Dr  Samia Rab

  Professor of Architecture at the American University of Sharjah (AUS)

Title of presentation :SEASCAPE URBANISM IN AL KHALIJ

My presentation will compare the historic urban development of three port settlements in the Gulf (Al Khalij): Sharjah and Ras al Khaima on the eastern edge of Arabia and Bander Lingehin Iran. While these Khaliji ports benefitted from the lucrative Indian Ocean trade, they facilitated exchange of material, human and capital flows. The Persian component and the Arab component coexisted, though not without conflicts. Merchants, lenders, divers, and labor force from all across the region inhabited and participated in the making of these settlements.   My presentation will reveal Khaliji urbanism as a unique typology based on secure tenure over the connecting ocean, linking diverse people with landscape and seascape ecologies. I wil l conclude wit h introducing  “ seascape” urbanism as a visual complement to the existing domains of “ port ” and “ coast al”  urban ism. Through these case cities, I will argue that consideration of  “ identity”  in Gulf cities necessitates

the revival of centrality of the ocean as a unifying geographic entity