Transformation and Perception of Urban Form in Arab City

The paper analyzes the ongoing urban transformation and delineates an underlying rationale which enables the comprehension of the current dual character of the Arab city with particular reference to the case of Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The re-reading of city form is mainly based on the critical interpretation of the mechanisms of urban morphology in relation to both global economic impacts and associated building boom as well as to the means of perception of urban space particularly by different strata of the urban realm. Thus, urban morphology of Arab city is analyzed as a medium which manifests a gradually increasing discrepancy between the social structure and the physical container of the public realm. Emergent urban scene seems to depict impressions of fragmentation and segregation, whereas the society itself claims to have intrinsic unity, integrity and synchronization. Thus, the paper proposes judicious and critical planning policy instead of the direct import of global urbanarchitectural typologies.