New Hearts for Two Gulf Cities

Doha in Qatar and Sharjah in the UAE are both currently looking to their own heritage for inspiration in the redevelopment of their urban cores or hearts. Varkki Pallathucheril , an expert in urban planning and Professor at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), considers the impact challenges of this type of development.     

Finding Time

What has our sense of the acceleration of time got to bear on our experience of cities? How might it be consciously countered by architects ‘finding time’ through ‘thoughtful design and measured observation’. ‘A self-declared ‘cultural polymath’, Tim Makower is the founder of Makower Architects. A partner at Allies and Morrison for many years, he has significant experience in leading large-scale projects, ranging from the King's Cross Masterplan in London to the Old Doha Regeneration Framework, which he draws on here and in his book Touching the City: Thoughts on Urban Scale (Wiley, 2014).     

Urban and Architectural Sustainability in the Gulf

What is the impact of rapid urbanisation on sustainable development, such as that experienced by cities in the Gulf? Robert Cooke , an Associate Sustainability Consultant at Buro Happold, based in Dubai, seeks to answer this question. He asks what the real contribution might be of the implementation of recent sustainable policies and urban projects, and what more needs to be done to improve the Gulf's ecological footprint and the water-energy nexus.     

Fast Forwards: 10 Years of Sustainable Initiatives in the Gulf Region

Over the last decade, sustainable initiatives have proliferated in the UAE through a disparate range of public and private sector efforts. Jeffrey Willis , Sustainability Leader for Arup in the Gulf, provides a comprehensive review of these enterprises, highlighting how momentum has been clustered in three distinct periods of activity: previous to 2006 ; 2006 to 2008 ; and then since the global financial crisis in 2008.     

Inexhaustible Ambition: Two Eras of Planning in Doha,Qatar

Architects and researchers in urban design, Kelly Hutzell, Rami el Samahy and Adam Himes , reflect on how the present structure of Doha in Qatar is a result of intermittent state interventions - failures as well as successes. They explain how these sporadic initiatives manifested themselves in two main bursts of activity: 1971-86 and 1999 to the present day.     

Drawing on Sand: Cities in the Making

Steven Velegrinis , Director of Urban Design for Perkins+Will in Dubai, and Guest-Editor George Katodrytis liken Gulf cities to the shifting sands that they sit upon. Showing urban development to be in a constant state of flux in the region, they highlight four key eras in the unprecedented rapid development of these cities.