@ LAU Conference

The rapid urbanization induced dramatic, irreversible environmental and cultural changes in Oman. These lead to the creation of a new urban form, a departure from tradition and a denial of the climatic conditions. Moreover, the mechanisms of urbanization spread, isolate and captivate the population in a suburban reality, rejecting the notion of public and political space. Urbanization – as an active process of social and spatial determination – became the instrument of choice of the government for the renewal of the country and the creation of a modern un-politicized Omani society. Yet, as the recent uprises in Sohar in January 2011 have shown, the process of de-politization of space has failed. In Muscat Capital Area, architecture is politics.