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In 2008, the Makkah Region initiated a program to regenerate Unplanned Settlements (UPSs) within its three main cities, namely Makkah, Jeddah and Taif. Since all past initiatives in tackling UPS improvements were dependent on limited municipal funds, results were limited and accordingly UPSs kept spreading and their conditions were far from improved. In response to political and social pressures, the Makkah Region developed a strategy to regenerate UPSs based on Public–Private Partnership (PPP) which specifically divides UPSs into four groups according to their economic feasibility. This paper reviews the regeneration process in the City of Jeddah which encompasses 55 UPSs, housing about one million people, which is equal to one-third of Jeddah’s population. Jeddah Municipality was prepared to start the regeneration program due to the setting up of a private company called the Jeddah Development and Urban Regeneration Company (JDURC) which was established and ready to implement the regeneration strategy of Makkah Region. In 2008, JDURC successfully formed two partnerships with separate private developers to regenerate five UPS areas. Though the regeneration process is in its early stages, examining the legal and development frameworks for engaging PPP in the process is nevertheless important when assessing its competence to meet social, economic and technical issues. The paper finds that the use of PPP in regenerating UPS areas is fraught with difficulties; and that consequently, as the regeneration process engaging PPP is fairly recent, it must be subjected to continuous review to deal with issues arising.
Jeddah, public–private partnership, regeneration, unplanned settlements
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