Beyond The Fall - 2

By Ali Al Yousifi

This is part two of a three-part story. Click here to view part one.

THE NEW OLD CITY (2 of 3) 

Once the idea of having a great gathering was decided, finding the right location was easy: the open green area (not green anymore) in front of the parliament building. The need for this great gathering, where all those remaining in Kuwait can come together and decide on their future, arose due to several dangerous developments that took place in 2032.

The Kuwaiti government’s inability to satisfy its people’s basic needs lead to the formation of many radical opposition groups, calling for a complete change of leadership. Then, due to further governmental incompetence in dealing with these groups, several of them became openly armed.

Four months of clashing between the government and the opposition groups only caused further damage to the country’s infrastructure. Telecommunications lines were cut, TV/ Radio signals were jammed, and all main roads and highways were obstructed. Word of mouth became the only way to distribute information, and walking/ bicycling became the easiest way to travel. Then, people heard of the great gathering, and on the decided date everybody walked towards the parliament building.

The great gathering had no shortage of chaos, but with the aid many megaphones, countless voting booths, and three days of nonstop heated debates, three decisions were made:

First: a 5m high wall will be built along the curve of the Third Ring Road, from coast to coast.

Second: a governmental organization will be established to relocate all the people of Kuwait to existing buildings within the wall.

Third: everything manmade outside the wall will be sold to international recycling companies.

The purpose of the new wall was to protect against the attacks of the radical armed groups. After several months of delays due to crippling shortages in building materials, construction started in the summer of 2033. Finally, it was decided that it was most efficient to create the wall out of piles of concrete rubble, while using mud as both mortar and protective coating.

Although many objected to leaving their homes that happened to be outside the planned wall, the newly established governmental organization was surprisingly effective in convincing the population to move within the wall. Because constructing new housing projects was economically unfeasible, most incomers had to be housed in existing building. The need to retrofit many structures to become suitable homes forced the subject of architecture to surface and become the focus of a public discourse.

The third decision was the most controversial, but it eventually became clear to everyone that it was necessary. Kuwait was in dire need for a source of income, and due to new United Nations restrictions on mining, the world was in need of construction materials.  Kuwait was one of the first countries in the world to offer its abandoned suburbs as recyclable construction materials.

Despite initial interference from the radical armed groups, the international recycling companies were so ruthlessly skillful that by 2039 most suburbs outside the wall had disappeared without a trace. Like urban loggers felling a concrete forest, these companies reinvited the desert to crawl back and retake its place, reaching the gates of the newly constructed mud wall.

To be continued…