SOCIETAL VALUES AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN SAUDI ARABIA: A RECENT ACCOUNT

Starting in the early 1970s, Saudi Arabia has experienced one of the most striking examples of rapid social change. The change came as a result of a sudden expansion in the national economy accelerated by rising oil revenues. Such change was far reaching and has touched all facets of daily life. The built environment was no exception. It has led to the hasty alteration of existing built environments - especially homes - and the introduction of new building types and urban fabrics which are new altogether. Change can be witnessed in various aspects of the environment ranging from the application of new materials and technology to the emergence of complex freeway networks, high rise office buildings, shopping malls, university campuses, sports facilities, booming cities, etc. This is in contrast to the traditional, small, walled, simple, adobe housed, quiet town of the recent past. The social change is manifested in, among others, new thrifty patterns of life, more education, independence of the single family, the adoption of new social classes, more exposure to the outer world, and an influx of foreign manpower serving both inside and outside the family house. Those changes have led to the development of new social values and norms by one of the most conservative societies in the world. This paper will attempt to illustrate and highlight those notable social changes and their role in producing a new set of environmental norms and artifacts using a conceptual model. The model will aid in explaining the link between the societal (intangible) values and architectural (tangible) artifacts. Evaluation of this end product (architectural artifact) reveals that changes have led to some improvement in the quality of life in terms of creature comfort, and yet a great deal of inadequacies in supporting social-cultural values has resulted.