The lecture will give an overview on current urban development trends and patterns in Oman, focussing in particular on their environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects and points out the driving forces behind the characterizing processes and mechanisms of urbanization in the country.

Sonja Nebel graduated from RWTH Aachen, Germany. She earned her PhD at the same university. Sonja has been teaching for more than 25 years at different universities in Europe and in Arab countries in the field of urban design, urban planning and urban conservation. For many years she has focused on cross-cultural and interdisciplinary scientific research on urbanization and housing, such as: "Urbanization processes and transforming housing patterns", (Zambia, Bolivia, Thailand), "Informal Housing" (Syria), "Megacities - egachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change" (China).She is currently head of Habitat Unit (www.habitat-unit.de) as a Guest professor at TU Berlin, Faculty VI and is Professor for Urban Planning and Urban Design at GUtech Oman - German University of Technology where she is principal investigator of an interdisciplinary research project on "Sustainable Urbanization Patterns in Oman". (www.urbanoman.org). Furthermore, she works as a consultant within the international development cooperation in the field of urban development and urban management, sustainable urban conservation, strategic and participatory planning.