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Regional Development Planning and Urban Observatory
Madinah Region Municipality
Saudi Arabia

The Problem

We used to manage and direct development in the Region depending on personal expertise and subjective tendencies of Directors at different Government Departments in the Region. Afterwards, each Government Department prepared its own development plans and programs with no coordination with its different branches which led to dispersed efforts in the development works.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Using an objective methodology combined with a set of impersonal standards in decision-making instead of depending on personal opinions, is regarded as one of the most important objectives achieved by Regional Development Department and Urban Observatory in the Region. In addition, putting a range of tangible indicators for the previously defined objectives has made it more easy for the Regional Planning to continue its work. This has also helped re-arrange priorities on a periodic basis so that plans and programs can keep up with spatial and time-based changes that may arise in the region. As for the Urban Observatory, its primary benefit appears in supporting decision-makers to effectively manage and monitor development in Madinah. This has been achieved after decision-makers have managed to evaluate performance of Government services in accordance with a set of international and local standards and indicators. Consequently, this resulted in changing the way of following up, reviewing and redirecting the Government departments in Madinah especially after adopting a culture of unified and tangible objectives.
Taking for granted the importance of planning and following up on the regional level, Madinah Municipality has been performing a pioneering step in GIS technologies after innovating an outstanding Geographic system covering the 5 main parts under the regional map to contain details of Madinah districts where such data and spatial entries will be available for decision-makers to support development tendencies regarding spatial decisions in the region.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Innovating a new style of managing and directing development in the region was supposed upon an instruction of Governor of Madinah Region. Consequently, Madinah Municipality prepared the executive proposal relating to the project of preparing Regional Planning in Madinah to be then executed in partnership with the Council of the Region. Madinah Municipality has also cooperated with the Council of the Region to prepare the project of Urban Observatory in Madinah to follow up, monitor and evaluate the outputs of the Regional Planning in the Region

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main objective behind the Regional Planning was to provide a long-term evaluation of regional development in Madinah by 1450H in terms of present potentials and existing determinants of development. It also aimed at supporting correlations among urban communities in addition to building a combination of data-bases to support decision-making.
Significant strategies applied by the said Regional planning appeared in a Comprehensive Development Strategy on both urban and rural levels. This also included a focus on controlling immigration from countryside to towns, emphasizing the effectiveness of utilizing potentials availed in the Region, pointing out the vital role of religious and service sector activities in Madinah, and disseminating constructional development throughout suburban and small towns subordinate to big cities in the Region

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The first step was to prepare the Regional Planning in the Region in 1998, then an executive plan was adopted to activate plans and programs supposed by the Regional Planning in the year 2000. Efforts were then directed to follow up the real activation of the Regional Planning since 2002 up till now. In 2004, the Urban Observatory of Madinah was established to follow up and evaluate development journey in Madinah on a periodical basis.

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Neither was there a harmony in planning notions, nor was there a unified vision in defining issues of common interest. As a result, there were more objections against preparing a comprehensive Regional Planning that comprehends all sectors in one scope. Such objections resulted from a personal fear that specializations and competencies may be confusingly overlapped. This necessitated as a first step notions to be unified in addition to disseminating culture of regional culture among all partners. At that time, all sectors and departments did not have the qualified labor to prepare and effectively manage each sector’s planning in accordance with the Regional Planning. This pointed out the dire need to have all Agencies linked with one another through knowledge data base at the Regional Development Department to provide mutual communications among users and the Department. This last point has been effectively effected thanks to the tremendously great advancements in IT and communications technologies where web-enabled communications are now made through Internet.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The following Resources have been allocated to the Initiative:
1) Financial Resources: the Financial Resources provided by Ministry of Finance within the Municipality’s Budget were utilized. Cost of the project reached about SR 6 Million including field surveys and preparing sketches for studies which were followed up in reference to execution.
2) Technological and Technical Resources: 42 Government Departments were connected by an elongated end provided by the Municipality to help those Departments to enter and collect their own data. Such an experience was then developed where a data base of the Planning was disseminated on Internet using the same mechanism.
3) Human Resources: work-teams were formulated with participation of Government Departments (300 individuals) to review and update data of Government Departments every 6 months. Such data were then simultaneously available to reflect existing status so as to help make decisions in terms of available facts and information.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Such an experience can be duplicated at other Agencies where Urban Observatories were established at Municipalities. Not only have Municipalities in other Regions all over the Kingdom utilized the experience of Madinah Municipality, but the experience was moved to be applied in other states in Gulf and Arab countries as well. All those who benefited the experience confirmed that they utilized it in establishing Urban Observatory and the Service of Regional Planning.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Benefits of the Experience:
First: First benefit of this project is the importance of Regional Planning and Strategy of Managing Development in regions similar to Madinah which contains a vast area and a variety of urban communities and housing different styles including countryside and towns.
Second: the Importance of local administrative support appearing in political leadership in the Region which ensures commitment of all partners to have effective cooperation in planning process and to avoid the personal way of decision-making.
Third: the Importance of Government and Community participation in the planning and development works in the Region including the role of the Private Sector. This helps to disseminate knowledge culture where all partners will accept the general framework with which they work instead of being imposed upon them.
Fourth: the Importance of transferring outputs of any regional or strategic plan into clear and measurable objectives to be really achieved.
Fifth: the importance of periodically following up and evaluating work using a set of measurable indicators that express the real status of development in the Region in different fields where the Urban Observatory has the vital role in availing such an important mechanism to support decision-making process.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Madinah Region Municipality
Institution Type:   Government Agency  
Contact Person:   ENG.HATEM OMAR TAHA
Title:   G.M OF Regional development  
Telephone/ Fax:   966505317872
Institution's / Project's Website:   96648222498
E-mail:   tahaho@amana-md.gov.sa  
Address:  
Postal Code:  
City:   AL-MADINA AL-MUNAWWARA
State/Province:  
Country:   Saudi Arabia

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