The attention given by planning authorities in the UAE to the architectural heritage of their historic areas, especially in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, is not accidental. It is a fairly
genuine impression of their conviction towards producing a substance of progress and success and a prologue to their future.
Over two decades, urban planning officials and decision-makers in the UAE have been actively planning to restore the modest urban heritage haphazardly developed and built between the early 1900s and 1960s. At the beginning of the 1970s, a considerable historical part of the heritage areas was demolished due to an unplanned construction boom since, at the time, the emphasis was on modernization and contemporary urban growth, in addition to the lack of awareness of the significance of old buildings, as part of culture (Gray, 1995). However, lack of urban planning legislation to protect these heritages led planning authorities to invite a number of European experts to carry out the restoration processes and develop conservation strategies; however, the extent of involvement of these experts has not been documented (Hadjri & Boussaa, 2007). To illustrate, the conservation actions were taken in specific architectural and urban heritage sites, such as both Al Shindagah and Al Bastakia in Dubai and Al Merraija in Sharjah. The primary action of the conservation plan of these heritage sites was to restore the architectural building elements and the social and cultural urban areas as well as the narrow passageways between the buildings (sikka) and the Squares (al sahat). Moreover, the UAE officials’ objectives of the restoration process were to turn the historic sites into active heritage centres that attract tourists and local visitors and thus bond the present with the past.
Furthermore, the initiative taken by the UAE municipalities in the establishment of the Historical Building Department acted as support to both the conservation to the historic architecture and heritage areas of all the UAE and as the first step in commencing a solid restoration plan by demonstrating the scientific and methodical applications of these planning guidelines. The old urban squares (al sahat), being the social and cultural link between peoples’
houses, are the vital urban elements in the restoration plan designed and managed by Dubai Municipality as they reflect the past, socially and culturally (Boussaa, 2003). Moreover, by law, these open squares and any buildings associated with them are not allowed to be changed or tampered with unless granted permission by the municipality itself. According to Bukhash (2012), nowadays, the planning authorities believe that a well-balanced mixture of different activities and functions, such as tourism, culture, heritage and residential, can create critical elements in revitalising a historical area.
3.7.2 Eco-Villages and Eco-Cities
A sustainable city, the so-called eco-city, is a city planned based on the idea of achieving environmental impacts; this has been brought about by a number of occupied individuals devoted to the minimisation of the use of natural resources, such as energy, water and nourishment and waste yields. One of the key elements of a sustainable city is that it can maintain itself with minimal reliance on the encompassing region. Reasonable advancement requires harmony between ecological, social and financial support. The environmental features referred to above should be acceptable to people and should be in harmony with their economic development aspirations.
According to the World Bank (2009), eco-cities are cities that create economic opportunities for their citizens in an inclusive, sustainable and resource-efficient way, while also protecting and nurturing the local ecology and global public goods, such as the environment, for future generations.
Eco-friendly communities cannot exist without their villages being devoted to the ecological movement. The idea of eco-villages has been a subject of discussions worldwide since the first international conference on “Eco-villages and Sustainable Communities–Models for the 21st Century”, held in 1995. Today, eco-villages are generally seen as little groups with a firmly-knit structure integrated by natural, social, or societal needs. They share a profound admiration for nature, with people as a fundamental part of the natural system. Eco-villages address social, ecological and monetary measurements of supportability in an incorporated route, with human groups as a major aspect of, and not part of, balanced ecologies (Newman & Jennings, 2008).
3.7.3 Role of Urban Architecture in the Creation of Eco-cities in UAE
Public urban squares in the UAE urban areas that existed a few decades ago were used as places for gatherings for social and entertainment purposes; however, these urban spaces have lost their original cultural values and qualities as a space for communication. Due to current trends in architectural advancements and market needs, urban squares have changed considerably, especially with the advancement in UAE urban communities with increasing financial prosperity and expanding business demands. This has led to the eradication and constant changes in the structure streets and neighbourhoods, i.e., the construction of new streets and interstates and the destruction of the old structures into new and upcoming buildings. With these constant changes, the historical and preserved old public urban squares have now lost
their essence, values and traditions due to the absence of legitimate urban planning in implementing such inner-city spaces as a must-have feature of the new age and thus having them enforced into new towns and urban areas. Having these squares or plazas reinstated into urban neighbourhoods would aid in bringing back to life the UAE culture that has been forgotten. It will drive back and liven the social personality of the urban areas, bringing back its original purpose of acting as a meeting place for individuals living in the community.
In spite of the fact that the expression "eco-city" developed amid the late 1980s, the thoughts that have progressively leaned towards the idea and concept of eco-city; for example,
"Greenhouse city" or "green city" have been around for much longer. With time, the importance of ecological cities has taken the forefront due to extending worries of environmental issues.
Moreover, with the changing needs of national and universal requirements, it has become a must. Amid the 1960s and 1970s, the goal of the eco-city was primarily to make the air, water and soil clean. At present, in the 21st century, the acknowledgement of an eco-city requires the mix of different ecological targets; for example, climatic change alleviation, bio-assorted qualities protection and sound material cycles with the goals of commercial development and reasonableness in urban areas (Chan, Imura, Nakamura & Ao, 2008).
However, group manageability, especially regarding social values, such as social character, social uniqueness, ethnic peculiarity and group belongingness has been greatly influenced by the move towards globalisation (Butterworth, 2000). Environmental sustainability is, for the most part, perceived through specific markers, for example, environmental change, global warming, water and air quality, natural gas outflows, destitution, economy, society's well-being, education, characteristics, and so on (United Nations, 2007). It is often posited that culture needs to be protected from globalisation and market forces because it is perceived that individual communities will lose their cultural identity, traditions and languages to dominant ideas and cultural components (Duxbury & Gillette, 2007). This has impacted the achievement of sustainability as discussed in detail in Chapter 4.
It is also seen that sustainable architecture, planning and design are predominantly subject to the technological approach which places little attention on community-based components unique to their social and cultural contexts. Thus, the town or community may lose its identity because of the application of styled or branded designs, the type of imposed uses or perhaps due to the replacement of key building components by completely alien ones as that might be required for them to be considered “green”. Contrary to this, Woodcraft, Hackett and Arendar
(2011:17) state that “socially sustainable communities have the capacity to deal with change and to adapt to new situations, attributes that are now becoming increasingly essential in a globalised world”. Furthermore, other factors are also driving substantial attention to urban sustainability. First, there is an undisputed reality that in the 20th century, we passed from a primarily rural life to a primarily urban one, with more than half of the human population now dwelling in cities and communities. The collective creation of a more sustainable future must necessarily contend with this fact. Jabareen (2006:42) writes that “socially sustainable communities have the capacity to deal with change and to adapt to new situations, attributes that are now becoming increasingly essential in a globalised world”.
3.7.4 Urban Challenges to Sustainable Development in UAE cities
The concept of sustainable development in Arab cities is a relatively new paradigm. The thought that cities are somehow inappropriate or venues of confusion for human habitation has a much longer history as archived in both European and Middle Eastern traditions. The new focus on urban sustainability disputes this history. Several authors and scholars argue that, throughout the history of mankind, some people seem to have found some sort of balance with their natural environment for a specific period of time (Diamond, 2005; Smith & Wishnie, 2000). The collective creation of a more sustainable future must necessarily contend with the primary location of habitats.