Kuwait has seen tremendous growth and change since the 1950s under several different master plans. In the process, much of “Old Kuwait” has been destroyed. According to the World Bank, “a master plan is a dynamic long-term planning document that provides a conceptual layout to guide future growth and development. Master planning is about making the connection between buildings, social settings, and their surrounding environments.” The first master plan phase lasted from 1950 to the mid 1960s. In Acquiring Modernity, Hassan Hayat writes, “a year after taking power in 1950, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah commissioned British town planners to transform Kuwait. Upon the discovery of oil, Kuwait’s modern identity emerged. The Amir had a strong sense of the growth that would be driven by oil revenues. The government assessed the old city’s homes, compensating owners with parcels of land and currency to build homes in the new suburbs. As the city and its wall were torn down to pave the way for automobiles, the old town became unrecognizable.” In Iridescent Kuwait, Laura Hindelang writes that, “the master plan proposed nothing less than turning Kuwait City inside out… by driving the entire population from inside the wall to outside of it. The honeycombed, walled-off town was substituted by clusters of suburban neighborhoods separated by distances that required motorization.. the vision of the future city of Kuwait paid tribute to a way of living saturated with petroleum and therefore resonates with Stefanie LeManger’s analysis of Los Angeles’ urban transformation in the 1930s and 1940s was a manifestation of petroleum culture.”

In her work Kuwait Transformed, Farah Al-Nakib tells us that during the first master plan, Fahad al-Salem Street became the first part of the new city developed with a certain amount of site planning. The thoroughfare was built from Jahra Gate to Safat Square. In 1960, Fahad al-Salem was the only street in Kuwait that was completely paved (you can see a photograph below before this was completed–in the picture you can see Al Mullah Saleh Mosque). In the process of developing the street, 294 old houses were demolished and the land was sold off to private developers to construct buildings to line the street. Two buildings along Fahad al-Salem that were built during the first master plan are Thunayan Al-Ghanim and the Anwaar Al-Sabah buildings. According to Modern Architecture Kuwait, the Thunayan Al-Ghanim building was completed in 1959. They write, “the location and plot geometry facing Jahra Gate at the entrance to the first modern avenue in the city, Fahad-Al Salem, was and still is a fundamental condition for the complex display. With this, the first multi-storey building in Kuwait, the important local Al-Ghanim family began their involvement in construction and development.” Down the street are the Anwaar Al-Sabah buildings, which have visibly deteriorated and as of the sumer of 2023, have begun to be demolished. According to Abdulraouf Murad, the complex built in the 1960s atop a football field known as the Qibly Field. Some of the children who lived in the complex attended the Aisha Primary School, which is currently being restored by the NCCAL. Aisha School is directly across from the Kuwait Institute for Judicial & Legal Studies, you can see photos of the interior on the blog of Maha Alessa.

When Kuwait’s first master plan was commissioned in 1950, the country was still a British protectorate. In Acquiring Modernity, Hassan Hayat writes, “after gaining independence, a plan was approved to develop Kuwait City as a Central Business District and it continued to decimate remaining elements of the old city. A Second Master Plan was commissioned in 1967 to continue growth beyond the First Master Plan. From all over the world, Kuwait commissioned great architects and engineers to brand its identity with monumental infrastructural and institutional works. The Kuwaiti people were reminded of their old city when they saw the markets and mosques which remained untouched by the rampant destruction.” The stock market crash of 1982 and subsequent recession slowed development down. Three buildings along Fahad Al-Salem Street built during the second master plan phase are Al-Muthanna Complex (named for a school that previously sat there), Salhiya, and the Marriott Hotel. According to Modern Architecture Kuwait, Al-Muthanna began construction in 1979. Le Méridien Hotel (now the JW Marriott) and the luxury shopping center Salhiya Complex were also built around this time.

Kuwait’s first master plan was commissioned in 1950, its second in 1967, and its third in 1997. The third master plan was then reviewed in 2005. Recently, a Fourth Master Plan has been signed. In the article The Aftermath of a Masterplan for Kuwait, Sharifah Alshalfan writes, “the most recent Kuwait master plan is merely an extension of the previous master plans prepared during the second half of the twentieth century in Kuwait… the principal planning parameters are the same: a business center in what used to be the old city, self-sufficient residential neighborhoods beyond, and various zones for industrial, commercial and leisure activities.” Along Fahad Al-Salem, these three buildings stand out as some of the newest. The 32-floor Rakan Tower was completed in 2005, the Kuwait Building Tower in 2012, and the Al-Jon Center in 2007.