Sultan Haitham City (MoHUP)

Who is behind the city

The client and owner is Oman’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning (MoHUP). Sultan Haitham City is the first project of its programme to change how Omani cities are built, and it is anchored in Oman Vision 2040, the country’s long-term strategy. The master plan was commissioned from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the American practice known for the Burj Khalifa, One World Trade Center and large urban plans across the Gulf. SOM interpreted the Ministry’s twelve attributes for the new city, among them inclusive, affordable, compact, walkable, circular, smart and healthy, into a plan of 14.8 million m² with 2.9 million m² of public space.

The idea of the plan

A 7.5-kilometre dry river, a wadi, runs through the site. Instead of fencing it off, SOM made it the heart of the city: the wadi becomes a public park that captures flood water and links four green pedestrian spines, so that every one of the nineteen neighbourhoods has parks, shaded plazas and daily amenities within walking distance. Housing comes in mixed densities and types, from apartments and townhouses to semi-detached and detached villas, along routes planned for public transport, cycling and walking.

Energy, water and technology

The city is designed for Oman’s 2050 net-zero target: solar power as the main renewable source, waste-to-energy, treated wastewater reused for landscaping, and a material reuse strategy for construction. Air-quality monitoring, smart lighting, traffic management and micro-mobility stations are built into the infrastructure.

Phases and sales

Construction runs in four phases from 2024 to 2045, with the first phase scheduled for 2024–2030. Individual neighbourhoods are delivered by licensed Omani developers and contractors, including Sarooj Development’s Sarooj Oasis, and sold on construction-linked plans with payments to project escrow accounts. Sultan Qaboos Road and the Muscat Expressway are five minutes away, Seeb beach and Mall of Muscat about ten, the airport about twenty-five.