Rethinking Transportation and Land Use in Bahrain

A well-built and sturdy transportation infrastructure can be extremely beneficial to a metropolis, as mobility is key to supporting sustainability. A path-dependent system is one in which the initial conditions play a key role in determining future structure (Smith 2011, p32). In the case of Bahrain, path dependence refers to the country’s heavy dependence on the automobile as a primary mode of transport. In Bahrain, with many neighborhoods having little to no sidewalks, public parks, and alternative modes of transportation, a car-centric infrastructure is the only option people have of getting around. With an area of just 765 km2— slightly smaller than the state of Rhode Island—and ranked the seventh-densest country in the world, Bahrain needs to develop its infrastructure to cope with its growing population. The more people exclusively use cars as their mode of mobility, the less physically active they are, which does not benefit the health of the Bahrainis. The purpose of my research is to analyze the impacts of car dependence on Bahrain’s built environment, economy, and health of citizens. The aim is to show the effects of past planning methods, and the results of path dependency.