ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the signature project of Msheireb Properties, which involves the regeneration of the old commercial centre of Doha, contextualised within a long process of oil-urbanisation' in the region. It explains how this has shaped both the physical structure and the social composition of the main cities in the Arabian Gulf states. Culturally sensitive aspects such as the preservation of privacy and the significance of practising gender segregation still characterise daily life in the Arabian Gulf states. The Msheireb Project proposes a new paradigm of architecture and planning that contrasts contemporary urban developments in other cities of the Arabian Gulf states. The chapter focuses on the limited number of published and unpublished primary and secondary sources, and interviews undertaken with staff from the Ministry of Municipalities and Urban Planning (MMUP) in Qatar, Qatar Museums Authority (QMA), academics from Qatar University (QU) and employees of Qatar Foundation (QF) working in the field of urban development in Doha.
