The Workers’ Madinat : Housing for Migrant Workers in Oman

In the past few years, migrant worker accommodations in the Gulf states have raised more and more awareness. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the insufficiency of the living conditions the workers are facing become more apparent than ever before. However, the focus in the media coverage lies in accommodations in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, two countries whose reputation is usually characterised by prestigious architecture and a splendid lifestyle. What is, on the other hand, hardly documented in both media or literature are the camps in the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.

Apart from the UAE and Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia are members of the GCC as well, an institution of Arab countries that are all known for their rapid growth in wealth due to the discovery of oil in the past few decades. The new building tasks that are linked to the economic growth of these countries demand many unskilled labourers, who are mainly low-paid migrant workers from South and Southeast Asian countries.

In Oman, isolated and separated from the local population, hundreds of thousands of low-skilled migrant workers live in labour camps across the country. Indispensable for national economic growth and the construction business, the workers make up an important part of the Omani population, yet they are often housed in inappropriate conditions. The municipality of Muscat realises the need for more accommodations for workers, yet the strategy of creating temporary container camps remains the same. In order to propose a counterexample to the rising ‘Labour Cities’, this project examines an alternative that could benefit both the migrant and the local population. A digital ethnographic research approach to document the current living conditions of migrant workers in Omani labour camps is combined with a policy proposal to rethink accommodations for migrant workers that on the one hand break with the radical spatial segregation of migrant workers and on the other hand build the backbone of a more sustainable approach in Oman that can adapt to higher income group requirements.

The standard labour camp in the Muscat Capital Area is a dormitory-style accommodation, fenced off and hidden from the public

Research

The standard labour camp in the Muscat Capital Area is a dormitory-style accommodation, fenced off and hidden from the public. The workers are provided with small rooms, measured by the number of people sleeping in it, and with bunk beds, communal bathrooms and kitchens. A common characteristic among most of the labour camps is their location at the periphery of Muscat. A catalogue that includes all the major industrial areas of the Muscat Capital Area identifies the spatial distribution, size and layout of these camps. The main part of this field of research evaluates the patterns of inhabitation in an ethnographic way. Divided into four different observation categories – domestic practices, social spaces‚ religious rituals and mobility – this documentation aims to both capture cultural patterns of inhabitation that should possibly be taken into account in a possible alternative design, while also determining the patterns that are repetitively insufficient in terms of living quality in the camps.

The research methodology is being demonstrated against the background of the consequence of the COVID-19 restrictions that did not allow an onsite observation. The online research led to an interesting finding in using social media as one of the primary sources. While social media is in many ways known for not being a reliable source of information, here Tik Tok dances, Instagram reels or Facebook videos within the camps revealed many activities and patterns that were happening simultaneously or passively in the background. If aspects reoccurred throughout different camps, they could be identified as patterns. The ethnographical study unveiled insufficient characteristics like the extreme temperatures in the dorms, a lack of storage space, no private space or space for personal care, no designated space for a wet laundry, no shaded open or recreational spaces, bad air quality and an isolated location just to name a few. On the other hand, the ethnographic study also brought to light the workers’ interventions with the few methods they had and also the facilities they were given in some of the camps that were intensively used by the workers, such as a sports field, little mosques or cabins that were transformed into temples.

Concept

The concept for alternative housing for migrant workers implies the creation of a new peripheral district for the workers that is intertwined with the existing urban tissue and infrastructure. With further expansion of the city, more of these districts will form along the urban fringes and the existing neighbourhoods will turn into popular and central residential areas for higher income groups. This will make the neighbourhood, despite their higher initial costs, feasible for the municipality, the employers and possible investors. Since the city of Muscat is constantly growing, the design anticipates a change of inhabitants of the neighbourhood over the years, which will make current temporary labour camps redundant.

Design

The design shows how local materials, smart prefabrication and standardisation methods can create a heterogenous urban fabric that responds to the hot and arid climate by creating wind cascades and maximising shaded public and private spaces by making use of local urban agriculture. Inspired by traditional oasis settlements, the design benefits from natural water resources and fertile land. Located at the intersection of the Wadi Al Khoud and the Muscat Express Highway, the neighbourhood rests on a natural platform that keeps it safe from flooding.

The nearby Wadi serves as a recreational area for the workers as well as the neighbouring districts. A mosque, a temple and a large souq further connect the neighbourhood with its surroundings. It is divided into six smaller neighbourhoods, each containing several clusters with semi-private courtyards and a variety of public spaces that accommodate sports facilities, resting areas and neighbourhood mosques and temples. Different scales enable the workers to identify their house, their cluster or their neighbourhood and form communities on different levels. The design aims to carefully evaluate these unsatisfactory aspects of life in labour camps as identified in the ethnographic study as well as those worth preserving and to create new synergies in order to improve the lives of the workers. The workers’ laundry, that would usually hang across the rooms or in between air conditioning, now has its designated space that also improves evaporative cooling within the building.

The design aims to carefully evaluate these unsatisfactory aspects of life in labour camps as identified in the ethnographic study as well as those worth preserving

Recessed facades create varying street profiles as well as shaded social spaces towards the streets and the courtyards. Each worker can seclude himself in his personal room, share a bathroom with three other rooms, share a living room and kitchen with a house of 20 rooms, share a courtyard with eight to twelve houses that form a cluster and share a neighbourhood including a mosque or temple, a sports field and other social spaces with several clusters. The workers can, after work or on their day off, form communities and join communal activities or pursue their beliefs on their own or with kindred spirits. According to the findings in the ethnographic study and the site analysis, the design offers new synergies that benefit the climate and comfort inside and outside the dwellings as much as the workers needs for essential domestic practices, social spaces, religious rituals and mobility.

The neighbourhoods are built in stages by the migrant workers and with local materials that are prefabricated on site. While the workers start inhabiting the finished neighbourhoods, new ones are being built around them until finally new locations are being inaugurated. Gradually some of the neighbourhoods will be empty and make space for higher income groups that will be attracted by the radically different and pedestrian-friendly environment and the central location of the neighbourhoods.

The future development of the workers’ madinat foresees the adaptation of the dwellings, public spaces and infrastructure to meet the requirements of different user groups. Compounds that housed around 20 workers can be transformed into one- or two-storeyed apartments with a shared access, or spacious villas for a single family with housekeepers. Spaces that previously served a homogeneous adult male society, now adapt to the needs of a heterogeneous society that includes women, children and elderly people. Some facilities remain the same, such as the souq, the neighbourhood mosques and temples, but primarily the pleasant and shaded public spaces. The function might shift from a sports field to a playground, yet the well ventilated and shaded spaces will attract any resident to dwell in them.

Aim

This approach aims to create a more liveable and safe environment for migrant workers that stay in the country for several years, while making the inadequate and temporary container camps redundant and creating a more resilient backbone for the urban development of the country. It is not only applicable in Oman but also in other Gulf states where there are similar living conditions for migrant workers as well as for Olympic and World Cup Stadium constructions, where masses of migrant workers are involved, who could be housed in similar neighbourhoods, that will afterwards be offered to athletes and later on to the local population. I believe that it is necessary to create synergies that benefit the broad population to pave the way to a more equal society where barriers of social and spatial segregation can slowly be lifted.

All Graphics: Ramona Scheffer

Mentors: Nelson Mota, Paul Chan & Jan van de Voort