Modern Kuwait: The changing Times

By John Tauro
Bellevision Media Network

03 Febraury 2013: Kuwait nowadays is dotted with many high-rise buildings, ornamented structures and a network of highways due to enormous efforts exerted throughout years of hard work by its citizens.

Today, construction works are visible in and outside the capital, including the building of new highways and facilities for the public. But the full-scale construction process got high pace particularly in the 70s and 80s, when roaring bulldozers removed scores of old and randomly built houses, expanded main roads, and highways, replacing old roads that could no longer accommodate the rising number of cars, along with the spread of new mosques, hospitals and schools throughout the country.

Perhaps, those who particularly appreciate its achievements are the senior citizens who recalled how Kuwait looked like in the old days, when the residents of the country had to exert enormous efforts in their daily chores, starting from securing water to transport.

 

 

their spare time, the new Al Hamra projects builds on its legacy with the nations tallest skyscraper another landmark of success offering mixed use facilities to welcome visitors, tenants and visitors alike.

 

 

The Al Hamra Tower is a topped out skyscraper in Kuwait City. Designed by architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the tower is the tallest building in Kuwait on completion in 2011 at 412.6 m (1,354 ft.). It is the tallest sculpted tower in the world. The tower includes 195,000 m2 (2,100,000 sq ft.) of commercial and office space. The building connects to a five-story retail mall which totals 23,000 m2 (250,000 sq. ft.) of retail space and includes an integrated theater complex and an 11-story car park. The tower itself was built on an 18,000 m2 (190,000 sq. ft.) construction site.

The Al Hamra Tower has over 70 floors of office space, a rooftop restaurant and a spa. The shopping center includes a 10 screen Movie theater/cinema complex which also has IMAX theaters.

Kuwait University Campus

Construction of a New Kuwait University Campus is underway, which is a 10 year project. The project involves construction of a new University City that will provide a modern campus with state-of-the-art facilities for academic staff, students and other employees of Kuwait University. The Government of Kuwait has allocated 6 million square kilometers of land in the Al Shadidiyah area for the project (not so far away from the Iraqi-Saudi border). It will be known as the Sabah Al-Salem University.

 

 

The new campus will be co-educational with segregated facilities. It will include several faculties, dormitories, sports facilities and auditoriums as well as car parks for several thousand vehicles. There will also be a medical school and an associated 400-bed teaching hospital. The University City will be developed in stages over ten years and will eventually accommodate up to 40,000 students, permitting the consolidation of Kuwait University’s various existing campuses around the city. The campus will cost about $3 billion over ten years. The Master plan for the new university is carried out by a Canadian Consortium of Architects with the local SSHI design office. Currently, many design packages for the different colleges and administration buildings under design by top class international design firms. It is expected for the project to be completed by the academic year 2014-2015.

 

 

 
Kuwait, once a country in the north of the Gulf whose natives depended on external trade with usage of dhows and pearl-diving, turned into a modern state with digital and state-of-art service with the employment of the oil proceeds in the modernization process.

Today, it boasts a network of highways consisting of at least six ring roads, three airports, ports, hotels and modern financial services sectors.