A colleague of mine recently opened my eyes to an unusual feature of the housing market in Saudi Arabia. He pointed out that there is a housing shortage in the country, and that Saudi families are a bit larger than American or European families (the latter feeds the former). He also claimed that the primary development model for new homes in the country is a "villa" that was introduced by a California planning organization in the 1970's. This "villa" which he described as a detached, five bedroom dwelling, sounds remarkably like a typical American suburban model, albeit with more bedrooms. The higher density development shown in this picture may not be representative of what the Saudi people want, or what my be built in the future. I'm amazed that the prototypes of American suburbia have been so effectively transported around the world and that they capture the attention and desire of people who have a different cultural heritage.
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