Urban Green Space Availability in Muscat: How Much Greenery do we need in hot and hyper arid city?

Keywords: Muscat, Urban Green Space, planning, spatial anaysis
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 38

Abstract

Muscat, the Capital of Oman has witnessed a rapid urban sprawl during the last five decades, triggered by the hydrocarbon revenues. In 2018, Muscat encompasses around 1.4 Million-inhabitants, which represent around 30% of the total population of Oman. Muscat is a high-density city with 362 inhabitant per km2and characterized by a mixed land use pattern stretched over 60 km along a narrow coastal plain. The climate of Muscat is hot and hyper arid, with an annual average rainfall less than 100mm. Despite the high level of urbanization in the Muscat, the development of the green space is very restricted to the greenery of main roads with palm trees. The main goal of this article is to analyze different barriers restricting Urban Green Space (UGS) in Muscat. The analysis is intended to broaden the discussion on UGS provision in hot and hyper arid desert area. This study used the comparison of urban green space with the total population. The absence of green space strategies in the Muscat area, lack of policies and low awareness levels related to the importance of landscape and the surrounding built environment contribute to the current situation of green spaces supply in Muscat. In a hot and hyper arid desert settings like Muscat, that facing rapid urbanization and economic growth are challenging issues to reach the standard of 9 m2 per capita as suggested by the World Health Organization.