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JCHMSD
9,3 Transit-oriented development
in West Bay, Business District
of Doha, State of Qatar
394 A strategy for enhancing liveability
Received 2 September 2018 and sense of place
Revised 29 January 2019
Accepted 4 March 2019 Mahmoud Al Saeed and Raffaello Furlan
Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

Abstract
Purpose – West Bay, the Business District of Doha, the capital city of the State of Qatar, is facing an urban
regeneration phase due to the construction of the West Bay Central Train Station, a four-storey underground
building hosting the intersection of two metro lines – one long-distance train and one people mover.
The development of the transit village, or transit-oriented development, is raising concerns related to the need
to enhance liveability (as urban quality of life) and sense of place (considering the local cultural identity).
The purpose of this paper is to investigate existing urban elements, such as transit stations, as well as their
impact on the liveability and identity of the place and to define a comprehensive urban regeneration strategy
for the development of the distinctive urban village of West Bay.
Design/methodology/approach – The analysis and data collection were based on the type of data as
tangible aspects which mainly include the physical, and aspects such as diversity, density, connectivity,
transportation systems and public realm. Intangible factors are concluded from close and direct site
observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews, as a face-to-face type of data collection with key persons in
Qatar Rail, the Ministry of the Municipality and public work authorities, where the intangible aspects were
briefed by economic aspects, environmental situation, social pattern and human behaviours. After siting the
base ground of theoretical knowledge and site condition analysis, the authors identified a group of key factors
that respond to the targeted (tangible and intangible) aspects and threats, to propose a design treatment for
the site threats and highlighted issues in addition to a group of recommendations and design strategies
(Charmaz, 2006; Marshall and Rossman, 2010).
Findings – From the data analysis of the site and by revisiting the literature review, a group of
recommendations are formulated. The authors divided the recommendations into two types according to their
method of application. The first is the design approach, where the authors propose integrated design proposals
to tackle and solve the highlighted issues from the findings of site analysis (diversity, density, connectivity in
addition to economic, social and environmental factors). Meanwhile, the second part represents the systematic
recommendations that should be adopted and implemented to enhance the existing situation and form a
guideline for further developments.
Research limitations/implications – This research study could be further expanded to urban planning,
urban design, social development and environmental engineering. Urban design and social development
chiefly focus on the relationship between built and unbuilt forms with an eye to creating healthy, sustainable
communities for current and future generations.
Originality/value – Because issues of social sustainability and urban design have failed to attract suitable
levels of attention from local scholars, gaps have arisen in the research. Accordingly, this research study
investigates the relationship between social sustainability and urban design standards in the State of Qatar
with an eye to translating theoretical knowledge into applicable principles of urban planning. In doing so, it
will help close the gaps in knowledge related to Qatar and GCC countries.
Keywords Urban regeneration, Liveability, Transit-oriented development, West Bay, Sense of place
Paper type Research paper

Journal of Cultural Heritage Introduction

Management and Sustainable
Development The recent rapid transformation of Doha, the capital city of the State of Qatar, from a small
Vol. 9 No. 3, 2019
pp. 394-429
shore village into a large sprawling city, was prompted by the high revenues of gas and oil,
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2044-1266
which account for more than 50 per cent of the national economic income (Furlan and
DOI 10.1108/JCHMSD-09-2018-0062 Petruccioli, 2016; Furlan and Sipe, 2017).
 Moreover, Qatar’s winning bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup tournament led to Transit-
initiating a nationwide investment strategy for the construction of new public transportation oriented
systems and infrastructure, the port, stadiums and services facilities (Furlan and Alattar, development
2017; Salama and Wiedman, 2013). In turn, researchers and local authorities argue that the
fast development of such megaprojects is undermining the local cultural identity and/or sense
of place of Qatar’s built environment.
Nowadays, modern cities are concurrently facing the need to preserve a cultural identity 395
within the rapid development and urban regeneration of the built environment, aiming at
enhancing liveability and/or quality of life. In addition, urban regeneration is defined as the set
of strategies and activities that decrease the economic, social and physical decline of the built
environment (Commons, H. o., 2009). Similarly, the purpose of contemporary transit-oriented
developments (TODs) is to create and regenerate urban areas where liveability and/or quality
of life are enhanced.
Therefore, the ongoing construction of the new public rail system (metro) in Qatar,
which encompasses the construction of approximately 100 metro stations, distributed
along four main lines, can provide an opportunity to address a comprehensive strategy
for the development and/or urban regeneration of transit villages (TODs) along the
metropolitan premises (Figure 1). Among these urban villages, West Bay Central
(WBC) and Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre (DECC) are considered the most
relevant stations affluent users along the south to north line of Doha city (the red line)
(Furlan and Faggion, 2015b).
Currently, there are limited studies available that explore the process of development and/or
urban regeneration of urban villages in Qatar. This research study, focussing on the future
development of West Bay, Business District of Doha, aims at revealing a strategy for the urban
regeneration of the distinctive TOD of West Bay, based on the need to enhance liveability
(as urban quality of life) and a sense of place (considering of the local cultural identity).

Literature review
Urban regeneration
The literature reveals that 54 per cent of the world population resides in congested
metropolitan areas or cities (Landry, 2006). This led to the need to avoid further
unsustainable expansion and/or diminishing sprawling and to pursue compactness through
a planning strategy based on the urban regeneration of central areas/districts (Farr, 2011;
Montgomery, 2013).

Figure 1.
West Bay stations
along the red line
JCHMSD The process of urban regeneration is related to local policies and location/nature of the
9,3 regenerated areas (Adair et al., 2009). The unique character, location, use and diversity of
the area make it very difficult to establish a universal definition of urban regeneration
(Adair et al., 2009). However, generally, the process is based on the two main perspectives:
integration and use-enhancement, i.e., a fire station might become an art gallery, and an
expo-district might be converted to a residential neighbourhood (Furlan and Petruccioli,
396 2016; Imrie et al., 2009).
The process of urban regeneration has changed significantly in the past decade, namely,
motivated by the contemporary need to address social sustainability, to enhance liveability
and/or quality of life, to preserve built cultural identity, and to encourage entrepreneurialism
to attract investors (Adair et al., 2009). Therefore, the process is based on the following
pillars (Furlan and Sipe, 2017) (Figure 2):
• Environmental aspects: a successful urban regeneration project needs to address
the local environmental indicators. The term of “think global and act local”
has become the focal point of the most successful urban regeneration projects
(World Bank, 2017).
• Social sustainability: sustainable regeneration projects shall consider the existing
community and its inhabitants’ social needs (Colantonio and Dixon, 2011).
• Location physical and cultural identity: an integrated active policy that promotes
making strong bridges between communities and fostering the city cultural identity
should be adapted in all phases of the sustainable regeneration projects.
• Economic policy and investment forces: economics is the engine of the city
development process and it has the bigger share of interest when the regeneration of
an area seems to consider the place potential to gain back revenues. Actually, it goes
deeper to involve the country economic factors and general plan (Commons, H. o.,
2008), where the economic policy must be aligned with local aspect of investment
force to minimise the side effects of the investment and increase potential benefits
(Dixon and Adams, 2008).
The integration of a transit station within the urban fabric of a city provides an opportunity
to address urban regeneration, where land values encourage businesses and residents to
move to TOD neighbourhoods, which will increase and offer significant opportunities for

Urban Regeneration
Aim
Address social sustainability

Enhance livability and/or quality of life

Preserve built cultural identity

Encourage entrepreneurialism to attract investors

Pillars
Tangible pillars Intangible pillars

Figure 2. Environmental Social

Theoretical aspects sustainability
background
Location physical Economic policy and
development process investment forces
and cultural identity
additional activities when transit is planned (Calthorpe, 2015; Dynamix, 2011; Gehl, 2011) Transit-
(Plate 1). No different from other places, Qatar is seeking to develop an existing urban fabric oriented
through regenerating projects, which are, in fact, a reaction towards implementing new development
transit stations among urban fabrics.
The reasons behind including the regeneration in this research study are because
regeneration projects are much more likely to involve comprehensive and integrated
strategies, vision and action that lead to the resolution of urban physical, economic and 397
social problems, and the regeneration process seeks to bring improvement to the pillars of
the cities’ condition. Therefore, each phase and aspects of the regeneration process should
be carried out carefully with its own characteristics and aspects (Roberts, 2000); meanwhile
and according to Qatar National Strategies 2030, the government shall give the maximum
attention to the possibility of the regeneration project. Whenever it is available, the process
of regeneration shall follow the baseline of preserving Qatari local identity, the local
economy and encourage sustainable and environmental best practice. The regeneration
process will include policy, public participation and long-term vision for the targeted
locations. This vision and strategies will work concurrently with the general outline of the
national development process, helping the government vision in developing an integrated
transit-ordinated development.

Plate 1.
Notes: The National Master Plan source; place dynamix, MMUP and Doha, Qatar
Oriental Consultants
JCHMSD The sense of place (place-meanings)
9,3 Urban designers are responsible for creating a positive difference. Urban designers can achieve
such impact only when they release the hidden factors that shape people’s way of living and, in
turn, the place identity people live in (Brown and Dixon, 2014; Rapoport, 1976; Relph, 1976).
Today’s cities are competing to host iconic images such as buildings and spaces representing
their commitment to development as a signature of star architecture (Furlan, 2015). However,
398 the iconic buildings (West Bay skyline as an example of iconic urban components – Plates 2
and 3) might have hidden meanings, but usually they are sculptures implemented in an isolated
context, rather than integrated within the city unique urban fabric, which is a result of an
important historical identity (Carmona and Tiesdell, 2007; Stevenson, 2013). The traditional
process goes back for many years. Moreover, and according to Kasprisin, there are three
components (culture, space and time) that directly contribute to shaping human settlement’s and
built spaces. Kasprisin (2011) argues that the interaction among these components along with
the functionality of built forms will produce the “meaning” of space identity.
Culture in its nature is a complicated term that includes ideas, customs and arts. More
recently scholars included economics, politics and social interaction. This will bring the
discussion of who designs cities; the range of “culture” requires integrated design process
that must be open to the community in a mutually interactive process (Rubin, 1979).

Plate 2.
West Bay skyline
with traditional
Qatari ships
Source: graphicsbuzz.com (2016)

Plate 3.
West Bay
district boundary
Source: Jon Bowles, aliengrove, on Flickr (2014)
The meanings of space in urban design represent the bottom line of life, living and design of Transit-
urban functionality; moreover, space as a living system is the ecological urban design process oriented
where the product does not mean only a “green product” but expands to include the output development
behaviours within the ecological systems of the urban context (Kasprisin, 2011).
Time is a periodic process, the length of time required to take an action forms the concept
of measuring tools, when new actions are taken new periodic measurements are needed, the
time frame concept is important to identify the cultural symbiology and meanings because 399
culture is measured by time and place. The time meanings expand beyond aspects of
history, but it offers a connection to the past. The meanings of time provide designers with
three cardinal tools, which are history, knowledge and probable aspiration and outcomes
(Kasprisin, 2011; Rubin, 1979).
This means that today’s urban designers and planners are no longer required to just give
attention to the implementation and decoration of spaces resulting from built forms such as
town squares, parks and pedestrian networks. Rather, the cardinal role of an urban designer
is to highlight and understand the significant and necessary relationship between built
forms and social-identity meanings of the inhabitants of the space, to shape the settlement
and built forms. This, in turn, will enhance and foster the adaptation and regeneration of
local identity and the sense of belonging of the place.
According to Rykwert, the definition of “urban place meanings and sense of place” is
strongly connected with the cultural comprehension of the “civilisation” through its
“industry”, where the development of cities is motivated by human interventions. Rykwert
identified the city by its industry (technology and machine); the process of city labelling and
heritage identification commences with the agricultural communities, which have been
superseded by the first and second industrial revolutions. The city of London forms a clear
example for describing the cultural heritage by the industry. London has been depicted in
artists, historians and planners’ works through the images of trains, steam engines, steel-made
pavilions and the structure of its bridges. In that sense, the comprehension of place’s meanings
is developing through time along with the conception of the surrounding environment
associated with the city’s economic development (Rikwert, 2000).
Architects and urban planners have always preferred to operate at the macro-scale level
of the built environment (rather than micro-scale housing level), where through the design of
the public realm, city plaza, town halls and railway stations (public buildings), a new style
could be initiated and launched. Therefore, the term “style” refers to the facade of the
building and/or built environment with its embedded meaning. It acts as a semiotic device
that depicts the city image and cultural heritage.
Also, the term “type” refers to the function and/or use of the building/s (i.e. city hall,
church, etc.). Both definitions, style and type are significant in urban planning and
architectural design process: they contribute to shape the city iconic images, cultural
heritage and the perception of place meanings (Rikwert, 2000).

Transit-oriented developments (TODs)

TOD helps to enhance and sustain a friendly environmental lifestyle. It supports the
clustering of activities around transit stations in highly dense and pedestrian-friendly built
forms; the idea is that individuals can reduce their dependence on solo transportation, which
will reduce fossil-based energy consumption and negative emissions (Bernick and Cervero,
1997; Curtis et al., 2009; Furlan and Faggion, 2015a; Walker, 2011); at the same level of
consideration, the key factor for a successful long-term development is related to how to
integrate this transited development project and transport system with existing urban
fabric and land use to reduce the externalities of traffic congestion. The purpose of TOD’s
extents to include an efficient design of the transit stations and to have well-planned goals
integrated with local values and environments.
JCHMSD To develop beneficial successful TOD projects, there must be different participants,
9,3 namely, the transit public-governmental agencies, private investors, architectural designers,
urban planners and neighbourhood tenants. However, only local governments have the
direct authority and responsibility for regulating and approving such developments
(Calthorpe and Fulton, 2001; Cervero, 2000). Meanwhile, the discussion among policymakers
continues on how to set the best practice regulation of TOD planning and adaptation. They
400 all agree on the basic strategies that shall be considered in the process (the ABCs of TODs),
which is represented in the following key factors (Greenberg, 2004):
• Active, walkable streets: the densest transit station is where users find comfortable
walking, and the purpose of zoning provisions is to create walkable active paths
and streets.
• Building intensity and scale: regulations that define the building floor area ratio and
minimum/maximum coverage area per plot will assign and allocate the density and
scale so it helps transit users to be comfortable walking streets and paths along with
the variable concentration of activity correlated with users.
• Careful transit integration: at the early stage of transit planning, regulations should
consider the relationship between the projects and the site characteristics, such as rail
lines, train tracks and bus stations.
The master plan of Qatar transportation aims to develop an attractive, efficient and reliable
public transportation system; this led to a comprehensive master plan consisting of five
modern railway systems inside Qatar, along with a fast rail that links to GCC countries with
an approximate length of 1,940 km rail network (Figure 3).

Figure 3.
Nationwide
connections
Source: Qatar Rail (2017)
The motivated transformation in the twentieth century of Doha from a small pearl fishing Transit-
village into an emerging regional urban centre that accommodates more than 1.7m oriented
inhabitants (Salama and Wiedman, 2013) has made of Doha an emerging service hub. The development
growth was from a single core and expanded towards new urban areas developments; for
that purpose the transportation system was majorly redeveloped and expanded to
accommodate the new expansion (Furlan and ElGahani, 2018; Furlan and Faggion, 2015a).
Meanwhile, according to the Qatar National Master plan and Qatar National Vision 401
2030, all megaprojects and construction shall be completed by 2026, where it includes the
infrastructure projects, namely, railway, metros and public transportation facilities in
addition to the development of the major TODs. The ongoing construction of Doha metro
was designed to connect the Hamad International Airport with all major areas (Furlan
and Faggion, 2015a; Furlan and Saeed, 2017a, b). This location is not only significant for
the World Cup 2022 but also to local communities, with a total of 87 stations distributed in
various locations with a total length of 211.9 km (Figure 4). The purpose is to
promote transit villages inside the city fabric. With the metro plan divided into four
different routes (Figure 5):
• Route 1 (the red line) forms the vertical axis, which connects Mesaieed in the south to
Al Khor city in the north crossing Lusail, West Bay and Mesheireb, reaching Hamad
International Airport.
• Route 2 (the green line) connecting Education City with Doha Centre, linking Umm
Slal to the industrial district in the south.

Figure 4.
Stations’ distribution
Source: Qatar Rail (2011)
JCHMSD
9,3

402

Figure 5.
Qatar Rail network
(the four major lines)
Source: Qatar Rail (2011)

• Route 3 (the gold line) makes the link between east and west crossing at the centre of
Mesheireb, Al Waab Street, Al Rayyan and Hamad International Airport.
• Route 4 (blue line) the main role of the blue line is to connect commercial and
residential areas of West Bay with Hamad Airport, in parallel with the C-Ring Road.
The development of these routes is important to resolve major issues of urban planning,
such as traffic congestion, and its externalities on the Qatar economy (Furlan and Faggion,
2015a). Meanwhile, the purpose of the National transit vision is to allocate Qatar as an
international services location with an evolved and attractive urbanism (Salama and
Wiedman, 2013).

West Bay (TODs)

West Bay is a relatively newly developed neighbourhood of Doha City in the State of Qatar
(Furlan, 2015). Because of the extreme oil and gas revenues which were pumped into the State
of Qatar (Furlan, 2015) and especially to the semi-circular shape of the costal line of Doha city,
West Bay witnessed the first modern building completed in 1985, the Sheraton Hotel, which is
considered as one of the most unique skyscrapers, in addition to important transit stations,
which are two of the 18 stations allocated within the red line passing by West Bay district from
south to north of Doha coastal lines (Furlan and Alfaraidy, 2017a, b) (Figure 6).
West Bay district includes WBC and DECC stations. The concept of TODs is taking
critical relevance as an urban design strategy integrating both land use and transit
systems to formulate the master plan of the district. The implemented master plan was
 Transit-
oriented
development

403

Figure 6.
Qatar Rail network
(red line)
Source: Qatar Rail (2017)

originally developed by the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), Public

Work Authority and Qatar Rail; the master plan is inclusive of the urban planning policies
and strategies to develop urban villages (Furlan and Almohannadi, 2016; Furlan,
AlMohannadi, Zaina and Zaina, 2015).
The central station of West Bay is allocated at the lower section of the district. Meanwhile,
the DECC station connects the upper section of the district. Both stations work constantly to
serve various establishments in the district formulating semi-closed loop of transportation at
the same time connecting the district to the city’s other areas, mainly West Bay composed of
multiple governmental authorities, which attract users in the morning, in addition to visitors
and users of the city centre and exhibition centre, which mainly attract shoppers and business
developers. The variety of users highlighted the important location of these two stations,
which is directly impacting on the urban fabric components, such as land use, land density,
inhabitant density and accessibility (Rizzo, 2014; Salama and Wiedman, 2013).
The direct relationship between urbanisation, density and transportation is focussed on the
concept of viable thresholds, at specific level of density (thresholds); the number of users in a
specific area sufficient to develop interaction required to make certain urban function or
activities (Furlan, 2016; Furlan and Faggion, 2015b, 2017; Shaaban and Khalil, 2012). “In other
words the increase in users and the variety of urban activities, the richer the life of
neighbourhood, thus urbanity is focused on density” (Larice and Macdonald, 2013). The
urbanisation trend is compounded by changing density and administrative services, which are
the prospective in Doha; this trend will include major changes in economic culture and social
structure of the city (Shaaban and Khalil, 2012). However, transferring the terminology into
design standards by identifying the density as the floor area ratio, the types of density can be
broken down into: low density at the ratio of 1:1, medium density at the ratio of 4:1 and high
density at the ratio level of 8:1 (Furlan, AlMohannadi, Zaina and Zaina, 2015; Furlan et al., 2016).
According to Qatar general master plan, Qatar Rail master plan and Qatar national
framework, the design part of the transit station ensures the process of developing a fabric
of high-quality design building and circulation including pedestrian and street connectivity,
in addition to design the process of creating and increasing mode share of public transport
by providing the required infrastructure, such as cycling paths and shaded pedestrian paths
(Furlan and Alattar, 2017; Furlan, Nafi and Alattar, 2015).
JCHMSD Urban planning is a comprehensive extended action that takes into consideration many
9,3 aspects, formulated by the tangible and intangible components of the city. The role of urban
planner is to realise the necessity and importance of urban regeneration, where urban
regeneration is the responsible action to redevelop, enhance and create stable urban fabric
through well-studied economic policies, environmental protection alongside with social
sustainability of the users, responding to the responsibility of creating better quality of life
404 for all city communities (Figure 7).

The research design

Scholars agree to define the research as scientific and systematic and investigate
information related to the research interest; moreover, according to Cooper and Schindler
(2011) research is “a critical process to achieve certain objectives”.
The authors’ selection for West Bay district was motivated due to its cardinal role in
the local economy and the government attempt to implement several transit stations in the
district. Also, it encompasses the first stations that are expected to be operational.
Moreover, the selection of west bay was motivated by the fact that both DECC and WCS
stations are a sort of prototype for the upcoming 98 stations distributed along Qatar Rail
main lines. In sum, this research employs various types of data collection and examination
where the duration of data collection and analysis continued for a period of four months
(September–December 2017).
The authors of this research project investigated the links and connections between the
different subjects of urban regeneration, urban design and the process of TOD planning.
After exploring the literature of the subjects of interest, the authors divided the conceptual
framework of the research into theoretical base (mainly to highlight, explain and deal with
the theories, definitions and pillars of urban regeneration, planning and TODs); data
collection and data process (the authors used qualitative methods to process and evaluate
the collected data from the several available sources related to the chosen subject and points
of interest – see Figure 8) (Creswell, 2003; Denzin and Lincoln, 2005).
The analysis and data collection were based on the type of data as tangible aspects,
which mainly include physical aspects such as diversity, density, connectivity,
transportation systems and public realm; intangible factors are concluded from close and
direct site observation, semi-structured in-depth interviews, as a face-to-face type of data
collection with key practitioners operating at Qatar Rail, the Ministry of the Municipality
and public work authorities.
The semi-structured interviews were designed to provide multiple opportunities to
participants to express their opinions and initiate open discussions related to the enhancement

Urban Urban design Transit-oriented West Bay

regeneration meanings development (TOD’s) (TOD’s)

1- Regeneration 1- Urban designer role 1- Why TOD important? 1- Introduction to West

concept 2- The “Meaning” of 2- TOD characteristics Bay
2- General definition the urban context 2- West bay Master
3- Transportation
3- Culture plan
3- General scope master plan
4- Space 3- West bay stations
4- TOD as the catalyst 4- Qatar TOD’s
of urban regeneration 5- Time 4- Density role
5- TOD’s visions
Figure 7. 5- Why urban 6- Why urban meaning 5- Design and transport
The disciplinary and important? role
regeneration
geographical context important?
 West Bay Transit-
Urban Regeneration, Urban Planning, oriented
Transit-Oriented Development
development

Literature Reviews Data Collection

Subject Key factors Analysis and use Data 405

Urban 01- Economic and Social Site analysis
01 forces Intangible 01
Regeneration Economic situation
02- Environmental Environmental aspects
aspects Social patterns
03- Location identity
Site observation
Inhabitant
Human Behaviours

Future opportunity for Research

01- Culture
Municipalities and Environment

Urban Design
02 02- Space Culture
Meanings
03- Time Space formation

Literature/Site Analysis

and studies
Ministry of

Transit-oriented 01- Active, Walkable Site analysis

03 Development (TOD’S)
Tangible 02
Streets Activities
02- Building intensity Walkability
and scale Density
03- Transit integration Transportation
Diversity
01- Density role Connectivity
04 West Bay (TOD’S) 02- Land use In-depth interview
03- Transportation Plans
Visions

Literature/Site Analysis

Conclusions Conclusions

Findings/Design Factors

Identity, Density, Diversity, Connectivity, Walkability, Activities, Transport systems

Figure 8.
Research outline and
Design proposal/Discussion methodology
Recommendation/Conclusion

of the selected site and to upcoming planning issues. Moreover, the participants’ selection was
limited to practitioners directly involved into the development of the project ( from initial design
to coordination of construction stages), with extended experience on similar infrastructural
projects, where the intangible factors were shaped by economic, environmental, social and
human-behavioural aspects.
After siting the base ground of theoretical knowledge and site condition analysis, the
authors identified a group of key factors that respond to the targeted (tangible and intangible)
aspects and threats, to propose a design treatment for the site threats and highlighted issues
in addition to a group of recommendations and design strategies (Charmaz, 2006; Marshall
and Rossman, 2010).

Findings
In this section, a list of the findings is presented. The section also reflects upon the
conclusion from the literature and elaborates on the scope of further research in the subject.
JCHMSD Site analysis
9,3 The study area. The vast majority of the West Bay district includes two major municipal
zones (60, 61) (Figure 9), and both extend to include 8 sq. kilometres of land with 70 smaller
subzones, which in turn are divided into more than 130 plots (Figure 10). As the district is
connected directly with water, it has 5 km of coast line and 3 km of direct contact with inner
land. The district includes major establishments, such as the famous old Sheraton Hotel
406 (considered the oldest building in the district: 1982), DECC, City Centre shopping mall and a
group of residential and administration tower buildings (Figure 11).

Context
Site physical analysis (tangible aspects). The physical analysis of the site highlights and
monitors the various physical situations that are related to the research point of interest,
such as diversity, density, connectivity, transportation systems and the public realm.
Diversity. West Bay District has an important geographical location connecting inner
lands with the shoreline. This led the MME to consider the district as a special developments
(SD) zone (Figure 12). The SD classification means for the current time that the allowed
developments include high-rise buildings and governmental services; however, by focussing
on the stations surrounding the area at a length of 450 m radius, we can directly assume that
the main function of the land is for administrative governmental buildings for the station of
WBC, in addition to several specialized services (ministry, research centres and commercial
companies); however, the radius also includes residential functions within its fabric
(Figure 13). Meanwhile, the DECC station radius includes public and community services

Zone 61

Figure 9. Zone 60
West Bay main
municipal zones West Bay Main zones
(60, 61)
Source: Ministry of Municipality and Environment (2018)
 Transit-
oriented
development

407

Maine municipal parcels

Figure 10.
distribution West Bay Paracel’s
distribution
Source: Ministry of Municipality and Environment (2017)

such as an exhibition centre and public work authorities headquarters, in addition to a

group of hotels and shopping malls, such as City Centre (Figure 14).
Density. To analyse the density further, density can be classified into three main types:
built form density, which represents the ratio between buildings and open lands. The
district, in general, is considered to be one of the densest areas because of the important
location and function in the midst of the district (Figure 15). Vehicle density, as well as the
built form density, the vehicular movement is high and continues all day long, but it is more
focussed during official working hours due to the nature of building in the district; however,
the station DECC is denser than WCS due to the convention centre and city centre shopping
mall. Pedestrian density; although the high dense built form and vehicular movement, the
absence of a friendly pedestrian environment and city furniture such as shaded paths,
cycling tracks and green areas we can clearly notice the low density of pedestrians in and
around the district.
Connectivity. Because of the road shape around the district of interest made it in isolation
as it is a peninsula between two major lines of roads, the first is Al Corniche St at the
south-east part of the district, meanwhile Majlis Al Taawon and Omar Al Mukhtar St are
allocated on the west-north side, moreover a group of secondary roads cut through the district
boundary connecting both roads, namely, Diplomatic St, Ambassadors St, Conference Centre
St, Al Funduq St and Al Markhiya St. In other words, the district has two major gateways
located Omar Al Mukhtar at the northern side and Al Markhyia in the southern side.
JCHMSD
9,3

408
Sheraton Hotel

DECC Stations

WCS Stations

Figure 11.
West Bay major
establishments Main Land mark

At the same time, the district itself has no type of connection to surrounding areas and parks
such as Sheraton Park; thus, it is very difficult for a pedestrian to move from the district to
other areas without using vehicle transportation (Figure 16).
Transportation systems. The role of transportation is cardinal not only for the district but
for every location. The district transportation system is divided into four main types, which
cross and circulate inside the district, these types start from solo riders to end with mass
movers, the infrastructure of transportation is connecting the district with surrounding areas,
as well it connects with its section; metro station; two elevated metro stations (WCS, DECC) in
parallel with Majlis al Taawon St and Omar Al Mukhtar St, municipal long-distance buses: the
district has seven main bus stations, distributed along four main lines connecting the upper
section of the district with its lower section crossing the most important location, taxi station;
the district has one dedicated taxi gathering point allocated near the City Centre shopping
mall, and solo rider; since the most common transportation system in Qatar is cars, the district
receives a high level of solo riders daily (Figure 17).
Public realm. The important role of the public realm is usually brought by its necessity
as social gathering places, however, to have functional public realm it should have pleasing
accessibility level to all inhabitants. Moreover, the meaning of public realm extends to
include three main objectives: first, streets: the district of West Bay has sufficient roads to
accommodate vehicle movement; however, road accessibility for pedestrians is poor and
limited in some areas. Meanwhile, the continuity of street is acceptable for cars but again it
is poor for pedestrians. Second, open spaces: the lower section of the district clearly has no
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Doha Exhibition and

Convention Center
(DECC)

West Bay Central (WCS)

Figure 12.
West Bay
general zoning
Source: Ministry of Municipality and Environment (2017)

open space to serve the inhabitant in and around the district; meanwhile, the upper section
has very limited access to public open spaces and parks such as Sheraton Park and Corniche
green belt. This limited access is caused by the street cutting the movement between the
district and the parks. Third, green areas: as well as the open space the green areas are poor
and limited to public parks near to Sheraton Hotel, meanwhile, the greenery is limited to the
street buffer zone with no proper distribution (Figure 18).
In-depth interviews and site observation (intangible aspects). The purpose of this section is
to understand and mark the intangible aspects of the site linked to culture, space and time,
which in turn represent the urban design meaning the district analysis (economics,
environment, social patterns, human behaviours, culture and space formation).
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Figure 13.
WCS station, 450 m
land use plan

Economics. According to the latest national master plan published by MME, the West
Bay district is considered the Central Business District: this is directly reflected on the
land use pattern where we clearly notice the dense high-rise office towers allocated along
the district. The cardinal role of the economy has been understood as increasing the
density of supportive infrastructure and buildings such as metro station and the
high-rise office towers.
Environment. The relationship between built form and environment is important as
the land use and economic pattern, the district is suffering from the absence of
environmental aspects such as walkable streets, availability of green areas except for
some minor small green pockets in addition to the central Sheraton Park (Plate 4).
Although some green colour can be noticed, it is limited to a street buffer zone where
it is more focussed aesthetically, leading to the neglect of environmental aspects in
the district.
Social pattern. The purpose of monitoring the social pattern of the inhabitant is to
understand the social aspect among the users; moreover, to link the environment to the
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Figure 14.
DECC station, 450 m
land use plan

social sustainability that is required to develop responsible urban fabric. The social pattern
in the district is almost absent as there is no direct social interaction except the presence of
park visitors from surrounding areas to gather in small groups (Plate 5). This is referred to
as the nature of the district as the business location has a good percentage of employees that
arrive early morning and leave before evening, which in this time the visitors to Sheraton
Park and City Centre Mall start to arrive.
Human behaviours. From the direct and close monitoring for the inhabitants of both
classes (employee and visitor), we can classify the behaviours into two main types
according to the user’s interests: first, driven by direct target, which they formulate the
bigger percentage where the users were driven by a specific reason to visit the district,
such as work or to get some service (governmental). Second, visitors seeking services: the
number of visitors usually increases in evening times when most of the employees leave
the district and the density of vehicular movement decreases, the visitor usually spends
most of the time in three main locations (City Centre shopping mall, Doha Exhibition
Centre and Sheraton Park).
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DECC

WCS

Built Forms (buildings and construction)

450 m Station radius

Figure 15. High- dense Vehicles movement (980 car/h)

Density map Med- dense Vehicles movement (400 car/h)
Low- dense Vehicles movement (180 car/h)

Culture and space formation. Culture is one of the main pillars that form places meaning and
identity. Doha City has transformed in a very short period from a small country to one of the
fastest developing countries in the world, with one of the highest incomes per capita. This
transformation overcame the local themes of identity and meanings; however, by examining
the various fabrics of the district we see the global themes infiltrated in all its buildings,
moreover extended to include the function of the district itself as a global financial district,
since the architectural style is one of the cultural faces, it has been examined at various
locations although the several attempts carried out by the government regulations to
promote the identity and culture through the building architectural style are still hazy and
mixed styles make it hard to unify the general theme that follows the local identity and their
historical cultural meanings (Plate 6).

Conclusion and discussions

The strategy for enhancing livability and sense of place of the TOD in West Bay, Business
District of Doha, is based on three key – disciplinary areas, listed as follows.

Urban regeneration
Integrating and adapting a futuristic projects such as Qatar Rail is significant, not only to
foster the economic growth of Qatar but also to enhance the quality of life of the inhabitants,
who will benefit of a sustainable tool of public. However, preserving the city cultural
heritage is also required in order to preserve the values of Qatar heritage and culture. As a
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DECC

WCS

Figure 16.
450 m Station radius Main roads
District Gateway and gateway

result, the development of Doha metro must follow the principles of urban regeneration,
based on the preservation of environmental, social and cultural aspects of the users.

Sense of place
Understanding the meaning of place and inhabitants’ needs require a comprehensive
coordination approach among urban planners, urban designers and architectural designers,
all aiming at enhancing the city iconic image, the meanings that and inhabitants refer to
urban places. Therefore, the approach of simply designing functional spaces is not sufficient
to shape place-meanings. Aesthetic and location aspects are key factors which should be
addressed at the early stages of TOD planning.

Transit-oriented developments (TODs)

Integrating public transport systems into the city urban fabric is complicated and, in
order to be successful, it requires a multi-disciplinary coordination approach, which
encloses the input from transport planners, stakeholders, urban planners and
geographers and end-users. In order to develop liveable TODs, there are several key
factors to be considered, such as walkable streets (the increased TOD density will lead to
the creation of walkable paths and streets); urban fabric’s density (the increased
density will allow the distribution of activities and/or businesses, which must accessible
within walkable distance); transit systems’ integration (railway, bus lines, private
transport systems and stations should be thoroughly integrated in order to enhance
mobility and accessibility).
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Figure 17.
Main transportation
systems
Source: Mowasalat (2018)

Recommendations
From the data analysis of the site and by reviewing the literature, a group of recommendations
are formulated. The recommendations were divided into two types according to their method of
application. The first is the design approach, where the authors propose integrated design
proposals to tackle and solve the highlighted issues from the findings of site analysis (diversity,
density, connectivity in addition to economic, social and environmental factors). Meanwhile, the
second part represents the systematic recommendations that should be adopted and
implemented to enhance the existing situation and form a guideline for further developments.

Design proposal
The design proposal was developed in response to the main key factors identified through
site analysis, where each of the threats has a unique type of treatment proposal, according to
the threats’ nature and characteristics. After identifying the key factors and its suitable
treatment based on the literature reviews, a table of conclusions was formulated to highlight
and discuss the conclusions as shown in Table I.
In response to the revealed threats, the authors proposed several layers of treatments,
which include the main key factors under investigation; the proposals include planning
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415
Sheraton

Sheraton
Hotel

Park
Sheraton parks

450 m Station radius

DECC

WCS

Figure 18.
Green areas and roads
existing situations
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Plate 4.
The lack of greenery
and safe
shaded walkway

Plate 5.
Sheraton park
at night

themes as well as architectural proposals. The first layer is proposing revised land use
layout that encompasses a variable comprehensive mix of uses to satisfy the inhabitants’
needs (Figures 19–21).
Meanwhile, to relieve the dense urban fabric of the district and to increase the green
areas, the authors propose to use the leftover spaces to be merged with urban fabric as
pocket gardens and green areas (Figures 22 and 23).
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Plate 6.
Modern and
globalization in
architectural themes
in West Bay

Current situation Proposed treatments

Key points Strength Weakness Aims Tool

Diversity The districts land use is The current land Increase the variety of Proposed master
special development use has been land use, by introducing plan
meanings the possibility for
translated to new services that serve
variety in services is high
office towers only inhabitants well-being
Density The current density is Severe shortage Increase the green Proposed master
high, lands are well in green areas cover, pocket gardens plan
occupied and public and public areas
parks, only one
park available
Connectivity Several major roads serve The roads Increase the Design proposal
the district around the connectivity with for pedestrian
district made it surrounding areas bridges
isolated from focussing on pedestrian Shaded areas for
surroundings as well as shared pedestrians
transportation Cycling tracks
Transportation The current transport Traffic Reduce solo riders Proposed master
system models are: congestion Encourage shared plans
Two metro stations Environment transportations Shuttle services
Public buses decline Introduce environment-
Taxis Increase heat friendly method of Table I.
island effect transport such as Threats and treatment
electric buses of the key factors

The lack of safe and consistent pedestrian routes with its components such as connecting bridges,
rest station and shaded walkway, in addition to the absence of cycling routes, has been addressed
by the authors through architectural proposals for the absent elements (Figures 24–26).
The emergent need for enhancing the transportation systems to support the
implementation of metro stations and to decrease the vehicular congestion has been
addressed through the implementation of shuttle buses to connect the districts with their
boundaries and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, the merging of electric charge stations
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Figure 19.
Proposed land use for
West Bay district

Figure 20.
Proposed land
use 450 m around
WCS station

shall work as an influence to raise the awareness of renewable energy as an important

resource of transportation methods (Figure 27).
As has been highlighted through the site analysis, the social patterns are almost absent; in
addition, the small businesses have not been encouraged, and because of this the authors
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Figure 21.
Proposed land
use 450 m around
DECC station

Figure 22.
Proposed green
areas in 450 m around
WCS station
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Figure 23.
Proposed green areas
in 450 m around
DECC station

Figure 24.
Proposed pedestrian,
cycling routes and
pedestrian stations

proposed to allocate more service kiosks around the district where the inhabitants are
dense, which increases the variety of services and supports the local economy (Figure 28
and Plate 7).

Master plan and systematic recommendations

West Bay District is one of the major districts in Doha City, and the government attempts to
formulate the district as a Central Business District that is important and cardinal for the
local economy; however, this movement towards reviving the district through large
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421

Figure 25.
Proposed
pedestrian bridges

Figure 26.
Proposed pedestrian
station and
shaded areas

investments in buildings and infrastructure is not sufficient, and causes a loss in identity
and general themes of local culture in favour of globalisation and modernisation. This
creates the necessity to form a set of regulations that consider the three main aspects of
urban design and urban regeneration: environment, economy and local identity, to be
applied as short- and long-term strategies.
From its assigned roles, the main land uses and functions of the West Bay district is as
groups of administrative offices towers, public services quarters and governmental services,
with very limited general public-related areas, and for that purpose the district shall have
more variety and diversity of land uses spaced around the transit stations, the responsible
authorities shall restrict the uses of station surrounding area as mix use including retail,
restaurants, services and public attraction uses, this will make the stations as attractive
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422

Figure 27.
Proposed shuttle
services routes

Figure 28.
Proposed kiosks

points for visitors and inhabitants of the district, meanwhile the proposed master plan looks
to the district as one unit cannot be separated, and deals with the threats through the
strategies responding to TOD principles (Figure 29).
The district density form represents a high percentage of dense buildings taking the
vertical expansions and by this forming the Doha city edge, causing significant vehicle
presence in the district; the regulation shall relieve the district from this density by
prohibiting any type of construction and focussing on the leftover spaces from cool
spots among the distract fabric; moreover, the enhanced transportation system shall
decrease the density of cars and increase the density of pedestrians, which will lead to
pedestrian-friendly areas.
The existing conventional transportation systems are leading to suffocation and traffic
jams, also increasing the number of cars; however, an enhanced transportation system shall
be implemented working next to the under-construction transportation station, to connect the
stations with each other and to encourage safe movements. This shall be carried out by
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Plate 7.
Proposed kiosks

various new systems, such as shuttle buses, enhanced shaded corridors within the 450 m radii
for pedestrians, provide safe cycling tracks, promote car sharing, expand the regulations of
environment-friendly transportation methods such as electric cars (Figure 30).
To protect and enhance the public realms and its components, in addition to the
environmental aspects a continuous consistent pedestrian service can be called a cool spot
among the district’s urban fabric, distributed at various locations, and it shall form a continuous
line at the range of 450 m walking distance; these cool spots shall have places for short rest and
general services such as pantries, information and accessibility to other types of transporters.
In conclusion, the development of the city master plan, aiming at enhancing the
integration of public transport systems (such as Doha Metro) and land use (TOD projects),
should be based on the adoption a systemic framework, which commences by identifying
the aim and the scale of the project through the analysis of urban regeneration, sense of
place and TOD principles (Figure 31).

Contribution to knowledge
Because issues of social sustainability and urban design have failed to attract suitable
levels of attention from local scholars, gaps have arisen in the research. Accordingly,
this research study investigates the relationship between social sustainability and
urban design standards in the State of Qatar with an eye to translating theoretical
knowledge into applicable principles of urban planning. In doing so, it will help close the
JCHMSD
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424

Land Use

Administrative (Offices) Special Developments

Governmental and Public
Services Residential

Commercial Mix use

Transportation and Connectivity

Facilities and Service
Cycling path Long-route Buses
Figure 29. Pedestrian Route Short-route Buses Car Charging Station
N
Proposed master plan Pedestrian Station

Pedestrian Bridge
Food Kiosk

Services Kiosk

Figure 30.
WCS proposed
treatments methods

gaps in knowledge related to Qatar and GCC countries. Also, this research study is
significant to urban geography and planning because of the visual material presented,
which support the definition and discussion of key-concepts to be adopted for the
enhancement of the selected TOD.
 Step 1 Aim to implement TOD
Transit-
oriented
Study and analysis (Pre-planning phase) development
Urban Regeneration Sense of place Transit-oriented
developments

Environmental aspects Iconic images Active, Walkable Streets

425
Social sustainability Cultural identity Careful transit integration

Location physical and The meanings of Building intensity and

cultural identity space scale

Study and analysis (During-planning phase)

Diversity Density Economics Environment Human behaviours

Connectivity Social pattern Public realm Transportation Systems

Culture and space formation

Step 2 Master Plan implementation

Revised master plan Design proposal

Step 3 Study/monitor the output

Tangible aspects Intangible aspects

Diversity Density Economics Environment

Connectivity
Transportation
Social pattern
Human
Figure 31.
Systems behaviours
TOD integration
Public realm Culture and space formation
framework

Limitations, implications for practice and advancement of research

The findings revealed through this study clarified the limitations of the research study and
opened a series of doors for further research.
The identified limitations are listed as follows:
(1) Data availability and ethical implication: the data collected were highly
restricted to confidentiality by governmental planning agencies or authorities,
and private consultancies. Moreover, a written consent from participants was
always required.
(2) Duration of the research study: the window for completing and submitting the
research study was limited to one semester.
This research study could be further expanded to urban planning, urban design, social
development and environmental engineering. Urban design and social development chiefly
focus on the relationship between built and unbuilt forms with an eye to creating healthy,
sustainable communities for current and future generations.
JCHMSD Acknowledgements
9,3 This research study, initiated as an assignment at the core-course “Urban Design in
Practice” (MUPD 711 – Fall 2017) taught by Dr Raffaello Furlan at Qatar University, College
of Engineering, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP), for the Master in
Urban Planning and Design Programme (MUPD), was developed as part of two research
project schemes: QUST‑1‑CENG‑2019‑21 titled “Investigating the Urban-design
426 Key-principles for the Urban Regeneration of the Transit Villages along the Al Wakrah
Metro Corridor”, awarded and funded by Qatar University; UREP 22-005-5-003 titled
“The Urban Regeneration of Third Places in Contemporary Islamic Cities: Strategies for
Enhancing Livability of Commercial Streets in Doha (Qatar)”, awarded and funded from
Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF, a member of Qatar Foundation). The authors would
like to express their gratitude to the leading planners and architects of Qatar’s Government
Agencies and Ministries, namely, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME),
Qatar Rail, Qatar Museums Authority, Ashgal Public Works Authority and Qatar Rail for
their collaboration, for participating in the meetings, sharing visual data and cardinal
documents relevant to the research aims, and for discussing the results and conclusion of
this investigation. Finally, the authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments,
which contributed to an improvement of this paper. The authors are solely responsible for
the statements made herein.

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About the authors

Mahmoud Al Saeed has five years’ of experience working as Architect and as Green Building
Specialist, with three years served in the Gulf region and two in Jordan. He has a LEED GA
certificate, a CGP certificate and a UPDA certificate for practice as Architect and has been a Member of
GORD (the Gulf Organisation of Research and Development-QA1669 001858) since 2014. Currently, he
is undertaking a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning and Design at Qatar University.
Dr Raffaello Furlan holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from IUAV University in Venice (Italy), and
a PhD Degree in Architecture from Griffith University in Brisbane (Australia). He has held visiting and
permanent positions in Australia (University of Queensland and Griffith University in Brisbane), UAE
(Canadian University of Dubai) and Qatar (Qatar University). He has been teaching Art History, Transit-
History of Architecture, Project Management, Urban Design, Architecture Design and Interior Design. oriented
His areas of interest include vernacular architecture, architecture and urban sociology, project
management, art history. Member of the Board of Architects in Italy and Australia, he has 20 years’ of development
professional experience, split between design management, project management and supervision roles,
with some highly respected companies, six years of which were in Italy, ten years in Australia
and four years in the Middle East. Dr Raffaello Furlan is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
raffur@gmail.com 429

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