How Centrality of and Accessibility to Mosques Changed Through Time: The Case of Abu Dhabi Neighborhoods

Abstract

Islamic teachings require Muslims to have frequent daily visits to mosques to perform daily prayers. Therefore, mosques should be positioned strategically within built environments so that they may be reached on foot. Worshipping at the mosque five times per day, every Friday, and throughout the holy month of Ramadan is a significant social ritual and spiritual responsibility, making the mosque a distinctive urban element that needs appropriate integration. In Abu Dhabi, as an Islamic city, mosques are significant daily destinations. However, as Abu Dhabi's formal progression has evolved, its neighborhoods have seen inconsistent shifts in pedestrian access to mosques. In this study, the physical design features that assist in pedestrian accessibility to mosques in Abu Dhabi are comprehensively analyzed using an integrated method, including morphological mapping and mathematical network analysis. The centrality measure of Gravity and closest facility are used to assess pedestrian accessibility to mosques using local scale radii of 400-m and 800-m and under two network scenarios: streets only and streets and alleys. The results of the Gravity analysis were utilized to depict three types of mosque accessibility: plots with no access, plots with minimum access to one mosque, and plots with choice access to multiple mosques. The overall accessibility to mosques within a neighborhood is indicated by a combined percentage of the minimum and the choice. According to spatial and quantitative investigations, planning approaches in presuburban and early suburban neighborhoods achieved the highest overall accessibility to mosques. Neighborhoods in those phases also had higher percentages of choice accessibility. However, Abu Dhabi has struggled to construct pedestrian-accessible neighborhoods since the 1980s, when automobile-oriented buildings began to emerge. Therefore, local accessibility to mosques has declined in New-suburban neighborhoods and as the city further evolved and expanded. Moreover, the introduction of alleyways improved total accessibility; however, in the Pre and Early neighborhoods, the increased accessibility was in the choice percentages. Yet, it was in the minimum accessibility percentages in the New-suburban phase. Moreover, the study shows that a good interplay between street design, plot densities, network intersection density, strategic placement of alleys, and mosque density and spatial distribution results in high pedestrian accessibility to mosques. Finally, the study recommends specific design approaches to improve accessibility to mosques in the present and prospective neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi.

Date of Award	Jul 2022
Original language	American English