Improving The Urban Qualities Of Historic Streets in Jeddah

The urban qualities of historic streets enhance the place’s vitality and provide people with a memorable urban experience. However, rapid urbanization has resulted in the loss of distinctive urban characteristics. Conservation processes, meanwhile, have a main role in enhancing urban qualities regarding the community’s experiences. This study aims to investigate how conservation policies and practices have contributed to the vitality and enhanced the users’ experience at the Al-Balad Historical streets in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This study combines the results of qualitative and quantitative methods, using the (Measuring Urban Qualities) technique, GIS Pro.2.8 software, and a users’ survey. The results reveal that the historic Al-Balad streets have significant potential to improve the quality of urban experience. In contrast, conservation policies, although recognizing the urban environment as a main component of current practice, have not targeted qualitative urban improvement. In this regard, the evidence suggests that it is imperative to prioritize the conservation of historic streets if the future conservation of the Al-Balad historic site is to improve the user’s perception when visiting the historic area.