Oasis settlements in Oman

Urban structure and cultural landscape

In the arid climate zones of the earth, phenomena such as desertification, climate change, globalization, population explosion and the scarcity of natural resources threaten the sensitive ecological, social, and economic balance of the settlement areas in these regions. There is a growing awareness of the need to protect basic natural resources and the necessity to develop strategies for sustainable development has become particularly apparent with regard to large metropolises.

 An interdisciplinary research project between the Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat and the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Berlin and the universities of Tübingen, Stuttgart and Kassel-Witzenhausen was funded by the DFG German (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) with the goal to investigate the transformation processes in oases settlements of Oman. Based on an archaeological, historic, urban and architectural analysis of selected oasis settlements, emphasis was placed on the historical and agro-ecological context of the transformation processes, their effects on oasis sustainability and their current and future development.

Due to climate and water resources, traditional oasis settlements were adapted to the extreme environment and created a kind of sustainable development which was necessary for survival and from which we can learn some principles of sustainable development for the future. Traditional settlement patterns and forms of architecture in Northern Oman have been shaped by topography, climatic preconditions and the natural resources of specific areas. In addition, the geographical and historical contexts have played and continue to play an important role in determining the settlement pattern and architecture of individual settlements.

This diversity will be lost however, since, regardless of location or size, all oasis settlements are caught up in a rapid transformation process. An Oasis culture and a cultural landscape will disappear. In this respect it is necessary pointing out a strategy to integrate the traditional settlements into the process of change and to incorporate them into future planning, while considering changing economic conditions, regional tendencies of urbanisation and movements of migration. The respective potentials of

These individual settlements, such as special location, residential quality, economy or tourism have to be worked out to develop perspectives. This requires comprehensive documentation and gathering of information with particular emphasis on urban planning and architecture, in order to develop guidelines and measures at different scales.