Cultural Heritage Management and Policies in Qatar: A Case Study of the Historic Urban Landscape Approach in Education City

Abstract

Balancing the preservation of historic areas with modernisation presents a challenge for cultural policy, urban planning and heritage management in emerging Gulf countries. This study examines heritage management and cultural policies in Qatar using UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in the case study of Education City. It focuses on heritage attributes, governance, and contemporary urban regeneration as symbolic practices that promote cultural value. This study employed a qualitative approach using visual and oral data, including historical maps, policy reviews, and spatiotemporal analyses. The findings reveal that heritage layers have transformed into modern landscapes after oil exploration, exacerbated by cultural amnesia and the demolition of historical sites. While Qatar has developed modern urban landscapes that exemplify dynamic cities, recent interest in incremental, culture-led urban regeneration has focused on sustainable heritage management and cultural identity to aggregate past, present, and future developments. Multidisciplinary cultural policies and implementations emphasise the integration of old and new urban assets to improve community interactions with heritage. Using this approach, while maintaining historic assets, can reinvigorate other heritage sites that are at various stages of disrepair.