This webinar will present the results of two LSE Kuwait Programme research projects:
Urban Governance and Spatial Patterns in Kuwait: Exploring the Links Between the Physical and the Socioeconomic - Dhari Alrasheed and Nuno F. da Cruz
This project has a dual focus. Firstly, anchoring the analysis on strategic planning and spatial development in Kuwait, the project explores the social structures that underpin urban governance in the city. To chart the actors and connections that influence strategic planning decisions, we apply social network analysis methods to data collected through structured interviews with local stakeholders. Secondly, combining several data sources, our exploration also takes stock of spatial inequalities in Kuwait’s metropolitan area. This will help us paint of vivid picture of the spatial consequences of previous planning and governance regimes. We will present preliminary findings from these two research tracks and preview ongoing inquiries into how they converge interconnectedly to explain the current physical and socioeconomic landscape of Kuwait.
Can Smart Cities Solve the Housing Crisis? A Study on Korea-Kuwait Partnership for a New Smart City in Kuwait - Hyun Bang Shin and Do Young Oh
The unprecedented collaboration between South Korean and Kuwaiti governments to build a new smart city in Kuwait was expected to bring an innovative solution to the ongoing ‘housing crisis’ in Kuwait. However, since the official agreement for the new city was made in 2016, the two parties faced various challenges in implementing the project. Such challenges reveal diverse aspects of the housing crisis in Kuwait and raises questions about the potential impact of the new city to solve the housing crisis. In this regard, this project and presentation investigates the housing crisis in Kuwait from perspectives of state, land and society, followed by a discussion of limitations of importing and exporting urban development models.
Nuno F. da Cruz is Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at LSE Cities, London School of Economics and Political Science. His work on urban and metropolitan governance is multidisciplinary in nature and global in reach, engaging with a wide range of public policy issues. Nuno has previously worked in cooperation with various non-government and multilateral organisations such as UCLG, Metropolis, UN Habitat and Transparency International.
Dhari Alrasheed is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the College of Business Administration at Kuwait University. His research activity spans two fields. The first is urban economics, studying various issues related to housing, spatial inequality, transportation, and social capital. The second is applied econometrics, with interest in discrete choice modeling, Bayesian econometrics, and spatial econometrics. Dhari holds a PhD and MA in economics from the University of California, Irvine, as well as a MSc and BSc in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University.
Hyun Bang Shin is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (SEAC), and Professor of Geography and Urban Studies in the Department of Geography and Environment. Prof Shin’s research centres on the critical analysis of the political economy of urbanisation with particular attention to cities in Asian countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea and China.
Do Young Oh is Research Assistant Professor at the School of Graduate Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He was previously a Research Officer, based jointly at the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he finished his PhD in Regional and Urban Planning.
Courtney Freer is a Visiting Fellow with the LSE Middle East Centre, and Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously, Courtney was an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the Middle East Centre. Her work focuses on the domestic politics of the Gulf states, particularly the roles played by Islamism and tribalism. Her book Rentier Islamism: The Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gulf Monarchies, based on her DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford and published by Oxford University Press in 2018, examines the socio-political role played by Muslim Brotherhood groups in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Join the conversation on Twitter using #LSEMiddleEast
From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend checking back on this listing on the day of the event if you plan to attend.