The government of the Kingdom of Bahrain together with the United Nations Development Program and the UNESCO has instituted a program to financially regenerate the traditional houses of the cities of Manama and Muharraq.

Throughout the Gulf region, the traditional courtyard houses of coral stone and plaster have been demolished at an astonishing rate in the name of progress. Only now are the governments of the region realizing that they are losing or have lost much of their cultural heritage.

Duane Phillips of DPZ-Europe was appointed as Urban Design consultant and Project Coordinator by the United Nations Development Program

The program involves six consultants in the fields of legal, economics, urban design, conservation zones, conservation techniques, and computer data base working together to develop integrated proposals which will enable not only the owners of the individual buildings to modernize yet conserve their houses, but also to reinvigorate the historic city centers and attract back to the cities Bahraini Middle-Class families.

Aspects under investigation include public and private financial programs, new laws creating conservation zones and architectural guidelines, and proposals for the new government structures for administering the project, as well as tackling the problems of inheritance laws and overcrowding.

The economic regeneration of the two city centers has been planned in phase with certain goals identified for the short, medium, and long term. Altogether this process is expected to take 7-10 years. The Kingdom of Bahrain deserves the highest praise for their foresight and commitment to the project. Not only will they create livable, sustainable communities, but they will also ensure the survival of their built cultural heritage for future generations.