Industrial district

Industrial district was initially introduced as a term to describe an area where workers of a monolithic heavy industry (ship-building, coal mining, steel, ceramics, etc.) live within walking-distance of their places of work.

In England, such areas were usually characterized by block streets of Victorian terraced housing, often with the giant industrial structures looming over the houses. Very few working industrial districts are now left. In England they survive only in places like Stoke-on-Trent and a few mining towns where the pits have escaped the closures of the 1980s. Many such districts were notable for having a strong children's street culture.

History of the term

The term was used by Alfred Marshall in his The Principles of Economics (1890, 1922). Marshall talks of a.... "thickly peopled industrial district".

The term was also used in political struggle. The 1917 handbook of the Industrial Workers of the World states:-

The term also appears in English literature. For instance, in a short story of 1920 by D. H. Lawrence, You Touched Me (aka 'Hadrian'):-

Ras Laffan Industrial City

Ras Laffan Industrial City is an industrial hub located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Doha, Qatar. It is administrated by Qatar Petroleum.

Ras Laffan Industrial City is the Qatar's main site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid. It hosts among others ORYX GTL and Pearl GTL plants, Qatargas and RasGas LNG plants, the Dolphin gas processing plant, the Laffan Refinery, and Ras Laffan A, B, and C integrated water and power plants. With an enclosed water area of approximately 4,500 hectares Ras Laffan Port is the largest artificial harbour in the world and contains the world's largest LNG export facility.

History

In March 2011, Ras Laffan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Rotterdam on the occasion of an official visit by Queen Beatrix to Qatar.

Power generation and water desalination plants

Currently, Ras Laffan accommodates three power generation and water desalination plants, abbreviated as Ras Laffan A, B, and C (also known as Ras Qartas Energy Plant). In 2014, Kahramaa announced a planned project which would see the desalination capacity of the plants increase from 35 million gallons of water per day to 65 million gallons per day. The project is set to begin in 2017.