Privacy and communal socialization: The role of space in the security of traditional and contemporary neighborhoods in Saudi Arabia

The respect of visual privacy among Muslims, in both indoor and outdoor living space, is of utmost concern. At the same time, socialization among members of the Muslim community is also encouraged. This investigation views visual privacy and communal socialization as a dynamic determinant of physical space design, planning and configuration in Saudi Arabian communities. Traditional settlements offer valuable insights into this interaction of human behavior and the built form. The discovery of oil gave rise to new neighborhood concepts. Although modernization brought many benefits, it was not without its problems, most notably that “exotic” neighborhood and housing designs gave unlimited access of space, creating problems with respect to privacy and the diminishing of communal socialization. In order to develop a built environment which is responsive to the needs of its residents in terms of security, one should study notable examples of how these issues have been dealt with in the traditional settlements. This study examines two distinctive traditional settlements, Al-Alkhalaf and Al-Hasa, and discusses the attempt to implement their design elements in future communities.