BFTPI - Bahrain French Town Planning Initiative

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, during his visit to the President of the Republic of France, last August 28th 2014, expressed his willingness to work further with France on implementing the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, turning the Kingdom into an economic powerhouse and to map out land use and infrastructure development up to 2030 and beyond.

For that purpose, Expertise France, the French agency for technical international cooperation, has put together a multidisciplinary team of highly skilled professionals, within a public-private consortium formed with three leading French engineering, planning and architecture firms, namely Arep, Egis and Setec.

The BFTPI program is providing technical assistance to the General Directorate of Urban Planning (GDUP), part of the Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning. It aims at strenghening the GDUP’s role in coordinating all matters relating to the urban planning of the island.

This 2-years project is aiming at improving urban development and land management in the Kingdom through: restructuring and strengthening GDUP; designing a need-based national spatial development strategy, and, stemming from the strategy, urban development guidelines; the project will also deliver a masterplan for a portion of the waterfront, a highly strategic area of the island.
 

Related article: Completion of BFTPI project in Bahrain: concrete achievements

The BFTPI project is organized around two streams of work: planning and governance.

In this view, it has a dual approach:

 • We investigate how the land is used and settled with respect to land scarcity, present and foreseeable needs of the various segments of the Bahraini population, and of all sectors of activities; environmental and heritage protection requirements.

 • We analyse the role and operations of GDUP and of all other actors – private and public –involved in the use of the land. We analyse the mandate, roles and operations of GDUP with respect to its capacity to deliver the services and strategic guidance the Kingdom needs with respect to the development of its territory.

Key to our approach is our two-year presence in Bahrain, in GDUP offices, which will ensure a close cooperation with our client, a thorough understanding of its needs, challenges it faces and aspirations as well as bespoke proposals informed by a continuous dialogue with GDUP and other key players.

A plan to overhaul GDUP’s role and capacity with a more proactive, capable, leaner and efficient organization, improved processes, strengthened role and capacity for project delivery, tools and means, including BISDS and Urban Design Guidelines to steer Bahrain’s spatial development.

In that matter, the following methodology is used:

 • Analysis and recommendations with regard to the GDUP institutional context, its roles and functions, its organisation, processes and tools.

 • Analysis of the social and economic context of the country and recommendations with regard to the construction projects set up

 • Implementation of the recommendations and tools and change management (support, training)

The Bahrain Integrated Spatial Development Strategy (BISDS) is a guiding, forward-looking document for territorial and urban development intended to address long term issues.

Without pre-empting our learning, the Strategy will provide directions to maximize the use of the land, improve mobility, reduce land-use supply and service gaps, support neighbourhood communities and activity hubs/sub centres, manage the littoral and sea reclamation, improve sustainability and environmental management and heritage preservation. BISDS will also seek to harness private sector dynamism for its implementation.

Urban Design Guidelines stemming from BISDS, of which it is an implementation tool, and based on our Public Realm and Public space assessment, the Guidelines will provide guidance to improve Manama open space – hence urban landscape and the image of the city – and public spaces design, repartition and accessibility. The Guidelines will include a focus on the Kingdom’s coastal area.

The implementation of a pilot project “Manama-Muharraq waterfront Masterplan” will exemplify BISDS directions for urban development, directly apply the Guidelines and test a new role for GDUP for project delivery with, possibly, the use of a dedicated project implementation vehicle.

The layout plan will help highlighting the key assets of the country: conservation of cultural heritage, protection of the green lands, simplified access for pedestrian and promotion of the waterfront