After 1970, Oman began a rapid economic and institutional modernization process. Over the first decades of Sultan Qaboos’ reign, Greater Muscat came to embody modernity, heritage, and the demographic diversity of Oman. Muscat was the face of the new, inclusive state. Muscat became an integral part of Qaboos’ nation-building program, a source of legitimacy for his rule, and the urban representation of the state he embodied. Viable modernization required sustainable urbanization. Both rested on three main pillars: infrastructure, politics, and culture, a model to be reproduced in other urban centers across the country.

Starting in the 1970s, a growing number of Omanis from different ethnic and religious affiliations were attracted to Greater Muscat, making the administration in Muscat and throughout the country more representative and diverse. At the same time, new infrastructure and economic developments in Muscat during the 1970s and 1980s created a gravitational shift in the political economy of Oman after Qaboos took office. The Seeb International Airport or Mina Qaboos (Qaboos Port) not only symbolized the development of the country; major infrastructure projects also established a dialogue between the Indian Ocean maritime tradition of the Sultanate and the Arab component of Omani identity. Similarly, culture was institutionalized in projects like the Omani Museum, which provided a national narrative for the new Oman. The impact of these transformations in the urban sphere shows the extension of the Oman Renaissance in Muscat, and how it established a new relation between state, city, and resident.

Muscat also allowed Oman to reach out to the wider Arabic-speaking world, creating links with major metropolitan centers in the region. Cairo, as the most populous and important urban center of the time, focused in earnest on changes in Muscat. The new Sultan and his government eagerly presented a new vision for Oman and its capital to reporters in Egypt. From there, news of Oman’s progress spread throughout the Arabic-speaking world.

All Roads Lead to Muscat

The ascent to the throne of Sultan Qaboos in July 1970 gathered wide media coverage outside Oman. In Egypt, with one of the most important media industries in Arabic at the time, periodicals reproduced Qaboos’ inaugural speech. Reporters conducted a number of interviews with the Sultan or with some of the members of his government during the first years of his rule.