Essay on Infrastructure in Doha, Qatar

Doha, the capital city of Qatar, is the states largest city, its administrative hub and the economic center of the nation. More than eighty percent of Qatars population resides in Dohas suburbs and its core center. It lies on the Eastern Coast of Qatar midway between the southern and northern borders of the state. The city of Doha or Ah Doha as commonly known in Qatar refers to its circular shape which is also a reflection of the bay that is to the east of the city. It is home to more than seventy thousand citizens on a total area of 11,427 square kilometers Doha is a house for 744,029 citizens who reside in a total area of 11, 427 km squared (Shaaban 242).

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Doha is currently experiencing significant improvements due to the different strategies and projects put in place to develop and transform Doha and the whole of Qatar into the hub city that is within networks that are international. The various liberalization plans combined with the increase in investments do not only affect urban governance and its decentralization but also leads to radical transformations to the built environment and urban structure of the city of Doha. Beginning from the middle of the twentieth century the increase in the production of oil was the reason behind the rapid rates of urbanization in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar being part of the Peninsula experienced rapid transformation in various aspects of its infrastructure which resulted in massive immigration. It means therefore that the population of Doha increased from just four hundred thousand people in 1995 to a population of more than two million inhabitants today Khalil states thatDohas remarkable population growth promoted urban development and infrastructure and others, (Khalil 678).

The city has projects for large-scale transport infrastructure construction in progress which aims at decreasing the strain on its existing infrastructure. There is the allowance of international private sector involvement in the main projects in the city due to the various international companies that operate within Qatar. The non-oil sector in the country is developing rapidly giving an opportunity to development in infrastructure. The 2022 FIFA world cup the country will hold presents an opportunity for various contracts in the infrastructure and construction sectors. The city of Doha only has one dominant mode of overland transportation which is roads. Due to the increase in population, much of the infrastructure in transport is almost at maximum capacity. There is also a strain on power generating infrastructure in the city. The government has various infrastructure projects in the pipeline for the Doha including investments in roads at an estimation of twenty billion dollars, investment in railways at an estimated twenty-five billion US dollar and fifteen billion dollars on a new airport. There is also one billion dollars aimed at the corridor project, four billion dollars in stadiums and eight billion dollars on a deepwater seaport.

Based on a fortunate geopolitical location between Asia, Europe, and Africa, Qatars leadership recognized a potential to develop its capital city into a hub within regional and global business networks by investing in extensive state-of-the-art harbors and airports, (Salama 162). A high population of people in Qatar lives in Doha which means that the development of its infrastructure and many other sectors of the city are the attraction tools behind the influx of individuals. The country is also expected to host the FIFA 2022 world cup and some of the developments taking place in its infrastructure are towards the event. The mega developments in infrastructure are those that the city and country require for hosting the major event. There are projects in airports, railways, roads, and metro will impact the city in a big way Currently mega development projects, roads, and metro, that are expected to affect the city in an unprecedented way(Mahgoub 409). There is also the development of ways that will reduce car dependency and thereby provide lanes for cycling and walkways for pedestrians. There is also the issue of underground metro stations that will make access to the city easy. These projects are a plan by the government to improve the city not only in preparation for the 2022 FIFA world cup but even after that.

The development taking place in the infrastructure sector gets it drive from the public expenditure. The reserves and surpluses in budget allow the city and the government to finance many of the projects directly rather than seeking partnerships with the private sector. The Central Tenders Committee of 2005 whose principal role is to take care of all government projects, and request from various organizations in the city is in charge of awarding the various tenders. Other bodies participating in these major developments include Ashghal, the countrys Public Works Authority, which has the function of designing managing and delivering public amenities, infrastructures and other similar authorities in the state including those taking place in Doha. Drainage systems, public buildings, health centers, roads, highways, drainage systems and hospitals still fall under the jurisdiction of Ashghal. There is an estimation of the government spending up to two hundred billion dollars to develop the megaprojects.

At the moment work is ongoing on the Doha festival city project estimated at 1.37 billion dollars. Lusail City, the festival city, covers a total area of thirty-five kilometers and has a housing capacity of two-hundred thousand residents, eighty thousand visitors and a total of one hundred and seventy thousand workers. The Hamad Medical City whose completion is in 2018 is said to become the biggest hospital complex globally. There is also construction in transportation with the Doha metro costing up to twenty billion US dollars. The government, therefore, came up with a budget of up to sixty-two billion dollars for the 2014-2015 fiscal year which indicated a 3.5% increase in the budget it had the previous year. The Emir passed the initial budget with three major projects covered including transport and infrastructure, public health system and the education system.

The budget, effective from the first of April 2014, allocated a total of 54% share to infrastructure and transportation, and education. Twenty-four billion US dollars went towards major infrastructure projects which are currently ongoing. It represented a 16.8% increase in the share due to building stadiums for the 2022 FIFA world cup. The plan includes the construction of one of the stadiums in the city of Doha. There is the development of the New Doha Port as well as various road and metro projects. There is also expansion in the water, electricity and sewerage sectors to take care of the growing population in the city.

As mentioned earlier Ashghal is in charge of designing and overseeing construction of aspects of Dohas infrastructure. Its key programs in the city include the expressway, inner-Doha re-sewerage implementation and the local roads and drainage. The expressway is for creating transportation connections within Doha and links with other places in the country. It involves freeways and aerial urban routes across the city and other towns across the country The program is a nationwide road infrastructure scheme that will improve the way people and places connect across Doha and wider Qatar (Kilani 9). Construction on these projects commenced in 2012 and the phase involved the completion of ten such projects which are expected to run up to the year 2017.

There is also the local roads and drainage program which include the development drainage systems and local roads across Doha North, Doha West and Doha South areas. Parson Brinckerhoff is the project's chief consultant and will ensure that the project is of international standards. The projects are in place since the year 2014 and were a five to seven-year plan. The estimated cost for this project is fifty billion Qatari Rial and various consultants and in charge of the three Doha regions. For the west of Doha there is Atkins, for the North Hyder is in charge and Parsons to the south.

There is also IDRIS or the implementation strategy for the Inner Doha Re-sewerage. The approach provides essential infrastructure in drainage for the southern part of Doha. It provides a long-term water treatment solution for Doha and other areas within the country. It is in place since the year 2012 and is expected to run till 2019. The New Doha South treatment plan is already in place and works with a capacity of five hundred thousand liters of water per day. The project is an estimation of ten billion QR.

The Hamad International Airport officially opened in 2014 in the city of Doha. It was among the mega projects by the government. The airport has a passenger terminal which can handle up to fifty million passengers every year After the completion of its last phase in2020, it will have reached an expected annual capacity of around 50 million passengers (Tok 8). It also has seven hundred and fifty tones-per-year terminal for cargos and a free trade zone. The airport also contains a business park. There is also the New Doha Port located to the south of the city with a capacity of accommodating six million twenty-foot units. There is also the Doha Bay Crossing a five billion dollar crossing project in Doha known as the Sharq Crossing Sharq Crossing is one of the essential steps towards Qatars ambitious development plans for the 2022 FIFA World Cup run-up, (Shaaban 244). The project involves the navigation of Doha bay and comprises of bridge sections that interconnect through a tube tunnel that is immersed and creates new passageways beneath Doha Bays waters.

It also involves the Qatar Rail and Metro project which seems like the worlds biggest civil engineering that commenced in 2013. Four contacts are multi-billion and were awarded in 2013. These contracts work on designing and construction of stations and tunnels that make up the initial phase of the Doha metro. There is an initial one hundred and thirty kilometers of railway of which ninety-nine kilometers are underground. The Doha Metro involves and eighty-five-kilometer rail network in the nation. It has various components including a high-speed link, an east coast link, a light rail system and a freight link. The Lusail real estate project is also among infrastructure projects in the north f Doha which covers up to thirty-five square kilometers. The projects employ the services of various international and local companies and consultancy firms. Different sectors of the government are however in charge of handing out the various contracts and overseeing their completion. Locals also take part in these projects with hundreds from Qatar residence getting employed through the mega infrastructure development plan.

In conclusion, Doha is on its way to becoming an internationally connected city with networks with other places around the world. The government of Qatar is investing in Doha to ensure that events that take place in the future are for the benefit of the nation. It is a wise investment Qatar is making in the city of Doha because the government already has estimates of the revenue expected from these investments. They also open up Doha and connect it to the rest of Qatar which means that the economy gets an opportunity to grow. The city is not only investing for the FIFA world cup of 2022 but also for the growth and development of the city and the state afterward.

Works cited

Khalil, Rania F., and Khaled Shaaban. Rebuilding old downtowns: the case of Doha, Qatar. na, 2012. 677-686

KILANI, Mounif. "Building and Construction Sector in Qatar." (2014). 1-26

Mahgoub, Yasser. "Project based learning for urban design education: Resilient ci...