ABSTRACT
In the Middle East, cities are growing rapidly, and the urban sprawl threatens historic landscapes. This chapter reviews the existing preservation strategies in place at Muharraq with particular attention paid to the engagement and involvement of local communities, and makes recommendations towards a more sustainable preservation strategy. It raises a number of issues related to the revitalisation of heritage areas in Arab cities in general and discusses the problems involved in the formulation of a viable strategy to achieve economic regeneration of historic centres, a popular practice in the region. The chapter examines a case study: Muharraq, Bahrain, one of the most important traditional cities in the Arabian Gulf, is one of the remaining living models of traditional Gulf urbanisation. Similar to post-occupancy evaluation methods applied in architecture, post-conservation evaluation (PCE) in traditional city centres is required.
