Modern Heritage Research Grants

This project explores the modern urban heritage of the UAE by documenting and analysing markets built or expanded between 1960 and 2000, a formative period in the nation’s development. Moving beyond iconic architecture, it highlights markets as vital social, cultural, and political spaces that shaped urban life and identity during the country’s rapid transformation. The study addresses a gap in research and preservation, combining archival investigation, architectural documentation, spatial analysis, and oral histories from traders, residents, and planners. Focusing on representative case studies across all seven emirates, it examines two models of markets—centrally planned icons and organically evolved centres—assessing their design, function, and impact. Outputs include a richly illustrated, comparative analysis and a comprehensive archive of photographs, maps, and narratives. The project reframes markets as living heritage, linking tangible architecture to intangible social memory, and offers a new perspective on how built spaces contribute to national identity and urban continuity.