MUSCAT -- Muscat Municipality is poised to offer its citizens and residents one of the cleanest cities in the region. A great care is being taken for this and a large amount of resources are deployed by the civic agency to keep the city clean and the environment pollution free. Some major plans are also in the offing to ensure a judicious balance between development, tradition and environment.
This was stated by Saif Subba Rashid al Rashidy, Director-General of Information and External Relations, Muscat Municipality at the Omani-French workshop on 'Green Architecture and Eco-tourism' held here yesterday at Crowne Plaza Hotel. To achieve its goal the Muscat Municipality has debated and decided to invite a few world-renowned consultants to give conceptual designs on some of the prominent urban landmarks in Muscat.
"These projects are very important for us because they will be executed with great care to make more open spaces, more green belts within the city, more leisure areas, cool promenades and energy efficient lightings to improve overall ambience," Al Rashidy said. "We are forging ahead with sustainable development as any unbridled progress can only lead to future chaos. Cities around the world are facing traffic congestions, pollutions and lack of open spaces.
City planners everywhere in the past had allowed construction of all types of structures making either concrete jungles or glass houses. Citizens were deprived of open spaces as every available space was converted into a profitable business proposition," he said. In line with its commitment, the Muscat Municipality has approached some of the best architects and city planners in the world. Jacqueline Osty from Paris is assisting the civic body in developing new landscape strategies for Muscat. She is engaged to do a detailed design for Azaiba area.
The wadi belt of around 25 hectares will be transformed into an oasis of greenery, promenade, football pitch, trees and soft landscapes. Her focus is to preserve the environment by improving the greenery around the city. She will also assist the municipality with other projects planned in different locations in Muscat. Another leading consultant, Snohetta from Oslo has been asked to redesign Muttrah Fish and Vegetable Market. This, according to Al Rashidy, will be a unique structure befitting an ocean-front development.
Their design is complete and the project is ready for tender shortly. They are also designing the Wadi Adai Pedestrian Bridge. Their scope also includes turning the wadi bank into a green belt allowing people to walk around leisurely. In recent decades city development has contributed to the visual and physical deterioration of the wadi. Wadi Adai is the main wadi of Muscat and also the largest. This area of Muscat is under transformation into a cool urban centre.
The Muscat Municipality is also working on Ruwi Master Plan, Sultan Qaboos Plaza in Ministries Area and Al Khuwair Activity Hub and Park. The consultancy for this has been given to Turnbull and Partners in collaboration with the Project Architecture, Sydney. To strengthen sustainable development in the Sultanate, Professor Jensen and Skodvin from Norway has been assigned to design some of the hidden natural treasures of Muscat. Under the project some of the hidden treasures in Muscat would be redesigned and details of these projects will be released shortly.
Known for making some of the best public spaces and public life studies in many cities including Copenhagen, Dublin, Milan, Rotterdam, Sydney, Perth and London, Gehl Architects from Copenhagen, Denmark, has been engaged to develop strategies for designing public spaces in Muttrah, Al Sarooj, Seeb, Mawaleh Souk, Al Qurum Commercial District and CBD Area in Ruwi. "The vehicle for delivery is a fresh look at how the city is built and how we can better accommodate an urban culture that makes space for everybody in the future.
This will mean that we change the way the city is growing, want integrated neighbourhood centres instead of sprawling undefined suburbs!
"We want streets where people can walk, cycle, catch public transport and drive a car. We want a city where nobody lives or works further away from a great door space than they can walk," said Al Rashidy, while expressing Muscat Municipality's commitment to offer people-friendly facilities to its citizens and residents. "We have also recently organised Tour of Oman, a cycling event.
The inspiration for this, of course, came to us from Tour de France, thanks to the French inspiration. The idea behind this event is to urge people to look for alternative mode of transport like cycling which prevents pollution and improves overall health of the citizens. We have plans to build cycling tracks to promote cycling as a popular sport." Al Rashidy expressed Muscat Municipality's awareness about concerns of the modern developments. "The number of cars has increased in the capital.
The level of carbon emission as a result has also gone up. It has been found during a recent study that 60 per cent of our energy consumption is for air-conditioners. The other challenges we are facing is lack of professionalism in designing buildings. There are consultants who do overdesign of mechanical and electrical installations in the buildings. This results in an increase in energy consumption."
He said the civic body was looking at the possibility of implementing thermal efficient buildings keeping in mind the need for preserving environment. "We will soon introduce strict controls in building constructions to ensure that our progress is not damaging to our inherited environment. "Therefore our primary role is to maintain a good environment and develop infrastructure projects by resorting to green architecture and of course the right choice between tradition and modernity. "We are now engaged in designing new codes and regulations with focus on green architecture, and thermal efficient buildings."
By Kaushalendra Singh
© Oman Daily Observer 2010
