This year brought about one of the most sweeping moves yet to safeguard Abu Dhabi’s heritage.
The emirate's Department of Culture and Tourism announced in July that 64 buildings and sites required “immediate and unconditional protection”.
The department’s Modern Heritage Conservation Initiative prioritises maintaining and rehabilitating the buildings according to their designated grade. No demolition applications are allowed.
“It is our civic responsibility to guard this modern heritage,” said Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi.
“Not only because of the value it holds in our collective memory as residents of this emirate but because of the historical testimony it has in telling Abu Dhabi’s story through architectural and urban identity between the traditional past and our aspirations for the future.”
Preserving rich heritage
Prominent buildings such as the old Adnoc headquarters, the Central Bank, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and the city’s main bus terminal came under the initiative.
But, as the photos in the gallery show, the 64 also include less familiar places – including parks, water tanks, a health complex, one of the early residential towers, and even a cluster of ghaf trees in the city.
These tell the history of Abu Dhabi as well as the more prominent buildings. The Niqa bin Ateej water tank and park in Khalidiyah, for example, ensured vital water supplies for a city massively expanding on the back of the oil boom.
Parks such as Airport Road Park brought greenery to a desert city, allowed families to enjoy downtime and children to delight in its pineapple slides. This park was also home to one of the city’s first fast-food chains, Wimpy, with the building still there today.
Some of the early residential towers are on the list, such as the Elenco and Harib buildings. Harib on Electra Street (Sultan bin Zayed the First), for example, was the Etihad Towers of its day. The 1970s-era building was one of the most sought-after in the city, with sea views and shops below ensuring residents didn’t have to venture too far to get what they needed.
The year 2023 brought much needed focus and safeguards to these buildings and places that allow us to look back in time. But consideration is now being given to how they can be used for the next generation.
As Yasser Elsheshtawy, adjunct professor of architecture at Columbia University in the US and an expert on urbanism in the Gulf, told The National in July, it is a crucial question for 2024 and beyond.
“You want to avoid having a city comprised of empty shells, pretty to look at, but otherwise devoid of functional value,” he said.
“A city cannot be a fossilised version of its past but needs to change, adapt and grow. This initiative is the first step in achieving this goal.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company%20Profile
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE Premiership
Results
Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes
Fixture
Friday, March 29, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, The Sevens, Dubai
THE BIO
Occupation: Specialised chief medical laboratory technologist
Age: 78
Favourite destination: Always Al Ain “Dar Al Zain”
Hobbies: his work - “ the thing which I am most passionate for and which occupied all my time in the morning and evening from 1963 to 2019”
Other hobbies: football
Favorite football club: Al Ain Sports Club
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
