Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive Participatory Practices in Urban Development in UAE

An Indigenous Model? Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive Participatory Practices in Urban Development in UAE

Speaker: Olivia Duncan
Supervisors: Dr Clare Melhuish and Dr Barbara Lipietz
Guest panellist: Dr Cynthia Myntti, Visiting Professor from New York University, Abu Dhabi

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the impact of rapid urbanisation on the indigenous Emirati female population of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on their adaptation to the urban built environment, participation in urban change, and development of an urban identity.   

While substantial scholarly attention has been given to the rapid ‘rags to riches’ narrative of Abu Dhabi’s urbanisation, most accounts tend to focus on an unproblematic glorification of UAE’s prompt adoption of Western urban models, with little reference to their colonial past or cultural specificities. By contrast, this study will interrogate the colonial legacies of Gulf urbanisation through diverse lenses of women’s experience, as another significantly under-researched area of study in the field of Gulf urbanism. 

The research seeks to understand the contradictions that exist between societal’s expectations on women’s domestic responsibilities, and their evolving urban identities as city dwellers, through an exploration of the relevance of western models of participatory planning in the Gulf capital.

About The Bartlett Research Conversations

The Bartlett School of Architecture’s Research Conversations seminars comprise work-in-progress and upgrade presentations by students undertaking the Architectural Design MPhil/PhD and Architectural and Urban History and Theory MPhil/PhD. All current UCL staff and students are welcome to attend.

Held regularly throughout the academic year, the seminars are attended by the Programme Directors, Professor Sophia Psarra, Dr Nina Vollenbröker and Professor Nat Chard; PhD Coordinators, Dr Stamatis Zografos and Dr Stelios Giamarelos; and other PhD supervisors.

Image: Dream House by Olivia Duncan