Over the past two decades in Qatar, designers and planners focused on design
merits of high-rise buildings and the impact on the skyline and the city image,
discarding the integration of the buildings with the ground level. This research study
investigates the sustainability and livability of the public realm within high-rise districts,
focusing on the business district of West Bay, Doha, State of Qatar, as a case study. In
West Bay, tall buildings have security gates and parking spaces on the ground level that
weaken the livability and vitality of the street. Therefore, to enhance livability, the built
environment should provide a vibrant social urban ground level. Insufficient parking
spaces along with the lack of public transportation choices frustrate people and intensify
the traffic congestion in West Bay. The lack of services and amenities within the
residential towers accompanied with poor pedestrian circulation make it hard to perform
everyday activities. The spatial segregation in West Bay translates into a distinct
functional spatialisation. Also, most buildings in West Bay are single-use occupancy,
with clusters of retail, services and catering activities, their spatialisation does not
provide for an overlap of movement between the working occupants and the recreational
ones. The research study aims to study the relationship between built environment and
livability on the street level of the existing spatial environments on the micro urban
scale of West Bay. Therefore, this research project aims to fill the gap in the literature
regarding design-based research that provides solutions to existing limitations in the
physical environment. The strategy includes a summary of the literature, site analyses
and resultant design vision for a sustainable livable development concept for the study
area, the business district of West Ba
