Comments on: Mercer’s Oman Eco-City Ranking Suspect

By: Al Bahri Farid

Al Bahri Farid — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:19:37 +0000

The whole country itself is just approximately 3.5 Million population and Muscat City is just around 1 Million inhabitant with a high proportion of foreign population. The labour intensive industries without counting the government and Petroleum Development Oman are tourism, banking, telecommunication, a relatively small industrial estate (which is also developed out of the city) and trade to name a few. A small city like Muscat does not need to have those heavy industries you find elsewhere, which again create lots of pollution. The country as a whole is now celebrating 40 years since Sultan Qaboos has taken power and the progress is immense since prior to his rule Oman was really underdeveloped. A metro system in Muscat is not the right option since the city is built on rocky mountainous location and also that the city is stretching the coast around 50KM long. One thing to note here is that the vehicles running in the city of Muscat are mostly relatively new models and do not consume as much fossil fuel and pollute the city like some other city around the world where you find engines that create smoke everywhere. Cycling is more of a sport than a mode of transport I would say and that also for seasonal condition considering the high temperature. The country as a whole is now planning to develop a train, which is part of the whole Gulf Rail Link project. Taking all these facts into consideration and having lived in the city, I do believe it is one of the cleanest city in the world and all efforts are being made to keep the people eco conscious and reduce the pollution. New study are also being carried out to look at the viability of new source of energy such as the sun and the wind. Worth mentioning that current electric turbine are gas powered, which don’t pollute as much as coal powered turbines. Well I think you should prepare yourself now to toot the vuvuzela for all the world to know. 🙂 Although I do agree that still more is to be done.

By: Tafline Laylin

Tafline Laylin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:11:24 +0000

Thank you for your comments.

Please note that the city’s lack of labor-intensive industry and heavy economic reliance on fossil-fuels are also among the attributes that compromise the city’s status as “eco” – at least according to Ecocity Builders’ rubric.

By: Al Bahri Farid

Al Bahri Farid — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:48:57 +0000

For a city to be recognized as Eco-City one need not just focus at whether the water is sourced from desalination facilities or not. Most desertic countries that have a sea access source their water from desalination facilities. It is important to mention here that Muscat is a Green City wherein several projects are under way to make it even greener with sewage treatment plant such as http://www.haya.com.om/hayawater/aboutus_Vision_%20Mission.aspx and the recently constructed Wadi Dayqah dam in Quriyat (100KM from Muscat)with a capacity to hold 100 Million cubic metres of water http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=30062 which will provide water for farmland and electricity as well as protect local villages from flood. The city is lucky to be underpopulated which makes it a heaven of preservation as well as reduction in polution. Other facts are the importance the government is paying on environment http://www.environment.org.om. Find out more and then compare before giving one conclusion based on just one attribute.

By: Karin Kloosterman

Karin Kloosterman — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:26:02 +0000

A most interesting article, Tafline. I like how you investigated what’s behind this company’s ranking, and the kind of people it appeals to.