Community-led initiatives for the rehabilitation and management of vernacular settlements in Oman: a phenomenon in the making

Benkari Naima

doi:10.1186/s43238-021-00039-5

Abstract

Once abandoned for more than three decades, vernacular settlements in Oman are now being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector. The present research focuses on the emerging phenomenon of community-led initiatives for vernacular heritage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse in Oman. Through an examination of three case studies, its aim is to describe this process and its modes of action and discuss its effects on vernacular settlement transformations. A mixed research methodology was designed to include (A) analyses of relevant primary and secondary data, (B) documented onsite observations, (C) interviews with local community representatives and key players in the operations of rehabilitation, and (D) extractions and analyses of quantitative data from a hotel booking website.The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes. It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of ‘bottom-up’ management of its built heritage, coupled with a ‘horizontal cooperation’ between the three initiatives studied in this research. Moreover, it shows that a heavily centralised and top-down policy for the field of heritage conservation and management is among the main obstacles that hinder such initiatives. Furthermore, community-led operations of vernacular heritage rehabilitation are being undertaken under insufficient regulations in terms of land use, building restoration and adaptive reuse. In this context, the paper discusses some of the serious threats and concerns faced by such initiatives and proposes actionable solutions to mitigate these hindrances.

Highlights

Once abandoned for more than three decades, vernacular settlements in Oman are being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector
The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes. It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of ‘bottom-up’ management of its built heritage, coupled with a ‘horizontal cooperation’ between the three initiatives studied in this research
Community-led operations of vernacular heritage rehabilitation are being undertaken under insufficient regulations in terms of land use, building restoration and adaptive reuse

Summary

Introduction

Once abandoned for more than three decades, vernacular settlements in Oman are being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector. The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of ‘bottom-up’ management of its built heritage, coupled with a ‘horizontal cooperation’ between the three initiatives studied in this research. Regarded as a ‘minor heritage’, vernacular settlements and their traditional stone and earthen architecture were superficially addressed by laws and mostly neglected by both the government and the community (Bandyopadhyay 2000; Benkari 2017b; Benkari, Naima, Salim Woaud Al-Araimi, and Khalifa Khalsa Al-Salmi: Oman heritage policy and its applications in the built heritage protection, under press). Most Omanis deserted their vernacular houses, which they deemed unsustainable for modern standards of comfortable living, such as running water, electricity and air conditioning Instead, they built ‘modern villas’ out of cement in the main cities or in settlements near their land of origin. A few of these dwellings have been reused by foreign workers, brought to Oman to perform manual labour, which Omanis have progressively deserted, in agriculture, animal husbandry, and other occupations in the fields of craftsmanship and construction (Benkari 2017c; Al Shueili 2015, 171; Klinger 2020, 111, 121, 166)

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