A Holistic Assessment of Education City in Doha

Qatar, while developing its vision for the future, decided to adopt the knowledge economy as the new pillar for its economy and development. The chapter focuses on examining the impact of the one of the main and iconic national mega project in the capital Doha, the project named Education City (EC). The chapter scrutinizes EC's contribution to a more resilient future for Qatar. The chapter assesses the relative roles of such an influential project in preparing or hindering Qatar's moving towards the post-carbon paradigm. The project is examined using multilayered criteria, which include achieving urban diversity, relevance to knowledge-based urban development, supporting the diversification of the local economy, and accommodating multicultural society. The chapter concludes that education city is the most crucial urban projects in Qatar geared towards sustaining the knowledge economy as it creates ripples of change, knowledge dissemination, and a culture of innovation and creativity within the city.

Knowledge-Based Urban Design in the Architectural Academic Field

This chapter focuses on the theory of knowledge-based urban design as a tool for intellectual literacy in architecture schools. It explores the extent of the current knowledge effects in the educational process by knowing the experience gained by the students during the current learning plans, as opposed to what the urban designer should know. The dilemma is what could happen if the experts in the relevant disciplines of urban design do not accept such a paradigm shift or even recognize that there is intellectual illiteracy in a particular discipline and closely relevant fields by discussing some features of intellectual illiteracy in the academe of some developing countries. These features could provide a ground for accepting this theory. Furthermore, the chapter helps to present what can reduce the alleged intellectual illiteracy. In conclusion, this chapter provides an experimental attempt to explore the relationship between illiteracy of thought and mental ability among professionals in the field of urban design to raise their intellectual and cognitive competence.

Creative Cities and Knowledge Capital

Many nations of the world are responding to the shift from development policies that rely on intensified labor and capital into alternative policies that build on the intensification of knowledge. The trend towards knowledge-based development has received increasing attention from academics and policy makers in the world. Innovative development paradigms of existing urban models (cities of knowledge, creative cities, and local circles of the knowledge society [precincts]) have opened up alternative prospects for development to the nations of the world. The Emirate of Dubai was among the Arab countries that absorbed this lesson and took the initiative of transforming its economy into a knowledge economy, building their development policies on the intensification of knowledge, embarked on the creation of the creative city and the formation of a knowledge capital, and stopping to understand this experience and explain its constraints; perhaps the research findings would support this effort.

The Knowledge Urbanity in Qatar

This chapter illustrates the alternative approach to knowledge-based urban development that Qatar adopted to cope with the challenges of the post-carbon paradigm and to construct a new identity as a knowledge-based model of development within the Middle East. Using the capital city, Doha, as the main case study, the chapter provides analysis of the city evolution from the discovery of oil until the contemporary stage where knowledge economy is envisioned as its future and the guiding principle for its urban and architectural projects. The analysis covers the city planning level and how future masterplan is geared towards KBUD and then some influential projects will be assessed. The chapter concludes with a holistic understanding of the case of Doha as a knowledge and creative city that succeeded to craft a new urban brand within the Gulf and Middle Eastern cities.

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Knowledge-Based Urban Development in Isfahan, Iran

We have witnessed vast economic, social, technological, and environmental changes that have influenced patterns of urbanization. Through all these years urban planning has also experienced major reforms. During last two decades, with emergence of knowledge economy, it is claimed that the nature of urban development has changed; this new notion of development is called knowledge-based urban development. As there is not clear methodology for directing cities development process, this chapter aims to formulate a conceptual model for cities leadership towards knowledge-based urban development. This chapter considers the city of Isfahan, Iran as a case study. Finally, a model is proposed according to literature review and using ANP method for analyzing the data gathered from the context. This conceptual model has also prioritized effective factors for KBUD.

The Comparative Importance of Urban and Architectural Potentials Supporting Knowledge Cities Formation and Their Relevant Indices

In 1996, the OECD coined the term knowledge city. This caused several developed countries to seek developing and adapting the features of their cities to be upgraded to knowledge-based economic cities. Hence, various experts worked on demonstrating and identifying the features of this concept. An objective of these cities was drawn: providing sound conditions for the enhancing, creation, and exchange of knowledge and innovation. The concept was found to be interdisciplinary: economic, political, social, as well as being urban and architectural. So, this chapter aims to observe the urban and architectural potentials of these cities, as well as their comparative importance. The comparative importance of these potentials is deduced through the study and analysis of some recognized KC models. Finally, a number of indices contributing to assessing the performance of such potentials are deduced.

Information and Communication Technology Spine for Knowledge-Based Development of Cities

The chapter presents the approach of effective utilization of information and communication technology as a competitive advantage for knowledge-based development of cities. Knowledge investment, creation, and diffusion are the essential nodes of the information and communication technology spine for developing knowledge-based cites. The features of knowledge-based city compared to the modern and developed city are introduced. This chapter identifies the primary conditions that promote knowledge-based development of cities. The associative relationships between knowledge-base and economical development of cities are addressed.

Kuwait Urban App

Through an investigation of social media and contemporary smart phone applications, the urban landscape of Kuwait is analyzed to propose a method for knowledge-based urban development (KBUD). Historically speaking, urban planning and design have been dominated by a formalized methodology that seeks to reinforce existing power structures. The promise of KBUD is a more balanced approach towards development, considering economic, social, environmental, and cultural factors. The chapter suggests an up-to-date method of research that consists of three overlapping stages, starting with collecting big data through cellphone software applications, followed by a set of interviews with several entities and ending with a method of behavioral mapping and space syntax. This cross-referenced research process encapsulates the multifaceted approach of KBUD that would produce a complex adaptive system and an underlying framework to help understand the non-linear interactions between the local populations in Kuwait.

Opportunities for and Constraints on the Transformation Into a Knowledge-Based Economy

As information and communication technologies (ICTs) change economic and social activities creating a new economic paradigm based on the production and processing of knowledge, all aspects of human life are being transformed, including cities people live in. All around the world, countries are trying to adopt this new paradigm referred to as a knowledge-based economy (KBE) and organize their cities to possess a more competitive position in this new context. Turkey is one of these countries wishing to build KBE. The chapter analyzes Turkish efforts in building KBE and organizing its cities in this respect. It emphasizes that Turkey once had an important advantage in building KBE due to its developed telecommunication industry that offered the material infrastructure of KBE but lost this technological capacity owing to the implementation of inappropriate strategies. Turkey also conceptualizes KBE in such a narrow sense that leads to the adoption of other wrong policies effecting the country's economy, society, and cities.

Egypt's Knowledge-Based Development

This chapter discusses both the dominant theoretical paradigms that appear within Egypt's ICT policies since the early nineteenth century along with the practical steps of implementation of those policies in reality that may/may not depict such theoretical paradigms. Following a qualitative approach (using SWOT analysis, FGDs, and in-depth interviews), this chapter compares between the mission, vision, and goals of different ICT policies and their application in reality within four cases of the Egyptian KPs, which are the City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications in Burg Al-Arab, Bibliotheca Alexandrina “BA”, Smart Village in Giza “SV”, and finally Information Technology Institute “ITI”. The main question is: What are the opportunities and challenges that Egypt faces in its endeavor to transform each of the national economy into a knowledge-based economy, the Egyptian citizens into knowledge citizens, the cities into knowledge cities, and the whole Egyptian society into a knowledge society?