Abstract:
Waterfront areas have always been an important part of the urban settings
in providing public access to the waterfronts while there are also that cities
try to preserve for the best use and practice. Many cities have failed many
successful experiences in attempting to regenerate the seashores for public.
In Bahrain, the developments that have taken place in the past ten years
have affected the public access to the seas. A rapid growth has taken place
leading to a massive amount of reclaimed lands around the main island.
Unfortunately, these have separated the main cities, which used to be on
the shore from the direct contact of the sea. Bahrain being an island, the
citizens were fully dependent on the sea in their daily life for centuries. The
sea was the grace that god had blessed them with, therefore, most people
have spent their lives in the sea or adjacent to it. People of the island today
confess sadly that they forget that they are living on an island. Studies have
shown access for public to the water edge in Bahrainis no more than 8% of
the total islands' shoreline. Due to the rapid growth and infrastructure
development, the government intended to reclaim lands to meet people's
needs. Unfortunately, this has created more barriers and has enlarged the
gap between the cities and the water edge .Inevitably; People have got
disconnected from the sea.
The main intention of this paper is to view the practice of waterfront urban
development in Bahrain generally and particularly its effect on Hidd. This
paper examines the city of Hidd as the area of focus and as a practical
example to similar cases in Bahrain. The objectives of this paper are to
evaluate the effectiveness of regeneration of the waterfront in the area and
how to apply them to cater to people's needs . Moreover, the study will
develop an understanding of waterfront development, urban settlement and
growth in the context of Bahrain. The paper offers some solution to the
problem in order to create a better living environment that has a stronger
connection to the city and the waterfront at the same time.
Citation:
Hammadi, F.A.., (2016). Towards an urban renaissance in bahrain: regeneration of waterfronts in cities. In J. Wijesundara, & R. Dayaratne,(Eds.). Proceedings of the International Conference on Cities, People and Places ICCPP 2016. (pp. 40-53). Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa.