Abstract
The impact left by Covid-19 is certainly a game changer in the process of shaping cities all around the world. In a relatively short span of time, people across the globe are forced to embrace many new, demanding, recently unprecedented norms. Social distancing and the unease of shared surfaces/facilities are just some of the new norms that will have to be seriously considered by every planner and every urban designer going forward. In the same token, this pandemic is a catalyst for Qatar to identify the new challenges ahead and, subsequently, to find the most effective and practical processes of preparing Qatari cities to cope with the new norms. Prior to this pandemic, Qatar has already demonstrated its commitment to leading sustainable and livable places in the Gulf, through careful preparation, sound planning and the designing of various frameworks and tools. One of the key tools facilitating the implementation of good planning and designing practices is the preparation of the Qatar Urban Design Compendium (QUDC), and it is followed by the preparation of the more workable Regulations that directly deal with the physical forms as the final outcomes of any development. The QUDC is meant to be the national consensus on good urban design practice for the country, to guide fundamentals implementation that paving the way for healthier, more sustainable and livable places. It is one of the recommended built-environment policies by the Qatar National Development Framework (QNDF) to realise the set visions. Whilst the QUDC has a role as a national guidance in the advisory level, there is subsequently a need for regulatory tools to ensure the manifestation of best development practice on the ground. This role is laid on the Development Regulations to assist and direct the developments. The main challenge within the current planning and regulatory framework in Qatar has been the format that is lacking to directly assist the three-dimensional physical forms. Witnessing the current rapid physical development, it is apparent that there is a need for more ‘tools’ to practically safeguard the physical developments of the country into the three-dimensional city-making principles, which is associated within the domain of urban design. With the current challenges where cities have to be the frontier places to combat the pandemic, Qatar has to set contingency strategies to promptly identify the new challenges as consequences from the current situation; to ensure all the fundamentals by the QUDC are well-incorporated in the Development Regulations along with adding some new development strategies to cope with new norms; to streamline the development processes through creative mechanism of implementations and initiations that encourage wider development players' contribution. The paper comprises of two sections. The first section will elaborate the new challenges that we are facing now and the new parameters that should be adopted, and the analyses of urban design aspects or values addressed in the QUDC that needs to be revisited or modified. It will comprehensively look at to all the spectrums in QUDC. More over, the section will also address on how these new parameters and strategies will be incorporated in the formulation of the Development Regulations at all levels. The second section will address the development strategies to ensure all the key fundamental agendas for achieving healthier, more sustainable and livable cities are workable and able to be accelerated in the implementation stage. This will explore realistic development processes and initiatives to ensure the delivery of envisioned cities in Qatar in a relatively short period of time, in coping with the current pandemic that is predicted to last for some time.
