Residential location in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia : a partial symbolic representation

Abstract EN

In the early decades of this century, the study of human ecology at the University of Chicago was influenced by the work of Darwin and the earlier plant and animal ecologists.

Robert Park of the University of Chicago applied methods and theories postulated by a number of plant and animal ecologists to a study of the urban phenomena.

The central reorganizing concept for both the fields was “competition”.

Competition in a city was interpreted as a struggle by individuals for advantageous locations in a geographic space.

The individual’s success was determined by land values and his ability to pay the rent.

Implicit in Park’s analysis is the idea that within a natural community, certain species are segregated from the others.

This segregation is the result of the process of natural selection.

The basis of this segregation process can be found by examining the groups that have dominance within a community, because the character of the dominant group determines the basic form of the entire community.

Most of the studies that analyze cities of the Islamic culture have highlighted the concept of cooperation.

These studies have established that the Islamic cities are built on the basis of “cooperation” not only with regard to geographic urban space, but also in consideration to all other economic and social aspects of urban life.

The Western influence on our local life style is increasing almost every day bringing considerable impact on the structure and content of residential areas.

This paper, therefore, attempts to examine the extent of Western influence on the content of two local residential areas in Jeddah.

In short, the paper attempts to determine what is shaping the content of the local communities.

Is it ‘competition’ or ‘cooperation’ ?.