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DISSERTATION
The decades from the 1950s to the 1980s marked a period of political independence and nation building for the Kuwaiti welfare state. In 1952, a socioeconomic agenda was introduced to channel oil revenues into development programs that included a large-scale urban renewal scheme. The dissertation focuses on the urban transformation of Kuwait City, the emergence of the suburb as a modern lifestyle alternative to traditional urban living, and the state operational systems that were put in place to activate this rapid change. The study draws links between societal transformation, Kuwaiti cultural modernity, and architectural and urban space.