Author(s)

MOHAMMED K. ALSULAIMAN

Abstract

Land policies have become prioritised in the political agenda in many nations in a way that ensures the sustainability of supply within urban boundaries. This is due to the negative implications of sprawling cities. While many studies regard undeveloped land as a development opportunity (whether for the present or the future), it can be argued that the existence of undeveloped land can, in dissimilar urban contexts with dissimilar situations, be a planning problem. The city of Riyadh is chosen as a case study to show how undeveloped land can be a planning problem. It was established that undeveloped land can be divided into three categories; undeveloped land that is located in the urban-rural fringe, currently undeveloped brownfield land (i.e. it has been previously developed) and undeveloped white land (i.e. virgin land). While the first two categories can be a development opportunity, the undeveloped white land can be a sign of a planning problem. It is vital to explain this as future studies should deal with the issue of undeveloped land differently (i.e. whether it is a development opportunity or a planning problem).

Keywords

undeveloped land, brownfield sites, white land, Riyadh