Open AccessMunicipal Councils in Saudi Arabia: Context and Organization
Author(s) -
Waleed Abdullah Abdulaal Waleed Abdullah Abdulaal
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of king abdulaziz university-environmental design sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1658-4309
pISSN - 1658-1598
DOI - 10.4197/env.6-1.1
Subject(s) - context (archaeology) , work (physics) , municipal council , local government , process (computing) , political science , public administration , relation (database) , local authority , public relations , public participation , engineering , geography , computer science , archaeology , mechanical engineering , database , operating system
In 2004 the Saudi Council of Ministers called for theformation of semi-elected municipal councils in 178 cities and townsof Saudi Arabia. This command instigated public participation in localdecision making. The election process finished in early 2005 andcouncils' formation is completed by the end of 2005 to augment theirstart. Given the relatively fresh beginning of citizen engagement inlocal decisions in Saudi Arabia, this paper aims at analyzing thecontext and organization of municipal councils in Saudi Arabia. Thepaper starts by reviewing theoretical background on publicparticipation, highlighting its importance, methods and factorsaffecting it. The purpose is to establish an analytical framework toexamine the work in Saudi. Two sets of interrelated factors aredefined including contextual and local factors, which are thendiscussed in relation to municipal councils in Saudi Arabia. Thediscussion outlines existing shortcomings with the contextual andlocal factors and proposes necessary improvements based on theunderstanding that public participation is a learning process that willdemand continuous improvement and enhancement.