By Ayman Adly/Staff Reporter
More high-rise apartment buildings are urgently required across the country to address the housing demand of rapidly increasing population, the Central Municipal Council (CMC) has said.
Thousands of expatriate workers are arriving in the country every month and the population is set to touch the 3mn mark by the turn of the decade, from the current 2.34mn, it was pointed out at the CMC’s bi-weekly session yesterday.
“Plots of land in more areas in the country should be given to major real estate developers with government participation to build high rises that provide affordable housing units,” CMC member Hamad Lahdan al-Muhannadi said.
CMC vice-chairman Jassim al-Malki agreed there is a pressing need for reviewing the ban on high-rise apartment buildings in many residential areas in the country.
Construction of more high-rise residential apartment buildings will help reduce or eradicate the practice of partitioned villas, to accommodate a large number of residents or families at affordable rents, while often lacking the basic safety and security requirements and overloading the basic services and infrastructure such as water, electricity, sanitary drainage and parking lots.
Though the issue was raised earlier by the CMC and recommendations were issued addressing the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning (MMUP), in particular regarding allowing the building of three-storey buildings instead of two in some key area such as C-Ring Road and other areas, they were eventually rejected citing an overburdening of roads and services.
Examining the issue from another perspective, CMC member Dr Mohamed al-Mislimani said that land prices have reached record levels in even remote areas, with a sq ft commanding QR500-600, which calls for a need to review the land policy.
“With such prices, it is not reasonable to build only a two-storey residential villa on a multi-million riyal worth of land. The land with such a price should be utilised to yield its value. So, a study should be conducted to review our current strategies of urban development planning,” he suggested.
The CMC reiterated its demands for being involved in the designing of new roads and redesigning of the old ones. The council asked the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) to increase the lanes and tracks on the main roads and by-lanes, especially in new projects.
Ashghal should also give more attention to road maintenance and works to avoid the frequent digging operations, which disrupt traffic movement.
The CMC also issued recommendations to study the possibility of establishing public libraries at all major neighborhoods of the country, with special focus on children’s education materials and resources. A joint team of stakeholders, should study the issue further and devise a practical strategy to implement it, the council added.
