Between regional recognition and global confusion

BAHRAIN

the country of a single city

Between regional recognition and global confusion

Bahrain: the country of a single city

According to Wikipedia and other resources in the internet, the kingdom of Bahrain consist of 10 large cities and they are listed as follows: Manama, Riffa, Muharaq, Hamad Town, A'ali, Isa Town, Sitra, Budaiya, Jidhafs, and Al-Malikiyah. Ten major cities make up the top urban developed areas in this small island. Which makes the reader wonder, how is it possible that a country as small as Bahrain contain ten major cities? Are those facts true? Or, are we just trying to over expose our self to the rest of the world? If you look deeply into the concept of cities, you would easily find that there is no actual global unified understanding of what a city is in the first place. Some scholars tried to define cities as big urban developments, while others argued that it doesnt matter how big the development is, as long as it obtains major activities and infrastructure to be classified as a city. The world is so confused in this regard. In the United States of America, a city is defined as an incorporated municipality that has a distinct boundary. In addition to that its also requires that a city have a legal power of its own, acknowledged by a charter which should be granted by the state. In the case of Europe, England in particular, cities historically were acknowledged because of the presence of a cathedral in that urban developed area. However, now a city in England is defined as a large town which qualifies to be awarded the status of a city by the crown, and not only by the parliament. Canadians have a different approach in determining whether a settlement or town have succeeded to be awarded the status of a city. It is the relatively large number of people listed to be living in that developed area. Population seems to be the number one factor considered before granting the status of a city to any town in Canada. Having said that is now clear that the provision of City status around the world differs from country to country and region to region. There is no cohesive definition of what a city is, and this contributes to the dailauma of Bahrain cities confusion. Bahrain is divided into five governorates and municipalities, which are the Capital, Central, Northern, Muharaq and Southern governorate. The only city identified by the ministry of municipalities officially within those five governorates is the city of the capital Manama. All other major urban developed areas are referred to as districts although, known as cities by the public in Bahrain and the rest of the countries in the region.

Is the capital Manama the only city in Bahrain?

Muharaq and Riffa are the second and third biggest urban developed districts in Bahrain, in terms of population and land area. However both cities are not as developed as the capital Manama. The planning authorities in Bahrain placed almost all Bahraini governmental institutions in the capital city. Therefore, privet sector companies, corporations and businesses chose Manama to host their headquarters as well, which means that greatest number of the population in Bahrain work in the capital city leaving all other districts of Bahrain as mainly residential and partially commercial with some entertainment and leisure developments. Isa town has its own circumstances as it encompasses two ministries and many educational institutions surrounding them, consequently a fair number of the population also head to Isa town every morning for work or studies. Although, internationally it has not been agreed upon the major essentials which are required for the provision of a city status to an urban development, however, most countries approve that generally cities have to obtain a developed infrastructure system by means of utilities, sanitation, transportation, land usage and housing, in addition to interactive relationships between the inhabitants of the city and businesses. Applying this rule to Bahrains urban established districts, one can easily tell that the only place in the country incorporating those components to the fullest is the capital Manama. All other districts of the top ten developed areas may qualify as towns, because although they do satisfy the first section of the internationally agreed upon structure of a city in regards of having a developed infrastructure system. However, they lack the second component, the availability of enough work opportunities for the inhabitants of the city in addition to some openings for people driving from close smaller towns adjacent to that city. From another corner, If only those issues were to be considered in the provision of a city status, the second town that qualifies to be a city in Bahrain would be Isa Town. In that sense it is also worth mentioning that a city must also have a historical significant and cultural background in addition to its size, population, infrastructure and business opportunities which doesnt seem to be the case in Isa town as much as it applies to Riffa and Muharaq.

To conclude, the confusion of commonly recognizing urban developed districts in Bahrain like Muharaq and Riffa as Cities should be clarified more and elaborated on from officials, urban planners and designers to ease the misconception. Those areas do not acquire all the fundamentals that make up a city. However, they are commonly called cities only because of their population and historical backgrounds. Furthermore, the confusion of giving Hamad town and Isa town the title of a city adds to this misperception as many might question the possibility of a place to be called a town and a city at the same time.

Bahrain is up until now, officially the country of a single City.

1. Capital Governorate 2. Central Governorate 3. Muharaq Governorate 4. Northern Governorate 5. Southern Governorate
Figure 1: Governorates of Bahrain
Source: Wikipedia

Written by: Fay Al Khalifa

Teaching and research assistant (TA) Department of Civil engineering and architecture University of Bahrain