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Rapid Pace of Urban development in Qatar

By Rania Shafik

Introduction

The state of Qatar is witnessing a boom in economy and industry, characterized by a major drive

towards development of infrastructure services and execution of several projects at the levels of

private and public sector. The country is becoming a casebook study of how an emerging market

can speed up its economic growth and social development. The main goal for such rapid

development is for the city of Doha to be recognized as a global city fulfilling their vision of

Doha the city of knowledge and creation. As part of this vision, Qatar will be hosting the

World Fifa Cup event taking place in Doha in 2022. As a result, many construction projects are

and will be constructed for this mega event.

Qatar is a home to large expatriate community and has a population of 1.68 million, more than

80% of whom are made up of 100 different nationalities who take part in various development

projects in various sectors of Qatari economy. The actual population of the Qataris is 300,000

people which mean that 1.38 million expatriates in Qatar work for them. Qatar also has the

highest ratio of migrants to citizens in the world. There are an estimated 1.2 million migrant

workers living in the country. Many of them work in the construction sector, and many more will

be needed to build the stadiums and other infrastructure required for the 2022 football World

Cup.

The paper will discuss the poor living conditions of the migrant workers in Qatar versus the huge

developments taking place in the country. This raises the issue of Socio-spatial inequalities and

urban vulnerability of these migrant workers which the paper will focus on.

Evolution of Doha

Doha passed through four major stages through its history. First are the pre-oil period, then the

oil discovery, Post oil period and currently the future aspiration stage.

In the Pre-oil period, the city of Doha was called Al Bedaa and it is located on the east of Qatar.

According to Bourennane and Jaidah, it consisted of nine districts. The two families who ruled

the country were Al Furqan. Al Thani. They chose the center of Doha to build their palaces and

mosques.1 Doha was a simple traditional settlement or a fisherman village. Most of the buildings

in Qatar were located along the shoreline for the three main activities that the whole Qatari

economy relied on which are Fishing, Pearling and trading. The most important one is Pealing.

There are four main Urban Centers in Qatar which are Doha, Wakrah, Al Khor and Umm Salal

Muhammad. These centers grew so quickly due to their locations on the coast line.

The second stage was in the late thirties when the Oil and Gas were discovered in Qatar and this

was the major change for the country. This period witnessed the process of modernization where

owning a car was a dream for Qataris imitating the American Model. During this phase there was

total rejection of any tradition or culture by the people. In the same time there was also a sense of

pride among the community when the first oil commercial ship left Qatar in 1947. In the fifties,

the city of Doha witnessed a fast development as the economy increased significantly and the

social standard of people changed due to the availability of financial resources.

The post oil stage started in the eighties when it was realized that the city of Doha was flat and

will not be able to compete with other cities in the global world. Then it was the emergence of

architecture and urbanism where skyscrapers were constructed along the shoreline following the

1 Bourennane, Malika; Jaidah, Ibrahim; The History of Qatari Architecture : 1800- 1950; p.25

Dubai model. The skyline of city changed from sailboats, three floor white stone buildings and

the sea into huge, massive, curtain walled skyscrapers. The image of the city began to be

recognizable and the vision of Qatar started to be clear. Qatar investments started extending to

many countries and the dream to win the FIFA World cup was established. Hosting such a mega

event for Qatar in 2022 is very important as it helps in achieving their goal of building a city and

establishing an image. Currently Doha is passing through the fourth stage Future aspirations

where Doha is further extending its investments and developments to become the center of

creation and knowledge in the Middle East. This is confirmed when Sheikha Moza mentioned, I

firmly believe that the optimal investment of our resources should not turn us into consumers of

knowledge. It should rather encourage us as well to produce knowledge.

Now Qatar is being recognized as a global city and this recognition is crowned by the event of

FIFA World cup. The paper will briefly discuss the ongoing development in Qatar and whether it

influences the huge population of migrant workers.

Qatar Development

After Qatar won the bid for the FIFA World Cup in 2022 as the first Arab country to host this

mega event, lots of projects and constructions are expected to be going. Over the next decade the

country will undertake massive new construction to support the quadrennial world championship

soccer games: its winning bid included commitments to build nine state-of-the-art stadiums

equipped with cooling technology to beat temperatures that reach an average high of 40 degrees

Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer months. Some of the developments include

a new airport with a sail-shaped terminal, public transport infrastructure, $20 billion worth of

new roads, a bridge to neighboring Bahrain (the longest in the world), 54 team camps, and sleek

new hotels for spectators.2

Qatar also has a Transport Master Plan adopted in 2006 to improve the countrys transport

infrastructure. A key feature of the plan is the introduction of extensive and integrated passenger

metro/ rail system which would cover the country as well as reaching the neighboring Gulf

countries with an estimated budget of USD 24 billion. Much of the road system in Qatar was

built during the last decade. The government has committed USD 20 billion to expand its road

system over the next five years, including major new roads connecting the New Doha

International Airport to all cities in Qatar by 2015. 3

For the sake of the Fifa World Cup accommodation is needed for all 32 teams, along with a

minimum of 60,000 hotel rooms for visiting fans. The new developments in urban planning have

created a high quality office space and luxury residential properties which allowed high end

tenants in getting better quality premises at lower prices abandoning less salubrious offices and

villas for builds. 4

Social Development

Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030), launched in October 2008, aims to transform Qatar

into an advanced country, sustaining its development and providing a high standard of living for

all its people. It foresees a vibrant and prosperous Qatar with economic and social justice for all.

QNV 2030 builds on a society that promotes justice, benevolence and equality. Qatar National

2 Human Rights Watch Report : Building a Better World Cup, Protecting Migrant Workers in Qatar Ahead of FIFA

2022; Printed in United States 2012 3 General Secretarial for Development Planning; Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016 Report; Doha;

March 2011 4 2022 FIFA World Cup, Bid Evaluation Report: Qatar; 14 May, 2010

Vision 2030 (QNV 2030) rests on four pillars: Human developmentto enable all of Qatars

people to sustain a prosperous society. Social developmentto maintain a just and caring society

based on high moral standards. Economic developmentto achieve a competitive and diversified

economy capable of meeting the needs of, and securing a high standard of living. Environmental

developmentto ensure harmony among economic growth, social development and

environmental protection.5

Whilst there are major developments taking place in Qatar to establish the hallmark of

sustainable development, there is a major social sector being ignored in the development studies.

This social sector is the migrant workers and lower levels of expatriates who are the actual

builders of the city of Doha to be able to host such a big event. 6

Qatars Migrant Workers

Hundreds of thousands of male workersprimarily from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and

Bangladeshmigrate to Qatar to work as low-wage laborers on World Cup-related construction

projects.

Often from poor backgrounds, they hope to support families, gain stable income and higher

wages, and in some cases escape violence or instability at home. According to 2010 census data,

47 percent of all male migrant workers in Qatar work in construction, making it the largest

5 Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning; Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016; Gulf

Publishing and Printing Company; Doha; March 2011 6 2022 FIFA World Cup, Bid Evaluation Report: Qatar; 14 May, 2010

employment sector in the country.7 In 2009 Qatars construction industry had one of the highest

growth rates in the region, with ambitious projects planned around the country.8

Qatar has a population of 1.68 million, of which 94 per cent are believed to be migrants.

There are an estimated 1.2 million migrant workers living in the country. Many of them work in

the construction sector, and many more will be needed to build the stadiums and other

infrastructure required for the 2022 football World Cup.9 According to the report by Human

Rights Watch (HRW), foreign workers in Qatar risk serious abuse in the run-up to the 2022

football World Cup. These migrant workers are at risk of serious abuse and exploitation. 10

All foreign workers in the region must work for a local sponsor, and it is legally difficult to leave

a job before an employment contract ends without the sponsor's consent. Many sponsors keep

their workers' passports.

Qatar is considered a country that has been built by foreigners - a veritable army of workers have

been brought in to build its bridges, run its companies and clean its streets. Although the migrant

workers in Qatar are the actual population who is constructing Qatar, but none of the

developments reach them on any scale. They suffer from very rough employment conditions.

The following addresses the urban problems that these workers are facing.

Family situation

Many of them leave their families behind them and these families depend on their support.

Almost one million workers live in Qatar without their families which create very social

unhealthy situations.

7 The World Bank, Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, Remittances Data: Inflows, available at:

http://econ.worldbank.org (accessed October 29, 2012) 8 Pratap John, Qatar Construction Sector Among the Top in the Middle East, The Gulf Times, October 8, 2009, available at: http://www.gulftimes.com (last accessed October 29, 2012) 9 The plight of Qatar's migrant workers - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English; www.Aljazeera.com; 14 Jun 2012 10 Human Rights Watch Report : Qatar: Migrant Construction Workers Face Abuse; www.hrw.org; 12 June 2012

Work environment

Migrant workers work under unhealthy and often dangerous conditions, doing construction work

on roofs or high scaffolding without safety ropes, or working in deep trenches or enclosed pipes

where they risked suffocation. Qatar does not publish data on worker injuries or fatalities and it

is difficult to estimate the extent to which workers risk their health or safety while carrying out

construction. However, according to analysis from the Qatar National Health Strategy, a

government healthcare initiative, Workplace injuries are the third highest cause of accidental

deaths in Qatar. The Ministry of Labor announced that only six workers had died in work

related accidents during the last three years, and that all deaths had been caused by falls.

However, this contrasts sharply with information received from country embassies, which

indicate a much higher death rate. According to the Human Right report, the Nepali embassy

reported that 191 Nepali workers who died in Qatar in 2010, 19 died as a result of work site

accidents. A further 103 died after suffering cardiac arrest, though workers do not fall into the

typical age group at risk of cardiac failure. 11

Housing

Most migrant construction workers in Qatar live in what are called labor camps to house large

groups of workers and others live in very poor apartments. Many of the housing conditions are

poor, unsanitary, and inhumane conditions.

Local regulations set high standards for workers housing, allowing companies to house no more

than four workers in the same room, banning the use of bunk beds, and requiring employers to

ensure potable water, air conditioning, and proper ventilation in all worker accommodations.12

However, they live between eight and eighteen workers per room, all workers sleep in bunk

11 Human Rights Watch Report : Building a Better World Cup, Protecting Migrant Workers in Qatar Ahead of

FIFA 2022; Printed in United States 2012 12 Decree of the Minister for Civil Service and Residential Affairs No.18 of 2005, arts.2, 3

beds, and some workers do not have drinkable water in their own camp. In some camps the air

conditioning gets broken for weeks or months without repair despite the high temperatures, and

some lives in windowless rooms that stank of mold.13

Public Space

Migrant workers do not have community parks or public spaces for them. They gather in front of

downtown Dohas Corniche, but usually police officers often deny them access to the Corniche

on Fridays, their one day off per week . Many malls and parks consider Friday a family day,

and prohibit bachelors, or men unaccompanied by women or children, from these gathering

places. However these rules are not enforced with Western male visitors and business people.

They only open spaces are the construction lands where they gather in them before Friday prayer

when everyone is still sleeping.14

Tensions created through Urban Inequalities

Qatar's sponsorship system, known as kafala, prohibits workers from changing jobs or leaving

the country without their sponsor's approval. A worker's sponsor is usually their employer. Qatari

law also prevents workers from organizing unions or staging strikes. The pervasive employer

exploitation and abuse of workers in Qatars construction industry, made possible by an

inadequate legal and regulatory framework that grants employers extensive control over workers


FIFA 2022; Printed in United States 2012 14 Human Rights Watch Report : Building a Better World Cup, Protecting Migrant Workers in Qatar Ahead of

FIFA 2022; Printed in United States 2012

and prohibits migrant workers from exercising their rights to free association and collective

bargaining.15

A trade Union campaigns director at the International Trade Unions Confederation mentions that

the fundamental responsibility lies on the authorities in Qatar. Zahra Babor assistant Research

director in Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Doha

informed that there is a lack of governance and lack of ability to enforce or implement any of the

local laws probably because of lack of capacity. She continues that the main problem lies in the

sponsorship system as the employers are the ones who actually govern migration. 16

The problem evolves because Qatar employs only 150 labor inspectors to monitor the conditions

of 1.2 million workers. According to labor ministry officials, none of these inspectors speak

languages commonly spoken by workers in the country and inspections do not include worker

interviews. Officials told Human Rights Watch that while inspectors monitor housing conditions,

payment problems, employment contracts, and working hours, they do so only by visiting sites

and reviewing company records. 17

Qatar government is aware of this problem but they are very discreet in giving out information

about it. Al Jazeera channel invited government representatives to take part in this programme

but the requests were declined


FIFA 2022; Printed in United States 2012 16 The plight of Qatar's migrant workers - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English; www.Aljazeera.com; 14 Jun 2012

17 The plight of Qatar's migrant workers - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English; www.Aljazeera.com; 14 Jun 2012

Visual Study for Inequalities of migrant Workers in Qatar

Migrant workers in Qatar. Researcher (Jan.2012) Housing of migrant workers in Qatar. Researcher (Jan.2012)

Housing of migrant workers in Qatar. Researcher

(Jan.2012) Migrant workers in Qatar. Researcher (Jan.2012)


(Jan.2012)


(Jan.2012)


(Jan.2012)


(Jan.2012)

Housing of migrant workers in Qatar. HRW report

(June2012)


(Jan.2012)

Inside Housing of migrant workers in Qatar. HRW

report (June2012)

Inside Housing of migrant workers in Qatar.

HRW report (June2012)

Inside Housing of migrant workers in Qatar.

Researcher (June2012) Inside Housing of migrant workers in Qatar.

Researcher (June2012)

Pearl Project. Researcher (June2012) Qatar skyline. Researcher (June2012)

Qatar skyline. Researcher (June2012) Qatar skyline. Researcher (June2012)

Residential compound. Researcher (June2012) Qatar skyline. Internet (Nov.2012)

Conclusion

Human Rights Watch report mentioned that Both the government and the (FIFA) need to make

sure that their commitments to respect workers rights in preparation for the 2022 World Cup are

carried out. Construction contractors should also make specific, public commitments to uphold

international labor standards.

Prior to the workers migration from their country, they should also agree to ensure on-time

payment in full of workers wages from the first month of their employment, to be paid into bank

accounts on a no-less-than monthly basis; ensure adequate housing facilities for all workers in

accordance with domestic and international standards; and provide guarantees that they will

respect workers rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining and include

provisions to this effect in workers employment contracts. They should arrange for independent

monitoring of workers conditions on their projects or projects under their supervision, and issue

public reports on workers conditions, including worker injuries and deaths, so as to effectively

monitor conditions at World Cup-related sites and ensure that the games do not rest upon worker

abuse and exploitation. 18

Finally the paper briefly discussed the huge urban developments and Qatars national vision for

social development and justice for people. Studying the poor living conditions of migrant

workers totally contradicts their social vision and shows the Socio-spatial inequalities and urban

vulnerability of these migrant workers. The questions which this paper addresses are when will

the government of Qatar, who is fully aware of the conditions of these workers, provide them

with their right to live in decent conditions? Knowing that 94% of the population in Qatar who

are the actual builders of the city are not getting any part of the developments in is Inequality!


FIFA 2022; Printed in United States 2012

References

- 2022 FIFA World Cup, Bid Evaluation Report: Qatar; 14 May, 2010

- Bourennane, Malika; Jaidah, Ibrahim; The History of Qatari Architecture : 1800- 1950;

p.25

- General Secretarial for Development Planning; Qatar National Development Strategy

2011-2016 Report; Doha; March 2011

- Human Rights Watch Report : Building a Better World Cup, Protecting Migrant

Workers in Qatar Ahead of FIFA 2022; Printed in United States 2012

- Human Rights Watch Report : Qatar: Migrant Construction Workers Face Abuse;

www.hrw.org; 12 June 2012

- Pratap, John; Qatar Construction Sector Among the Top in the Middle East, The Gulf

Times, October 8, 2009, available at: http://www.gulftimes.com (last accessed June,

2012)

- Qatar's union ban linked to migrant deaths, labor leaders say; www.reuters.com; 27

September 2012

- The plight of Qatar's migrant workers - Inside Story - Al Jazeera English;

www.Aljazeera.com; 14 Jun 2012

- The World Bank, Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011, Remittances Data: Inflows,

available at: http://econ.worldbank.org PK:64165026~theSitePK:476883,00.html

(accessed June, 2012)

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Documents

city of doha

evolution of doha doha

qatar work

state of qatar

east of qatar

vision of doha

center of doha

rapid development