THE EVALUATION OF PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES ON HAJJ CROWD BETWEEN ARAFAT AND MUZDALIFAH PEDESTRIAN STREET

Abstract

Makkah is the holy city of Muslims which is located in the southwest of Saudi Arabia. It is the being visited by pilgrims from all nationalities every year for the annual Islamic Pilgrimage (Hajj). Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam which is the largest annual religious pilgrimage event in the world. The Hajj management authority specifies that the current pilgrimage’s performance is challenging due to the increase of pilgrims every year. Pedestrian conflicts and uncomfortable walking environment are the crucial issues that have been identified, which are due to insufficient pedestrian facilities. Hence, this paper presents the pedestrian facilities assessment between Arafat to Muzdalifah road. The objectives of the study are to determine the available pedestrian facilities for pilgrimage from Arafat to Muzdalifah, and to suggest the suitable solution for pedestrian facilities in every 5 minutes walks. Meanwhile, qualitative methods of site inventory and observation were applied to gather the related data on the selected study area. Possible pedestrian facilities design is suggested for the purpose of future Hajj improvement.