Vegetation, Bulldozing, and Urban Change-Related Risks to Built Heritage in Bawshar, Oman

ABSTRACT

Built heritage in Oman faces many natural and cultural risks. Socio-economic development has negatively affected the built heritage in Bawshar, one of Oman’s most developed cities. This study identifies and measures the current and potential risks to built heritage in Bawshar, focusing on vegetation, bulldozing, and urban change-related risks between 2000 and 2017. It also provides baseline data to help heritage managers protect the sites most vulnerable to risks. Satellite imagery and geographic information systems were used to classify change-related risks to built heritage. Risk maps were produced for the built heritage sites under threat over different periods in Bawshar. The results showed that 60%, 28%, and 11% of very high- and high-risk zones faced bulldozing, vegetation, and urban change-related risks, respectively. The methodology adopted in this study can help measure the type and magnitude of risks to built heritage in cities with characteristics similar to those of Bawshar.

KEYWORDS:

• Oman
• Bawshar
• built heritage
• urban change
• bulldozing
• risk maps

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The data used in this paper is part of a research project titled ‘Survey of Historical and Archaeological Monuments at Risk in Oman (SHAMRO): Muscat Governorate as a Case Study’. The project is carried out by the authors of this paper and fully funded by Sultan Qaboos University. It aims to provide up-to-date information on the general characteristics of the historical and archaeological monuments under threat, collecting details about their past conditions and current state. In addition, the project attempts to study the built cultural heritage sites’ social, cultural, and economic impacts on the local community.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohamed Hesein

Mohamed Hesein is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Archaeology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University. He has an MA from the University of Sorbonne IV, France and a PhD from the University of Leicester in the UK. His research concentrates on landscape archaeology and cultural heritage protection. He worked previously as an assistant professor in the Department of Archaeology, Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Libya. He is also the founder of the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Omar Al-Mukhtar.

Mohammed Ali K. Al-Belushi

Mohammed Ali K. Al-Belushi is an associated professor in the Department of Archaeology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University. He has an MA from the University of Liverpool and a PhD from the University of Birmingham. He is currently a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. His research focuses on archaeological resource management and heritage studies.