This section presents the research design and methodology of the thesis. According to De Vaus (2001) a builder or architect cannot construct a building, order materials, sketch a plan or grant permits without knowing what type of building is required. Similarly, social research requires a good design before collecting and analysing the data. In addition, research design is considered vital “to ensure that the evidence obtained enables us to answer the initial questions as unambiguously as possible” (De Vaus, 2001: 9). The selection of an appropriate research design and methodology depends on certain criteria, which include; the nature of the research topic, the research problem, research objectives that the study aims to achieve, research questions that the study seeks to answer (Creswell, 2003; Alshafiei, 2007). In addition, it depends on the researcher‟s experience and ability to use different methods (Creswell, 2003; Yin, 2008). Figure 3.1 illustrates the process taken in the research from setting out the problem to conclusion and recommendation.
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Table 3.1 shows the methods that were used in order to investigate the research questions. The key aims of this study are to explore the rationale of adopting and applying new zoning regulation, to assess the capacity of Jeddah Municipality to implement zoning regulations and to explore the impact of the new regulations on residents and developers. Owing to the complexity of the issue of implementing zoning regulations and urban governance, it was insufficient to rely on a single approach. Therefore, as this study focuses on understanding the factors causing particular phenomena within a real-life context, multiple research methods were used (Creswell, 2003).
A multiple approach is useful to capture the strength of both quantitative and qualitative methods (Creswell, 2003). This study used triangulation as one of the approaches of the multi-strategy research (Bryman, 2004). In terms of data collection the researcher used concurrent procedures to gather both qualitative and quantitative data from primary and secondary sources (Creswell, 2003). While quantitative methods focus on obtaining objective measures and numerical data in order to apply statistical measurements and determine correlation between variables, qualitative methods aim to explore subjective data in order to obtain validity and reliability of the findings from the fields (Mandeli, 2011). In addition, qualitative research methods provide rich data about the contemporary situation (De Vaus, 2001; Alshafiei, 2007). Additionally, the researcher employed the UN-HABITAT – Urban Governance Index (UGI), which combines mixed methods focusing more on quantitative data to assess the local governance in Jeddah. As mentioned in Chapter 2, the UN-HABITAT – UGI Model has been selected because according to Moretto (2007: 9) it is inclusive, while others, such as the World Bank, views governance from economic and financial perspective toward marketization and privatization (Shafiei, 2011). According to Shafiei (2011: 49) the UN-HABITAT model "embraces ideological features as well as theoretical values and principles of governances".
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What does the researcher hope to achieve?
How we will use the collected data?
Figure 3.1: Research Methodology
What is the problem?
What information is available?
What data do we need?
Primary Data Secondary Data
Third Phase
Nature of The Problem
Goals and Objectives
Data Collection
(Pilot study and Main Fieldwork) Literature Review Research Questions Data Analysis Second Phase First Phase Fourth Phase Maps
Zoning Regulations textbook Budgets (KSA, MOMRA and
Jeddah Municipality) No. of Municipality Staff
Population of Jeddah Housing Statistics The 7th and 8th Five
Development Plan The Report of Jeddah‟s Urban
Observatory Centre
Qualitative Analysis
Case Studies Interviews (Open Questions)
Quantitative Analysis
Analysing Interviews (Excel and SPSS)
Urban Governance Index (UGI) Model
Recommendations and future research
Fifth Phase
What are the results of this research?
Answering research questions Achieving research
aims
Conclusion and Recommendations
Sample
Residents living in three different zones (villa, mixed and apartment with new zoning regulations).
Officials in the Municipality.
Professionals in the private sector.
Quantitative Approach
Structure Interview with Residents.
Structure Interview with Officials.
Structure Interview with Professionals.
Qualitative Approach
Observation.
Meetings.
Photographs.
Interview (academic)
Focus group (lawyer)
Case Studies
Al-Salam Subdivision.
Al-Naghi Subdivision.
Al-Marwah Subdivision.
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Themes Objectives Issues Methods Analysis Output
Adopting a smart growth policy
To identify urban issues which caused Jeddah Municipality to adopt smart growth policy Increase density Urban sprawl Transition in urban environment Housing affordability Sustainability debate
Empirical data to project the future population using different methods.
Empirical data to project housing demand.
Empirical data to estimate areas for future residential development.
Constant annual growth
Linear model
Exponential curve model
The expected future population.
The future demand on housing.
The reason for adopting new zoning regulations and increasing the density
Transformation of the city urban pattern. The capacity of the local planning authority To investigate the aspects of achieving a good urban governance To assess the performance of Jeddah Municipality What is good governance? Method for assessing urban governance Factors influence on the capacity of Jeddah Municipality
Views of professionals and officials about the performance of Jeddah Municipality
Quantitative data-structure interview (open and close questions)
Secondary data (statistics)
Case studies
Descriptive analysis (Excel and SPSS)
Charts and tables
UN-HABITAT, Urban Governance Index
Understanding the planning system in KSA.
The current situation of Jeddah Municipality.
The deficiencies in the planning system at the local level.
Perception of officials and professionals
An analytical framework for assessing the Municipality of Jeddah.
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Themes Objectives Issues Methods Analysis Output
Stakeholders views and satisfaction
To explore the impact of applying the new zoning regulations on modern residential areas
To explore peoples‟ reaction
The impact of zoning regulations on the ground through the eyes of local people, professionals and officials
Cultural issues that led to conflict (the important of privacy)
Citizens voice in the process
Level of residents‟ satisfaction
Qualitative (meeting and focus group)
Quantitative data (structure interview (open and close questions) Case studies Descriptive analysis (Excel and SPSS) Inferential statistics (SPSS)
Charts and tables
Level of residents‟ satisfaction within different zones.
The impact of applying the new zoning regulations in residential zones.
What is actually happening in neighbourhood
Views regarding citizens‟ participation.
Residents have the power and voice to change planning decisions
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According to Naragan (2005: 1) the UGI model has been developed to “enable cities to objectively measure the quality of local governance”. Therefore, the purposes of employing the UN model in this study are to assess the performance of Jeddah Municipality and address the strengths and weakness in the contemporary planning system at the local level. Originally, the UGI model was based on five main indices which were recommended by the UN-HABITAT; Effectiveness, Equity, Participation, Accountability and Security. According to the UN-HABITAT, Effectiveness is linked with budget and finance, Equity with social opportunities, Participation with political freedom, Accountability with transparency and Security with crime and natural disaster (UN-HABITAT, 2004). However, the security indicator was not recommended to be part of the index, thus, it was omitted from the UGI framework by the UN-HABITAT following the second survey (UN-HABITAT, 2004; Narang, 2005; Moretto, 2007). Therefore, the framework is made up of four main indicators, which encompass 25 sub-indicators and each sub-indicator is weighted.
This research uses a case study method to explore the real world phenomenon of the impact of implementing the zoning regulations and the experience of residents. A case study method was the most appropriate method since it allows explanatory questions “how” and "why" to be posed (Yin, 2008). The selection of case study design allows the researcher to achieve a fuller explanation and better understanding of the circumstances (De Vaus, 2001; Bryman, 2008), where Yin (2008: 4) stated that:
…the case study allows an investigation to retain the holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events such as individual life cycles, organizational and managerial processes, neighbourhood change, international relations, and the maturations of industries.
Although, case study may be recognised as a form of qualitative research, it can employ both quantitative and qualitative research (Bryman, 2008; Yin, 2008).
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