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Oman’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning has issued a tender seeking consultancy services for the masterplan and detailed design of the New City Sohar, a major urban development planned in Sohar, located in Al Batinah North Governorate.
The tender was published on 24 November 2025, with bid submissions due by 19 January 2026, according to the ministry’s procurement notice. Priced bids will be opened on the same day as submission.
The sale of tender documents will close on 15 December 2025. Pre-bid clarifications will run until 29 December.
To date, 31 companies have purchased the tender documents including 12 international firms, according to Oman's tender board.
The project, referred to as NCSo, is envisaged as a green, smart, sustainable and vibrant city fully aligned with Oman Vision 2040, according to the tender notice. Its strategic location on historic farmlands in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque and the Palace and its high-level government backing position provides an opportunity to introduce innovative solutions across key urban elements.
In May 2024, UK-based architectural news portal e-Architect reported that Global architecture and design studio Hassell released ‘New City in Sohar’ master plan, after being commissioned by the Ministry with a mandate to position the Northern Oman city as a centre of trade, commerce and innovation by 2040.
The report said the master plan capitalises on Sohar’s free port and the forthcoming international rail link with Abu Dhabi to transform more than 700 hectares of degraded agricultural land into a major new urban centre. The development is designed to deliver over 20,000 homes, 520,000 square metres of office space, schools, mosques, hospitals, cultural venues such as an opera house and museums, and a new library.
It said Hassell’s master plan applies the five-minute city principle emphasising micro-mobility and walkable neighbourhoods centred around amenity clusters within a short distance of homes and workplaces.
Development will be phased over the next two decades, with the earliest completions expected around 2040.
(Writing by Deva Palanisamy; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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