Evaluating the Procedural Framework of Informal Settlement Upgrading Makkah City, Saudi Arabia: Challenges and Lessons for Sustainable Urban Renewal
Bibliographic record
Abstract
This study investigates the procedural framework for upgrading informal settlements in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, using a mixed-methods approach that includes analysis of 25 policy documents, field observations in 10 informal areas, and expert interviews.The research identifies a four-stage process: classification, policy formulation, implementation, and monitoring.While the model enables localized, context-sensitive interventions, it faces challenges such as institutional fragmentation, delays, and limited community participation.Comparative international cases underscore the value of participatory planning, diversified funding, and adaptive governance.In response, the study proposes a hybrid strategycomprehensive redevelopment in high-risk zones and incremental upgrading elsewherealigned with Saudi Vision 2030.The proposed model offers a practical framework for sustainable, culturally aware urban transformation in rapidly growing cities.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.016 | 0.015 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.004 | 0.009 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.007 | 0.004 |
| Open science | 0.002 | 0.005 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".