RESEARCH ARTICLE

Planning urban megaprojects in the Gulf: The international consultancy firms in urban planning between global and contingent

  • Oula Aoun ,
  • Jacques Teller
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  • ARGENCO, UniversitédeLiège,Liège4000,Belgium

Received date: 22 Jun 2015

Accepted date: 10 Jan 2016

Published date: 20 Jun 2016

Copyright

2016 2016 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract

Driven by globalization and market openings, many architecture and engineering firms have become global. By focusing on the urban megaprojects in the Gulf, a particular cultural and political context, this paper argues that such firms have a major role in the rapid urban transformation of Gulf countries and act as transfer agents of an international knowledge in the urban planning domain. However, the transfer is adapted by several context-related char-acteristics, such as local governance, urban knowledge, and regulatory framework. This paper explores the procedural adaptation of these firms to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in terms of internal structure, methodology, adopted tools, and interaction with the context. The level of learning that results from this transfer is also investigated.

Cite this article

Oula Aoun , Jacques Teller . Planning urban megaprojects in the Gulf: The international consultancy firms in urban planning between global and contingent[J]. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2016 , 5(2) : 254 -264 . DOI: 10.1016/j.foar.2016.01.003

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