Arabic

Dr.Samia Rab

American University of Sharjah,UAE

Bridging past cultural legacies with emerging urban landscapes in Port Cities of eastern Arabia: The case of Sharjah

Port cities in eastern Arabia share select aspects in their historic urban development: they naturally fit and were open to the Gulf waterfront, protected from the desert edge, maintained (since the late 19^th century) a diverse and multi-functional life within. My paper identifies the four types of distinct but inter-connected spaces that historically emerged in Sharjah’s urban form:

a)  the linear port (sahil) along the Gulf waters

b)  the linear internal market (souq) paralleling the port

c)  the open external market place (safat) immediately outside the Hisn Fort 

d)  residential districts (fareej) between the souq and the protective wall

The proposed paper discusses the modern urban and architectural incisions that disrupted and disconnected the above spaces, identifies problems with reactionary trends to reconstruct lost historic districts, charts out an urban design strategy to reconnect the sahil with the safat, and to make the souq an integral part of the fareej. This paper underscores “authenticity” as one of the most complex stewardship dilemmas that custodian of heritage sites in the region face today.