Cities for a viable future...

As population is witnessing an exponential growth, countries in the world are facing a demographic shift. This means more people are living in cities, posing more challenges for countries in providing basic services.

According to the UN Population Fund, over half of the world’s population today lives in cities. As the trend expected to continue, the urban population, from its current size of 4.4 billion inhabitants, will more than double by 2050.

This urban surge gave birth to the concept of “smart cities” as they adopt smart and innovative technologies to ensure improvement in people’s quality of life and also care for future generations.

In other words, smart cities help maintain better relations between the governments and citizens that will ensure improvements in operational efficiency in key basic services.

In this context, I love what's happening in the Sultanate of Oman, which had been my favourite country and my home for two and a half decades. It gives pleasure to see that Oman is becoming one of the forerunners in creating smart city hubs.

When we look at Oman's growth path, we find that urbanisation has made a significant stride during the last decades. Indeed, it surged from a mere 31.3 per cent in 1971 to a mammoth 86.3 per cent in 2020. Data shows that in 1950, less than 2.5 per cent of Omanis lived in urban areas.

According to data provider Statista, in 2023, the share of urban population in Oman represented the peak at around 88.4 per cent.

Now look at the way the number of smart cities coming up in Oman; a number of smart areas have been identified, including smart economy, smart mobility, smart environment, smart citizen, smart living, and smart government.

Significantly, Oman is among the countries that signed a commitment to apply its principles in all national plans and strategies that call for ensuring universal access to safe and affordable basic housing and services, sustainable transport systems, and green and public spaces for all.

In this direction, Oman has already unveiled its National Spatial Strategy, an enabler to achieve the ambitious Oman Vision 2040, to accelerate Oman’s smart city journey of urbanisation and to capitalise on the potential for social, economic, and environmental development.

The Omani authorities recently announced their plans to construct Sultan Haitham City, a new smart city located outside of Muscat, as part of Oman Vision 2040.

According to the plan drawn up by the American architectural firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, the new city will be accessible through a mass transit system connected to Muscat, and feature smart infrastructure designed to monitor environmental factors such as air quality and water management.

The city will have a wide array of residential units that will house 100,000 people in 20,000 homes spread over 19 neighbourhoods and 14.8 square kilometres.

The project will also include a traffic management system that utilizes real-time data from cameras and speed sensors to reroute vehicles and control traffic flow. The city's design aims to minimise its ecological impact with the use of solar energy facilities, wastewater recycling, electric vehicle infrastructure, and waste-to-energy plants.

More than a city, this iconic hub will consist of an ecosystem, and a unified society built on the notion that real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.

With meticulous attention to architectural excellence and design, the city aspires to become a true landmark and a cherished gift from His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to all segments of society, especially the youth.