Homes: No More Walls

Beautiful and organized residential neighborhoods are created by establishing close groups of houses, streets, and gardens, along with services shops, and facilities. These components are the urban harmony that inspires a warm and peaceful atmosphere in Saudi neighborhoods, this harmony plays an important role in highlighting the features of the urban culture in Saudi cities. In the past, social relations were stronger and based on discipline and respect, this contributed to making residential neighborhoods more than just houses inhabited by people; Rather, it is a large family or a close-knit community where comfort, calm, and security prevail.

Nowadays, this social form of residential neighborhoods began to diminish due to social and cultural developments that the world as a whole is going through, and of course, our local community is affected by it. The process of rapid urban development in the previous decades also led to an imbalance in the distribution of population in the cities and villages of Saudi Arabia, so that the majority of the population became concentrated in the main cities, where job opportunities and public services are provided. This has led to tremendous development in contemporary lifestyles and ways of living. The city of Riyadh, for example, has transformed from a small town of three hundred thousand inhabitants to a huge city that holds a quarter of the population of Saudi Arabia (about eight million people, according to the latest surveys of the General Authority for Statistics).

The modern designers/architects couldn’t come up with an effective way to enhance socializing between residents and the surrounding community, and this made our homes look like isolated castles guarded by high walls, which negatively affected the morale of the residents and the joyful atmosphere of neighborhoods. The streets seem deserted and vehicles are the only moving objects along an endless series of external walls! Therefore, one important question arises: Is the solution to this problem that the designers/architects include in their urban plans a social center within each neighborhood to be a meeting place for residents and a source of social activities? This may indeed be the solution, as such a community center would enhance the role of mosques, and suggest ideal locations for the shops, service buildings, and entertainment facilities, which would eventually encourage neighborhood residents of all groups and interests to socialize with each other in a warmer and closer way.

The Saudi Green Initiative, announced by His Highness, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is an essential supporter that enhances socializing and cooperation among members of the local community. The initiative aims to show the Kingdom's involvement in the new global approach, which is directed towards exerting more efforts to protect the environment, reduce pollution and increase green spaces. This can only be done through firm and strong communication between members of society with the support of government agencies, led by King Salman and His Highness the Crown Prince.

The Saudi Green Initiative doesn’t only aim to raise the quality of life and protect future generations of Saudi Arabia but also inspires designers/architects with many real estate development ideas to enhance the local culture through optimal planning of homes and residential neighborhoods. One of these ideas is to encourage homeowners to replace walls with cheerful green fences made of trees and other green plants. The British newspaper “The Independent” has highlighted this change in the thinking patterns of Saudi youth, which seems more open and flexible compared to previous generations. The major Saudi government institutions decided to set an example for citizens in this regard, as they began removing their concrete walls and opening their green courtyards to the public. From now on, Saudi Green Initiative will lead the environmental era in Saudi Arabia.