The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Regional development planning in Saudi Arabia: an evaluation of public service provision in Asir region

Regional development planning in Saudi Arabia: an evaluation of public service provision in Asir region
Regional development planning in Saudi Arabia: an evaluation of public service provision in Asir region

Since the early 1970s, Saudi Arabia has made considerable progress in developing the physical and socio-economic infrastructure of the Kingdom. The provision of public services has been expanded rapidly. However, with a strongly centralized planning system the regional dimension in planning has been insufficiently considered. Regional and rural-urban imbalances have increased. Rural areas have benefitted far less from economic development or the provision of basic services. 

This study examines and evaluates public service provision within the context of regional development problems in Asir Province, one of the lagging regions in Saudi Arabia. It focusses mainly on three areas of public provision: education, health and municipal facilities. It looks at the progress and problems of the provision of those services at the regional scale (Asir Province), and the subregional scale (Sarat Abidah Subregion). Asir is a well settled area of predominantly village population, as is the subregion which was selected for more detailed study on the basis of extensive field studies and questionnaire surveys. 

The study shows that the provision of educational and health facilities, which have undergone vast expansion in recent years, still leaves many communities with inadequate access to those services, particularly in the more nomadic areas. Municipal facilities appear to have been less successful in reaching out to rural areas. 

On the basis of detailed analysis of services and their use in the subregion the study attempts to provide a development approach based on the elaboration of a hierarchy of central places to guide the future provision of public services and facilities. The same approach might be adopted elsewhere in Saudi Arabia. The study also points out some broader lessons learnt from the study which may help improve public service development in Saudi Arabia.

University of Southampton
Al-Kahtani, Mohammed Mofareh
50f09024-116f-4419-a53a-ee9f70d87eff
Al-Kahtani, Mohammed Mofareh
50f09024-116f-4419-a53a-ee9f70d87eff
Birch, B.P.
ba000796-76be-4714-9909-0f6dbfa32f47

Al-Kahtani, Mohammed Mofareh (1988) Regional development planning in Saudi Arabia: an evaluation of public service provision in Asir region. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 633pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, Saudi Arabia has made considerable progress in developing the physical and socio-economic infrastructure of the Kingdom. The provision of public services has been expanded rapidly. However, with a strongly centralized planning system the regional dimension in planning has been insufficiently considered. Regional and rural-urban imbalances have increased. Rural areas have benefitted far less from economic development or the provision of basic services. 

This study examines and evaluates public service provision within the context of regional development problems in Asir Province, one of the lagging regions in Saudi Arabia. It focusses mainly on three areas of public provision: education, health and municipal facilities. It looks at the progress and problems of the provision of those services at the regional scale (Asir Province), and the subregional scale (Sarat Abidah Subregion). Asir is a well settled area of predominantly village population, as is the subregion which was selected for more detailed study on the basis of extensive field studies and questionnaire surveys. 

The study shows that the provision of educational and health facilities, which have undergone vast expansion in recent years, still leaves many communities with inadequate access to those services, particularly in the more nomadic areas. Municipal facilities appear to have been less successful in reaching out to rural areas. 

On the basis of detailed analysis of services and their use in the subregion the study attempts to provide a development approach based on the elaboration of a hierarchy of central places to guide the future provision of public services and facilities. The same approach might be adopted elsewhere in Saudi Arabia. The study also points out some broader lessons learnt from the study which may help improve public service development in Saudi Arabia.

Text
Al-Kahtani 1988 Thesis - Version of Record
Available under License University of Southampton Thesis Licence.
Download (68MB)

More information

Published date: 1988

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 460927
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/460927
PURE UUID: 32906c6f-3b35-41dd-97af-67f91d76e9d6

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Jul 2022 18:32
Last modified: 03 Jun 2024 17:27

Export record

Contributors

Author: Mohammed Mofareh Al-Kahtani
Thesis advisor: B.P. Birch

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×