Towards an urban renaissance in bahrain: regeneration of waterfronts in cities

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.