QScience Connect - Volume 2017, Issue 1, Special Issue on Shaping Qatar’s Sustainable Built Environment-Part I

The state of Qatar and its capital Doha are undeniably in a state of profound change. In this current phase of rapid development, neighborhoods, and especially their public realms, have often been neglected due to the prioritization of creating notable architectural objects that support national development plans. Without conscious and sensitive attention toward developing these spaces, it is difficult to encourage communal relations and practices at the point of residence.

Built environment practitioners face unique challenges when planning Doha. Qatar's population has dramatically increased in both numbers and diversity, resulting in resident communities that hold different expectations of and needs from the city. Moreover, traditional living is not commonly associated with urban communities; a lingering question remains regarding how the built environment can preserve tradition and identity.

Planning approaches in Doha have oscillated between rational comprehensive planning and entrepreneurial and management planning and, as a result, have overlooked the micro-scale of the neighborhood. Recent developments in policy approaches to urban planning, including the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the Qatar National Master Plan, include potentials and constraints to address the public realm in neighborhoods. Building on these policy foundations, that focus on the scale of the neighborhood and support local mechanisms for community participation, two entry tactics are developed as actions to be taken by governmental authorities: establish an urban forum at the neighborhood scale and launch a public awareness campaign.

The consumption of electricity in residential buildings in Qatar is on the rise. According to Kahramaa (Qatar General Electricity and Water Company), the factors leading to this increased demand include urbanization and growth of population.¹ Government institutions in Qatar want solar power to be the country's key energy source and have built up large photovoltaic (PV) systems for this purpose. These large PV power plants contribute to a certain proportion of the country's electrical energy supply. This also ensures reasonable utilization of free and usually unprofitable areas, for example on large utility buildings.

Small and middle-sized PV systems integrated into private buildings could fulfill more functions. These PV systems could also produce a significant proportion of electrical energy for places where electricity is consumed and could also provide the citizens of Qatar the opportunity to participate in the renewable energy age.

This article presents a comprehensive strategy for the integration of solar energy into the private residential buildings area. The strategy describes the provision of adapted PV systems suitable for Middle East's climatic conditions and Arabic architecture, and provides advice regarding how to deal with the climatic hurdles. The main focus of this compilation paper is to figure out how to overcome the economical handicap of minimal electricity price. With the help of Smart building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems, owners of private residential houses could participate in the production of renewable energy, thereby improving their social prestige. These Smart BIPV systems possess the ability to visualize the entire energy flow in the connected buildings, making the residents aware of their energy demands, in addition to providing tools to replace conventionally produced energy by self-produced solar energy as far as possible. Furthermore, the integrated house management system can control individual room functions to improve the living comfort of the residents in a way that matches their lifestyle.

Historically, the peoples of Arabia have had a strong affinity with and respect for nature, recognising that their life depended on a mutually supportive relationship. The intertwined connections between people and nature included a reverence for camels that provide a dependable mode of transport across the harsh desert landscape; a deep affection for the majestic falcons that soared high above vast sand dunes in search of prey and a great pride in the saluki dog breed as a loyal and skilful hunting companion. Through the generations, nomadic and static tribes in the Gulf have learned to coexist with their hostile desert environment, following nature's path to water and fertile plains. And, while this bond endures, with the advent of oil wealth, which has brought with it unprecedented rates of development, it is a connection that at best is under strain and at worst on a catastrophic path as much desired rapid development brings with it demands on the environment and incursions into the landscape as never before: dredging, which destroys sea grass plains and their associated wildlife; agriculture, which requires ever more water, thereby depleting natural aquifers and necessitating higher levels of energy-consuming desalination and skyscraper cities, which demand increasing amounts of electricity for lighting, air-conditioning and residential comfort. Furthermore, an ever-growing mound of waste generated by a swelling population and increased consumerism do not seem favourable for the GCC region.

What will it take to restore the human–environment balance? What needs to be retrofitted? Is it simply a matter of technical fixes, add-ons or replacements? Or is a more fundamental change needed? Do we need to retrofit mindsets, both individual and organisational, with a new set of overarching socially and environmentally driven principles that will allow Qatar to continue along its developmental path while enhancing its historical ties with the environment? In short, is it possible to design or retrofit our way towards a sustainable Qatar?

It is argued in this paper that not only technological solutions and retrofits but also an associated change in mindsets and behaviours at all levels and in all communities will solve the waste management problems faced by Qatar. Drawing on examples from individual, organisational and community-driven initiatives in solid waste management in Qatar and a survey or attitudes towards waste, in this paper, we illustrate the complexity of the task ahead, the obstacles faced and the need for a “retrofit” of mindsets and behavioural change in order to achieve a transformation in solid waste management in Qatar.