Reviving traditional design in modern Saudi Arabia for social cohesion and crime prevention purposes

The authorʹs premise is that traditional architecture can lend itself as a precedent in contemporary design and that design actions should be educated and guided by the history and culture of the context. The investigation argues that the change in Saudi Arabiaʹs political and economic conditions influenced the type of growth and development of the built environment as well as the means to secure and organize the space within the built environment. The relationship between crime and the design of the physical environment is of increasing interest and importance to the planning and design disciplines. Typically, literature on the subject focuses on one (or both) of two constructs: the identification and defense of personal space and the provision of opportunities for surveillance. The objective of the investigation is to raise the issues in order to understand space, territory and defense in other cultures. Thus, this paper fills a gap in the literature in that it deals with space in a culture that is rooted in tradition. The author suggests that modern settlement design should be derived from an assessment of earlier schemes that took defensive measures against tribal raids and warfare into consideration as well as from the principles of defensible space design.