Abstract
Urban and regional planning as a field of study is aimed at increasing the welfare of a nation. There are two important reasons why Arab countries should strengthen their urban and regional planning activities. First, they are urbanizing, not only more rapidly than the industrial nations, but also more rapidly than the industrial nations did at the height of their urban growth. Second, almost all Arab countries are investing in urban and regional infrastructures; even though a sustained flow of professional expertise is essential to the very success of development planning. The ultimate success will be achieved when Arab planners are educated in their home environment which has been tailored to meet the demands of their socio-economic, cultural, and political realities. It was the purpose of this dissertation to expose the urgent need for sound comprehensive planning education in the Arab world, which in Arab universities is still virtually unknown. In fact, not a single Arab university today offers a planning education program to cope with the many problems which Arab cities encounter. The Arab world, which consists of approximately 150 million people and an area of approximately 9 million square miles, extending from the Arabian Gulf to North Africa along the Mediterranean, needs more than the short range solutions offered by international consultants, who are justifiably limited in their knowledge of the social, economical, and political dilemmas in which Arab people live. The time is more than critical. The Arab academic world must bear the responsibility of producing native planners in quality and quantity, and to generate a sound educational program relevant to its own realities. ...
Al-Naqeeb, Reyadh Jalaludeen (1973). A proposed planning education program for the University of Kuwait; adaptive to other Arab nations. Doctoral dissertation, Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -181561.