Demonstration and analysis of tangible heritage management strategy using geographical information systems for the city of Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is focusing on towards two paradoxical directions especially after the oil-boom. The first is the contemporary architectural development, while the second is the conservation of traditional dwellings and historical sites in the country. It is obvious that the management and planning towards the first direction are fully integrated and highly pr????cised to be implemented efficiently, thus, unveiling a new fa????ade of contemporary lifestyle to the world. But the second direction is lacking good strategic efforts for conservation, preservation methods and tourism promotion, especially among different authorities that are in charge of either management or implementation of conservation techniques. Therefore, the country started looking for solutions that initiate the right management strategy to be followed and improve the use and promotion of tangible heritage. In this research, I am taking the case of the city of Al-Ain since it has started taking the path and has established an agreement with UNESCO. Geographical Information Systems is used in this research as a tool to implement the major objectives and solutions for issues discussed in the agreement. In this research, the main issues that were discussed in the agreement were segregated and studied separately in terms of geographic extent, then, spatially represented on the map. Furthermore, they were analyzed using the different techniques in the Geographical Information Systems software ArcGIS to demonstrate each issue and problem and study its expected results. It was clear from this research that these issues were clearly presented using the software and will aid in the decision making process, especially for stakeholders and different entities in the city of Al Ain.