Landscape Architecture in the Arab Middle East

This book explores the challenges facing landscape architecture in the Middle East. It supports the idea that landscape is a multifaceted idea, and examines landscapes architecture as an emerging profession in the region. The book also responds to the limitations of faulty translations of the English ‘landscape’ that, in turn, limit the professional potential in the region.

The authors of the book see landscape as a way of beholding the world that is informed by place and culture. And because landscape is context specific, a landscape framing contextualizes a problem, be it community development, tourism, or nature conservation, to foster place and culture responsive perspectives. The nine chapters are grouped under four broad themes that reflect the multifaceted, ‘expansive’ framing that embraces landscape, natural and cultural heritage, people and livelihoods, and landscape and human rights.

The authors recognize that a landscape framing is not the exclusive domain of landscape architecture, but can be applied by architects, planners, and environmentalists. The ideas advanced and issues discussed will be of interest to researchers, students, and practitioners in landscape architecture, architecture, planning, and urban design, as well as social and environmental scientists.