For this assignment, I chose to analyze my neighborhood Al Majaz, which is situated in Sharjah, UAE. In Sharjah, there’s a recently renovated waterfront that is joined to a park. These are called the Majaz Waterfront and the Majaz Park. In the attached maps, I have illustrated the park and waterfront in the context of the neighborhood it is situated in - Al Majaz (shown in purple on map 1). I will be looking at the urban divisions in this area using the fundamentals of William Whyte and Leon Krier, and comparing it to the other aspects of the Al Majaz area.
Through his observations, William Whyte found that people are attracted to places that have light, water, air, greenery, food and context. The UAE in general is a desert environment, and there is not a lot of greenery in the outskirts of the city. The government has made conscious efforts to implement more green spaces such as the park and the waterfront, which therefore attracts a lot of people. While the Majaz park offers some public seating, it expands into the Majaz waterfront where there are facilities such as shops, restaurants, a children’s playground, a mosque and a jogging track to keep people engaged. These sites are surrounded by mostly residential buildings and a few commercial ones too, so it is a prime location for families to spend leisure time. The distribution of these residential and commercial buildings are shown on map 3 in yellow and dark brown. While Whyte believes that sunlight also attracts people in public spaces, due to the extremely hot desert environment in the UAE, many people actually are attracted by shade. The Majaz waterfront and park achieves this by planting many trees that provide shade and implementing outdoor spaces with covered rooftops.
Whyte also said that people like to sit in places with a view. At the waterfront, there are many restaurants that have rooftops which allow people to face the water and watch the fountains. The commercial buildings at the waterfront have a very modern articulation and detailing, given by their flat roof tops with some cultural aspects shown in the use of patterns and sand-like brown color. Moreover, there are many events, concerts and festivals that happen at this site which further attract more people. Leon Krier said that a civilized city is the combination of the economic background of the private residential spaces with shared public spaces. This is shown in the framework of the Al Majaz area. While there are many high-rise, privately owned buildings surrounding the area, the main area that calls attention is the public space at the waterfront.
Due to COVID, UAE placed a mandatory lockdown for two months where people were only allowed to be outside for very short periods of time and for emergency purposes. Even during the times of prayer, the mosques were closed but the prayer calls were still sent out. Furthermore, restaurants and cafes closed down. Restaurants and cafes are one of the largest business sectors in the UAE since food is an essential part of the culture. This immediately led to a decrease in the overall number of people at the waterfront and the park.
This is a mainstream environment where people are not just driving by, but also easily accessible by walking as there are multiple pathways to this site. However, depending on the weather conditions, the number of people walking outside may vary. From experience, it gets extremely hot and humid during the summers (both in the morning and at night), which makes it harder to be outdoors for long periods of time. Therefore, from observation, one would see fewer people walking outside. During the summer, the waterfront as well as other public spaces would be more accessible to people with cars. However, during the other months of the year when the weather is a lot cooler, many families are seen outside for long periods of time during the evenings and the weekends having picnics in the park and spending time by the waterfront. Other than families, younger teens often visit the waterfront and park too, usually after school late in the afternoon.
An important part of UAE’s culture is the Islamic religion, and by placing a mosque within the foreground center area of the waterfront, placing high significance on the country’s cultural values. Such aspects in public spaces makes the area socio-culturally hospitable to the residents. Mosques are a prominent feature of the built environment in Sharjah, and there is at least one mosque in every neighborhood. There is very little supervised activity in the mosques, and anyone can go visit, including those who do not follow Islam. However, this mosque does not allow non-Muslims to visit. Of course, mosques can be observed from a respectful distance, however, it is sometimes seen disrespectful to those who do practice Islam. There are a few mosques that allow non-Muslims to visit and take guided tours, such as the Noor Mosque (shown on map 5 ). As a non-Muslim, I myself find these tours very helpful to learn more about the mosques’ architectural space, the religion and rituals. The mosques are often segregated based on gender. In terms of the Majaz waterfront, during times of prayer, the mosque can shift the dynamics of the space and use from an area of leisure to an area of worship. From Whyte, I understand that European plazas may have churches and temples at the center. Similarly in the UAE, the mosques are usually placed in the centre of plazas, along with commercial shops. On the other hand, American public spaces such as parks generally do not have religious spaces or commerce integrated.
Even though most public spaces in Majaz such as the waterfront were developed as a public space by an independent government firm - Shurooq, I would describe them as a ‘privately-owned public space’. These spaces usually exclude lower-income, expat laborer workers from occupying this space to some extent. For example, the Majaz Park has regulations that say only families and women are allowed to be in the park, whereas single men are not allowed. Majority of the immigrant labourers do not have their families in the UAE, so many of them are not allowed in the Majaz park. The park is surveillanced by security guards walking around the area at all times. However, the Majaz waterfront does not have these restrictions. Even though it is a public space, there are very few labourers who do visit the Majaz waterfront because 1. the shops and restaurants there are expensive, and 2. most labourers work in the industrial areas or live in low-income areas such as Rolla (refer to map 2), which is a long walk from the site, making the Majaz waterfront more inaccessible for them (especially during the hot weather in the summer). Plus, most labourers do not own personal vehicles, and usually have to take public transport or walk. Public transport such as taxis and buses in the UAE are very expensive, making it even harder for labourers to access these spaces.
That being said, there are parks and waterfronts in lower-income neighborhoods similar to the one in Al Majaz, so most laborers tend to go there since it is a lot more easily accessible. Similarly, malls are also open to the public. However, because most of the shops are expensive, labourers often cannot afford to shop there, which forms limitations for them. In most public spaces, I have noticed from observation that, generally, low-income, immigrant workers are put under high surveillance by security, even though there are no rules that prevent them from occupying public spaces. Growing up in the UAE, I have noticed this kind of discrimination not only based on class, but also on nationality. For instance, my own high-school would only allow European and Emirati nationals to attend the school, and it was not until recently where they started allowing other immigrants to attend. I am looking forward to using GIS tools in the coming weeks to explore these urban divisions that can be seen in Sharjah.
Map 1
Map 2 (Majaz and Rolla)
Map 3 (residential and commercial)
Map 4 (drawing from assignment 1.2)
