Towards sustainable urban waterfronts in the Middle East: assessing the role of cultural heritage in the redevelopment of Port Sultan Qaboos in Oman

Abstract

When looking at a country like Oman that is abundant in its historical and cultural heritage, it is apparent that these aspects have a huge role in shaping this country’s identity, and remains to this day engraved in different parts of its built environment. However, the values and opportunities of cultural heritage are increasingly overlooked in urban developments, due to the misconception that it might not fit in the mold or vision that developers are creating with trends of “smart, high-tech, innovative cities”. This strongly applies to countries in the Middle-East as they attempt to replicate existing successful developments, while disregarding the context of the area, culture, and identity that distinguishes them and makes them unique, as a result; this has led to failed schemes and unavoidable lack of identity in these projects. Integrating certain aspects of cultural heritage in urban developments could be of high value to a city, creating several opportunities that cultivate the success of future developments. In order to accomplish a successfully integrated project that combines the area “Port” and city, old with the new, past and future, it is important for stakeholders; from both public and private sectors are involved in the decision making process, taking cultural heritage into consideration. Subsequently, the notion of integrating cultural heritage in sustainable developments arises, and by using the contributions of cultural heritage towards influencing the stakeholder’s decision making process; taking into account the necessity of incorporating cultural heritage into their visions. However, with upcoming future developments in Oman, it becomes clear that there are certain challenges that come with forming strategies, and implementing them from both private and public sectors perspectives that remains challenging due to poor collaboration. This research aims to fill in the gap in literature on a specific part of culture integration; which is cultural heritage and its value in sustainable waterfront regenerations. Through identifying the contributions that cultural heritage provide for sustainable waterfront developments, and what opportunities it could create for the society, economy and tourism development of the city, the process of implementation and integration can then be steered by integrating the right management tools in regards to conservation of heritage.