and growing awareness of the exsistence of abundant conventional and nonconventional natural resources in desert areas, as is the case in the Middle East, has led to a change in the classic definition of the term "desert" to include positive aspects side-by-side with negative ones.
2.1.3. Definition of an industrial desert community IDC
An industrial desert community IDC is viewed in this research as a complex system which is developed as a large-scale, collective project. The process of developing an IDC involves substantial human and natural resources over long periods of time, usually measured in decades.
An iDC is established to be a self-reliant and permanent system similar to any
community developed in other ecological zones.
In order to achieve a satisfactory level of
22
self-reliance, the community should be based upon a reasonably diversified economy.
The
basic economic activities of the community are mainly industrial production, resourceutilization, and other urban activities. Still, an industrial desert community can have various forms of nonconventional agriculture, aquaculture, and other food production activities that support the needs of its residents.
2.1.4. Definition of development as a process
Development can be defined as the course of actions taken in a system; whether it is a country, a region, a community, or other systems; in response to certain needs and problems facing the system in order to achieve greater realization of the goals of the system utilizing the resources available to the system (Lindblom 1968, 7; Sardar 1977, 38; Pellegrini 1980, 2; Moravcsik 1982, 12). In simpler terms, development is the process of satisfying the needs, solving the problems, and realizing the goals of the population of a specific system using the resources available to the system. It is stressed that the way development is often defined which makes it a synonymous with "economic development" or "material development" is narrow and nonfunctional.
According to Moravcsik (1982, 13), economic development
problems cannot be meaningfully separated from development problems of other sorts: psychological, cultural, social, political, attitudinal, religious, and so on.
2.1.5. Definition of technology
The simplest way to draw a definition for technology is to relate it to the meaning of science. Above all, science and technology are overlapping concepts; they are knowledge oriented processes, and for a society they are intangible resources required for its development. In modern societies, scientific and technological knowledges complement each other to a large extent. As scientific development can lead to technological advancement, also development in technology can stimulate scientific progress.
23
While science is defined as the process of investigation, measurement, understanding, and acquisition of knowledge; technology is defined as the process of applying scientific knowledge to practical tasks in order to meet, solve, and realize present and potential needs, problems, and goals of people (Poats 1972, 5-7).
Technology is also defined as the
knowledge necessary for the productive functioning of a system (Wallander 1979, 26). The literature on technology and development clearly indicates the existence of different levels of technology.
Speaking of the developing countries, the terms "low"
and
"intermediate" technologies, grouped here under the lerm "traditional technology" or TT, are frequently applied. Distincitively, the terms "modern," "high," and "advanced" technologies, named here "advanced industrial technology" or AIT, are associated with developed countries. Further discussion of these technological levels are offered latter in this chapter.
2.2. Technology as a Vital Resource for Development: a Background Review
Any country has two types of resources; tangible and intangible resources.
Tangible
resources of a certain system, or a society, include food, land, energy, and other material resources of the physical environment. Intangible resources are the resources inherent in the social environment such as financial, scientific, technological, political, and other human capabilities.
Although every single resource, tangible and intangible, has a role in the
development process, the intangible resources in general and the technological resources in particular are considered the most significant among all other resources.
Technological
capability is a intangible resource of a society, the purpose of which is basically to manipulate other tangible and intangible resources available to the society in order to achieve the goals of the development process.
The literature on the theory of economic development
recognizes technology as a vital force, in a sense the greatest resource in the progress and development of mankind. Technology is also considered the prime mover in the course of arid land development. It is technology that created the opportunity for man to permanentally
24
settle areas which otherwise could have been considered waste lands 1 • Technology has been largely known to be capable of multiplying the effective availability of both the tangible and intangible resources of a society. As defined above, development is primarily the deployment of available resources to achieve established goals. At any given time, prevailing technology defines the limit of any society's ability to command the development of its resources (Poats 1972, 6-7).
Quinn (1970, Chap. 4) puts technology at
the center of development. He considers technology to be the vital resource component in each of the four traditional economic factors: land, capital, labor, and education. Fogel (1979, 139) reaches similar conclusions when he defines development to be the application of technology to improve the quality of life. Nayudamma (1979, 45) estimates the contribution of technology to development to rate at between 50 and 60 per cent, and much more in some cases, than that of labor and capital inputs.
He recognizes technology to be the propellant for progress, prosperity, power, and
prestige of a nation.
He has noted that any change in technology can result in increased
output for a given input and, presumably, vice versa.
He believes that the greater the
capacity of a nation to generate, acquire, transfer, and utilize technology, the faster is its growth and development. He considers technology a critical tool for industrial and economic growth and for social development.
2.2.1. Technology and the developmental status of countries
In a given period of time, all the tangible and the intangible resources of a society interact with each other and with the specific needs and problems of the society to produce a certain output.
Such an output results in some developmental status of the country in question.
Developmental status of a country can be measured in different ways.
In this study,
developmental status of a country is the overall assessment of the levels the country reaches in satisfying its needs, in solving its problems, and in achieving its goals and aspirations.
25
The existence or the absence of any one resource or group of resources from a society the quality and the quantity of the resources, and the effective deployment of the resources the development process will have varying impacts on the development process itself Alexander King (1977) has classified different countries of the world according to the tangible and intangible resources and according to their developmental status.
The
classification is shown in Figure 2.2. At least from an economic development perspective, advanced industrial countries class 1 or 2 are much more capable of satisfying their needs, solving their problems, a achieving their goals than the developing countries in classes 3 or 4. When compared with advanced industrial countries, the majority of the developing countries have only limited financial, scientific, and technological capabilities. Using the principles of simple logic, it could be inferred that the difference in developmental status between the developed and the developing countries is attributable in part to the huge gap that exists between the two groups of countries in the area of intangible resources; mainly the financial, the scientific and the technological. Developing countries of the desert region of the Middle East belong to classes 3 or 4 this classification.
As discussed in Chapter I, some of these countries, traditionally wealthy
only in the area of natural resources, have recently gained considerable financial strength Such financial capability is viewed as a solid base for significant improvement in enhancing their developmental status.
A strong financial position can assist the resource-rich countries
of the Middle East in overcoming many of the limitations which otherwise hinder adoption the most advanced technology.
For instance, availability of sufficient capital will secure the
attainment of expensive equipment and labor.
If these countries succeed in planning
smooth and safe transfer and assimilation of the AIT, it is reasonable to predict that the chances of achieving their development goals on the national, regional, and local levels will be substantially enhanced.
26
2.2.2. Technology and the settlement of adverse desert regions
A review of human settlement practices in the past indicates that different levels of technology has pushed toward the utilization of regions which otherwise could have not been acceptable.
The application of technology has overcome to a large extent adverse climate
and other physical liabilities of desert regions.
Moreover, technology has increased the
effective utilization of various natural resources of the desert environment. the hot arid climate always
has been a major constraint
permanent desert settlements.
On the other hand, the
On the one hand,
against the establishment of availability of valuable
natural
resources such as oil and minerals has been the key attraction for settling desert areas. According to Weingrod (1981, 193-194), settlement practices in adverse desert areas in the past were determined by the assumption that "deserts are such grim, forbidding places that they became settled and developed only if enough water and if some especially attractive natural resources were available."
When the water or the natural resources were depleted, the
desert settlements usually declined or were abandoned alltogether. Advancement
in development
technology
of the
post-industrial
era
has
significant role in overcoming the physical limitations of adverse desert regions.
played
a
A striking
example in this regard is the role of improved cooling and heating technologies in lessening the negative consequences
of the desert climate.
Improvements
in transportation
and
communication technologies has helped break the barrier of remoteness which negatively affected desert regions.
The problem of water shortage in the desert was usually offset by
water shipment from other ecological zones via trains, trucks, and sometimes, via water pipes or canal cutting, and· through agricultural irrigation projects.
Since the 1960's, conventional water
purification and desalination technologies have been very useful! in solving the water problem of many desert settlements all over the world. Technology also played a major role in desert resources recovery.
Obviously, without
dramatic advances in recovery technologies, desert resources could not have occurred.
27
I NTANG.IBLE
RESOURCES
Scientific, Technolooical, Finane Ia I, and Other Human Resources.
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0
~z
Figure 2.2. Classification of Countries According to their Resource Situations and to their Developmental Status
28
Advanced mining techniques ·played a major role as did means of improved transportation systems to effectively transport recovered raw materials to processing factories in other regions, and even in other countries. Advancement of industrial technology has facilitated the processing of these natural resources into a wide variety of goods and products. Furthermore, the contributions of technology extend to the market place in the broadest sense of delivery of goods and products to ultimate consumers worldwide.
Technology
impacts the full spectrum of the resources exploration and processing. Figure 2.3 presents some principal areas of technological advancement which have made significant improvement in the process of settling adverse desert regions and utilizing their natural wealth.
2.2.3. Technology and the establishment of desert communities
More recently, it has been held that advanced industrial technology is capable of playing an even greater role in the settlement of adverse desert regions.
The state-of-the-art of
development technology can provide solutions for most of the physical limitations of the desert environment and better ways for the utilization of its natural resources. facilitate the establishment of livable and permanent desert communities.
AIT can Advanced
conventional and nonconventional energy technologies can solve the complex water problem of the desert when utilized in coordination with advanced water pumping, water purification, and water desalination technologies.
Both advanced energy and water technologies can
support agricultural and industrial production systems as well as other systems of the new desert cities.
In
his appraisal for the reorganization of the pattern of human settlements in the United
States, advocating a move toward a more balanced distribution of population and toward a more effective utilization of human and natural resources of the country, Dr. W. G. Roeseler of Texas A&M University has recommended the deployment of the most advanced technologies in a process which aims at the establishment of alternative settlement centers in
29
ENERGY
TECH.
TECH.
DEVELOPMENT
WATER RESOURCE UTILIZATION TECH.
AGRICULTURAL a FOOD PRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY
TECH.
KNOWLEDGE
TECH.
TECH. NATURAL RESOURCE EXPLORATION TECH.
Figure 2.3. Areas of Technological Advancements In the Post-Industrial Era and their Impact on Settling the Desert and Utilizing Its Resources
30
viable desert locations of the country.
He calls for the deployment of technological
innovations in many areas-- in planning, in design and construction, in implementation, in management, in government, and in other areas of the development process.
The
deployment of the state-of-the-art technology on such a grand scale, yet in a carefully planned
process,
would
certainlly
impact
the
full
spectrum
of
human
existence.
·:,
Nevertheless, through innovative development technology, the impact can be kept within the desired political framework and social order of the environment (Roeseler 1977, 1-6). In an unpublished dissertation, Farahat (1980) has proposed an urban community in an arid location in the Middle East. The proposed conceptual design solutions aim at creating a self-reliant structure in terms of the basic needs of the community in energy, water, food, and shelter.
While the solutions have not been applied, they are based on the integration of
techniques in four areas of technological advancements successfully operating at the time the research was conducted.
These areas are:
(1) food-production inside residential units, in
small neighborhood open spaces, and in neighborhood greenhouses, including conventional agriculture and aquaculture; and in
hea~ing
(2) active and passive solar energy in saline water distillation
and cooling of buildings and greenhouses;
(3) waste recycling for waste
treatment, for soil fertilization and irrigation, for feeding aquatic algae, and for Methane gas generation; and (4) wind energy utilization for generation of electricity while possibly screening dust and sand out of wind.
The proposed environmental design solutions and their
integeration into one structure have been achieved through a systematic process. Among historical examples, the development of some cities in the Southwestern American Desert is a demonstration of the significance of advanced technology to the establishment and the survival of human settlements in adverse desert areas.
The
development of the Sonoran Desert in the United States, according to Edmunds (1979, 487-497), has gone through a process, in which a desolate arid region moved through the..stages of simple livestock production to highly developed agricultural, and more recently_lo
31
liglt manufacturin~ and energy production.
Advanced technological concepts have been
apfied to overcome the limitation in water and energy. Energy technology has been used to coorol the desert climate and to pump water efficiently over larger distances.
Irrigation
.
temology has been used to help reduce water consumption. More recently, both production and service technologies have significantly improved the habitability anrt employment of deert cities such as Phoenix and Tucson to the extent that they have become "magnet ci'tirs," attracting both new population and industries on a very substantial scale (Weingrod
198).
No doubt, these cities have reached reasonable levels of self-sustenance and
pemanency.
2.3. Conceptual Framework
In order to further visualize the role of technology in facilitating the settlement of adverse desrt regions, a conceptual framework is constructed in Figure 2.4.
The conceptual
fraaework describes types of human settlements as a function of their environmental suiltbility and development technology levels 2 •
It is important at this p
a: ..5 0
J;
r:::: 0 r::::
...
LL.
"0
v M A R K E T
.E
-
1.1..
v s
c
0
c
I E T· y
~
...r::::::s .,
0::
Employment Products
( waoe s )
r::::
c. 0
>
0
01
r::::
....
0
Q. Q.
::s
en
l./
Share- holders (dividend} Government
( taxes }
I
Figure 2.5. Advanced Industrial Technology Generates Wealth as well as Products
38
represented in the Saudi Arabian industrial cities of Jubail and Yanbu, the most formidable examples of the use of AIT in desert development to date.
2.5. Preliminary Assessment of the Appropriateness of AIT for the Development of Arid Countries of the Middle East
Having reviewed the role of technology of various levels, the traditional and the advanced levels, as applicable to the development of adverse desert regions, and to the development of industrial desert communities, it becomes increasingly more evident that the greater the technological capability applied in a certain development process, the higher the likelihood of such a process to achieve its goals, given that all other planning requirements are met. However, views among experts on technology and development tend to vary as to whether or not advanced industrial technology is appropriate under any conditions, all the time, and for every country, regardless of the developmental status and the social, economic, political, and other considerations of such a country. There are two points of view among the experts regarding the application of advanced industrial technology in developing countries in general and in the resource-rich group of developing countries in particular.
One group of experts in development technology stands
against such an application, while the other group advocates it.
Each group has its own
justification for its point of view. Following is an overview of the key points in the arguments for and against the use of AIT in developing countries.
.."
Then, based upon the experts' views as well as upon the
background analysis povided above, a tentative assessment of the appropriateness of AIT for the development of resource-rich countries of the Middle East is offered.
This preliminary
assessment is latter substantiated by empirical evidence drawn from the critical analysis of the Saudi Arabian experiment in building two large industrial desert cities using the AIT approach.
39
2.5.1. Argument against the use of AIT In developing countries
For years, low and intermediate technologies, or the TT approach, have been viewed as being more appropriate for the capital, the manpower, the natural resources, and the institutional and social realities of the developing countries than the advanced industrial technology AlT. Generally, the opponents of AIT justify their advocacy of TT methodology in developing countries as follows: (1)
For the same cost, TT provides for more jobs than does advanced technology, although it is less productive. It is appropriate, actually preferable, to sacrifice output for jobs, as the problem of unemployment with all its social consequences is very serious in most of developing countries and often causes political instability.
(2)
TT does not have to be situated in towns and, therefore, can help stem the tide of migration of people from the countryside to urban places which only aggravates social problems.
(3)
The principles applied by TT are simple and easily understood by the people who will use it. It does not require foreign experts.
(4)
TT will produce goods for the home market without displacing traditional workers, as it is frequently the case with andvanced technology (Braun 1977, 62-63). Furthermore, the opponents of AIT claim that the AIT is inappropriate for developing
countries and that developed countries should not concentrate on helping the developing countries to acquire such advanced technology. The following reasons are given: (1)
Advanced technology is capital intensive;
it uses expensive machinery, often highly
energy intensive, requiring little manual labor; thus, it cannot reduce unemployment. (2) . Large-scale industrial units must be located in or near large towns or cities to draw their labor, and will not contribute to rural under development. (3)
Advanced technology depends on a supply of high skilled labor of all kinds, from skilled manual workers to managers.
These cannot be provided by most of the developing
40
countries.
For this reason imported plants are either run inefficiently, or they depend
permanently on foreign specialists. (4)
Advanced technology is very expensive and its import by a developing country constitutes a drain on its financial reserves.
(5)
The importing of foreign methods of production results in further undesirable stratification between well-to-do city workers and the poor farmers in rural areas (Schumacher 1973, 25). These arguments may be convincing in many situations, but certainly are not universally
applicable to all categories of developing countries. In the case of the resource-rich countries of the Middle East, though some of the above points are well taken, other issues arise in AIT application.
There may be a lack of employment and domestic linkage effects, as the
population becomes partly dependent on social distribution of revenues from resources rather than on employment.
This phenomenon has been described as a "Rentier State" (Cook
1970). There is also the risk that development based on imported highly capital intensive technology will fail to be self-sustaining, leading to continued technological dependence, and leaving the country in a very vulnerable situation when the resources are depleted, or when revenues fall for other reasons(Joekes et al. 1982, 1005). Other negative impacts such as cultural conflict and political instability may also result.
2.5.2. Argument for the use of AIT in developing countries
The argument for the use of AIT in developing countries tends to concentrate more on the resource-rich group rather than on other groups. · It is basically the strong financial capability of these countries that has influenced the opinions of observers in this regard. There have been strong views suggesting that resource-rich countries of the developing world are naturally inclined and motivated to adopt voluntarily more advanced industrial technology for their development plans. This may be attributed to several reasons:
41
(1)
The huge surplus of revenues means that there is no capital constraint against the acquisition of AIT as is normally associated with the category of resource-limited developing countries.
(2)
The scarce population in desert areas means normally that there is no rural surplus (
population, at least not in the desert areas themselves.
This is particularly evident in
such countries as Saudi Arabia and Lybia. (3)
The desire to produce development expeditiously before the resource is depleted also favors advanced industrial technology with capital intensive, particularly in the form of "turn-key factories."
By comparison, the organization of indigenous, labor-intensive
technology is a much slower process. (4)
Capital intensive technologies may also commend themselves to resource-rich countries as a means of increasing their imports from industrialized customers, and hence of recycling their surplus, avoiding balance of payments crises for their customers.
(5)
Natural resource utilization is usually highly capital intensive in itself, as it is the case in oil refining and other petrochemical industries (Joekes et al. 1982, 1001-1 006).
2.5.3. Discussion of the arguments
It can be inferred from the above arguments that both groups have valid claims and justifications as to whether or not a developing country should opt for advanced technology. Yet, .it is the position of this researcher that advanced industrial technology, under certain conditions, can be a definite asset to developing countries. The arguments for the use of TT under any circumstances and against the use of AIT in developing countries are not entirely convincing for several reasons. First of all, if it were true that only low and intermediate technologies are appropriate for developing countries, why these technologies cannot help them achieve a higher degree of realization of their development goals, at least their economic goals, at a time when the
42
43
especially those resource and financially rich countries, may even enjoy the so called "latecomer's advantage" as compared to the industrial countries in adopting the most advanced technology. The use of plastics for automobiles instead of metals, the application of most advanced steelmaking processes, and the use of satellites for communication are but a few examples of how developing countries may start from where advanced countries leftoff. In the context of desert development, the use of the state-of-the-art of renewable energy, water purification and desalination, nonconventional agricultural and industrial development technologies is a demonstration of the concept of "latecomer's advantage." Another essential point that substantiates the argument of experts favoring the adoption of advanced technology by developing countries in general and by the resource-rich countries in particular is related to the meaning of "appropriateness" and of "criteria for technological apppropriateness."
To this research, the test of appropriateness of a certain type of
technology for the development of a certain country, a certain region, or a certain community should be based on a comprehensive analysis of the nature and interactions of the various components of the systems involved in the development processes.
In other words, the
technology to be used in the development process of a country, a region, or a community should not be responsive to one level of societal existence, rather it should be equally responsive to all other levels in the local, the regional, the national, and the international context. Under such an understanding of the term "appropriateness," appropriate technology cannot be equal or similar to the type of technology which overemphasizes the immediate realities of the social and the physical environments of developing countries while factoring out the national and the international realities, not to mention the limited effectiveness of low and intermediate technologies to improve these realities in the long run.
Equally dangerous
and misleading is an "appropriateness criterion" which overemphasizes external needs, problems, goals, and resources while underestimating those of the immediate environment.
44
Finally, the ongoing trend toward the adoption of advanced industrial technologies in resource-rich countries of the Middle East, as is the case in the development of new industrial communities in Saudi Arabia, indicates that officials and policy-makers of the region are in favor of the AIT approach. If such a trend does not by itself justify the adoption of the AIT based on the policy-makers' strong attitudes and preferences, at least it justifies the initiation of extensive research which aims at building better understanding of the development circumstances.
processes
from
planning
through
implementation
under
the
emerging
Table 2.1 provides a summary of the comparative technology assessment
conducted above. It shows the basic characteristics of each approach, its responsiveness to the conditions of the countries under development, and its effectiveness in achieving the goals of the development processes of countries and of desert regions.
2.6. Conclusion
So far, technology has been viewed as a resource which has made a considerable positive impact on the developmental status of countries. The size and the direction of the impact of technology on a country must be correlated with the level of technology the country acquires. Due to lack of advanced technological capabilities, developing countries are ranked lower than advanced industrial countries in terms of their developmental status.
The gap
between the developing and the developed countries is expected to widen further as long as such technological imbalance presists. Technology has also contributed to the process of settling adverse desert regions and to the process of utilizing their valuable resources. The review of human settlement practices has indicated that it is only through technological advancements of the post-industrial era that the resources of adverse desert regions can ever be utilized. Desert settlement practices in the Middle East, which have depended upon traditional technologies for a long period of time, have produced few measurable changes of the quality of life or of the quality of the
45
Table 2.1.
Technology Assessment Through Comparison
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY
ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY
CHARACTERISTICS Required resources
Simple, labor intensive and capital and energy saving
Complex, labor saving and capital and energy intensive
Development scope and pattern
Small scale adaptive penetration
Large scale preplanned development
Economic feasibility
Feasible for poor economies and has low economic returns
Feasible for rich economies and has high economic returns
Technical possibility
Possible under low technical capabilities
Possible under advanced technical capabilities
Social acceptability
Accepted in the majority of arid countries
Growing trend to be favored in rich arid countries
Cultural and environmental responsiveness
Copes with and has no dramatic impacts on existing conditions
Brings large scale transformation of existing conditions
Contribution to developmental status of countries
Little contibution to the status of the developing countries
Large contribution to the status of the developed countries
Contribution to desert settlement
Little contribution to desert settlement
Large contribution to desert settlement
RESPONSIVENESS
EFFECTIVENESS
46
environment in desert regions.
Direct observations indicate that ambitious policies and
actions have already applied the AIT approach in the establishment of new industrial desert communities. It is expected that the growing trend toward the adoption and the application of the advanced industrial technology approach in the development processes of resource-rich countries of the Middle East is likely to be deepened and accelerated for decades to come. The analysis has indicated that the. adoption of advanced technology, at least from an economic point of view, could be more affordable by resource-rich countries than by other countries in the Middle East region.
The growing financial capabilities combined with the
traditional wealth in natural resources of these resouce-rich countries are perceived to provide better basis for the acquisition of stronger technological capabilities.
The stronger
technological capabilities, in turn, are expected to accelerate the pace and to improve the quality of the development process.
The analysis indicates that the application of AIT can
eventually lead to: (1) enhancing the developmental status of these countries, (2) improving the process of settling adverse desert regions in general, and (3) facilitating the establishment of industrial desert communities in particular. This study concludes that a development process which depends upon complex and exogenous technologies, as is the case with the AIT, does not jeopardize traditional values as some experts believe. They feel that the process will inevitably generate negative impacts on .the social, cultural, economic, and political fiber of the societies involved, and hence, they stand firm against the application of advanced technology by developing countries.
Yet,
careful examination of the arguments raised by opponents of the use of AIT in developing countries would indicate, especially in the case of the resource-rich group, that most of the shortcommings of the AIT would be due to errors of judgment or miscalculations in planning and execution, and not necessarily to the applied technology itself. Therefore, it is fair to say that overcoming the constraints which hinder the acquisition of the AIT approach by resourcerich countries of the Middle East is a matter of careful! planning and management.
47
It is the task in Chapters Ill and IV to examine closely the most recent and unique experience in the use of advanced technology for the development of new industrial cities in coastal deserts of Saudi Arabia.
The practical insights gained from reviewing the Saudi
experiment will be evaluated in Chapters V and VI so that a generally applicable model of urbanization under adverse conditions may be structured.
Notes:
1
Good examples of this fact is the effect of advanced technologies on the settlement of desert areas in the Southwestern desert of the United States. Advanced technology in desert locations are responsible for Palm Springs, Phoenix, and Tucson to have become "magnet cities," attracting both new populations and new industries on a very substantial scale.
2 The term "environmentally suitable land for human settlement" may assume different
meaning for different people. However, a range of environmental suitability may be suggested based upon practical and theoretical measurements of human ability to settle in Generally speaking, land which is different climatic and physiological situations. environmentally suitable for human settlement is the land which can satisfy, by feasible natural or artificial means or by a combination of both, minimal requirements of human survival. 3
Representative of this support are programs on appropriate technology in the U.S. AID, research institutes on appropriate technology in the United States and the United Kingdom, Public Law 95-1 05 of August 1977 which requires the United States to place emphasis on the development of light-capital technologies in its participation in the 1975 UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development.
49
CHAPTER Ill THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DESERT COMMUNITIES IN HOT-ARID COUNTRIES: THE SAUDI EXPERIENCE Since the mid 1970's the Saudis have been involved in a sizable and complex industrialization process.
Several large-scale projects and programs are under way in that
country. The most significant of these projects will produce two major industrial cities, Jubail and Yanbu. These new communities will be developed over the next 20 to 30 years. They will require well over $60 billion of investment (in 1983 price levels). accommodate primary, secondary, and support industries;
The two cities will
and general businesses and
service establishments usually found in similar industrial centers around the world.
Both
cities are located in coastal desert regions of Saudi Arabia. The establishment of the Saudi industrial desert communities marks a significant step in the application of AIT in the development of human and natural resources of a developing country. So far, most of the developing countries, in the Middle East region and elsewhere, have little experience in dealing with such grand scale development programs.
The
development of the two Saudi industrial cities has had to cope with many obstacles which are overcome largely because of Saudi Arabia's abundance of natural and human resources. The industrial cities are perceived by Saudi authorities as the key for their country's social and physical progress.
Hence, the government has been supportive of the process by
offering numerous financial, legal, administrative, and other incentives. Moreover, the Saudis secured worldwide technical expertise to ensure the best results of the whole process. Obviously, a process with such magnitude is likely to produce numerous impacts. The task now is to build better knowledge and understanding of such a unique process; the process of developing the Saudi industrial desert communities. How did it happen? What are the goals and what is the rationale behind it?
What are the problems and potentials
50
which have affected it? What kind of infrastructure did it take? How has it been planned and conducted? And, who has participated in the process and in what capacity? The acquisition of practical knowledge on the development of Jubail and Yanbu industrial cities is an essential step toward the structuring of a model process for the development of future industrial desert communities under similar circumstances.
3. 1. Overview
The problem facing resource-rich countries of the Middle East is simply that they have to invest their current oil revenues to develop viable economic systems before the oil is depleted.
Industrial development is apparently the most attractive strategy open to them.
Such development, carried out within a balanced and comprehensive planning framework, can assist these countries in building their economies.
A careful adoption of advanced
industrial technology by a resource-rich country, as shown in Chapter II, can contribute to the country's physical and social developmental status. Yet, such an effort is not an easy one under any circumstances, certainly not for a developing country. In the case of resource-rich countries of the Middle East, the industrialization process is a unique one as demonstrated by Saudi Arabia.
The uniqueness is in part attributable to the
complex and advanced nature of the technology used in the process, to the magnitude and \ pace of the process, and to the decision of the Saudi autorities to concentrate the planned industrial development in two new communities located in two coastal desert regions.
The
Saudi approach to industrial development involves the use of capital, energy, technology, and other human and physical resources in quantities never been used before in the region. With respect to the use of capital intensive industrial technology, as in petrochemical and aluminum industries, it has been observed that most of resource-rich countries of the Middle East, mainly the Persian. Gulf States, have experimented with some form of such a technology.
Most of these experiments did not exceed the scale of individual plants.
51
According to Turner (1980, 21 0-220), the importance of capital-intensive industrialization has been played down in some cases, such as Kuwait, in favor of services and investments in the more populous economies elsewhere in the Arab world.
Saudi Arabia, however, has been
pushing ahead with a range of projects intended to turn the country into a large center for I
petrochemical industries. Before
the
1970's,
Saudi
Arabia
industrialization outside the oil sector.
had
practically
no
experience
with
modern
Other than oil refining and cement production, the
early manufacturing activities of the country related to only a few small scale local industries (Cottrell 1980, 641-642). Since 1970, the plans for Saudi Arabia industrialization have been very ambitious.
Completed or to be completed during the 1980's are capital and energy
intensive projects such as a steel plant, fertilizer plants, domestic and export refineries, four major ethylene-based petrochemical complexes, Methanol ventures, and other projects (Ministry of Planning 1980).
The development of hydrocarbon based energy intensive
industries is a key factor in the country's national industrialization program. The building of Jubail and Yanbu is. an essential part of this program. The development of the two industrial communities is intended to provide adequate and timely infrastructures and trained manpower.
Infrastructure includes housing, roads and
transportation facilities, public utilities, telecommunications, comercial markets, schools, medical facilities, training centers, and recreational facilities. The communities will have a full range of refining and petrochemical manufacturing entities together with a complete steel manufacturing capability. A large scale gas plant will transform natural gas, previously flared, into fuel and feedstock for petrochemical and other industries.
In addition to physical
development, efforts have been made to recruit and develop sufficient numbers of technically qualified nationals. Manpower development involves the mobilization of both Saudi and nonSaudi industrial employers to train Saudi nationals in all required occupations and professions (Ministry of Planning 1980, 240-241 ).
52
3.2. Physical Characteristics of Jubait and Yanbu
3.2.1. Jubail Industrial city
Jubail is located on the Persian Gulf on the east coast of Saudi Arabia, just north of the existing village of AI-Jubail, approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Dammam, a major population center· in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia (see Figure 1.2, page 9). Jubail is linked with Kuwait and with Dammam through north and south national highways. It is close to the Berri crude oil and natural gas fields.
The city has a deep-water channel,
some nine kilometers (5.6 miles) in length, suitable for international shipping.
Upon its
completion, Jubail will encompass an area of 950 square kilometer (589 square miles) and a population of 370,000 (Directorate General for Jubail Project 1978, 4; Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu 1981, 6-7; Bechtel Corporation 1980). Figure 3.1 presents a master plan concept showing the major elements of Jubail industrial city. Jubail's industrial harbor will eventually be one of the largest in the world, capable of handling 26 million tons of liquid products, mainly hydrocarbons.
Roads and pipelines for
chemicals will connect the loading platforms to the end of the main causeway, leading on into the petrochemical plants. Further to the south there will be a commercial harbor and a small fishing port. The city will also have petrochemical plants, oil refineries, a steel mill, and over a dozen other industries, as well as a regional airport.
North of the industries, there is a
residential community with all necessary services.
3.2.2. Yanbu industrial city
Yanbu industrial city is locate on the opposite coast of Saudi Arabia along the desert of the Red Sea. The location is 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Jeddah, and 24 Kilometers (15 miles) south-east of the small town of Yanbu al Bahr (see Figure 1.2, page 9). Yanbu al Bahr has long been a port for pilgrims travelling to and from Medina and on to Mecca. The
53
Jazirat AI-Gurnah
' ., ~:'-/ ~~/
ARABIAN GULF
/
