Tradition and modernity.

This is an outlook that finds clear parallels in modern-day Qatar. The economic backbone of the small emirate is its enormous reserves of natural gas and oil, but the Qataris do not want to limit themselves to these finite resources. Saad Al Muhannadi, Vice President of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, is in charge of implementing a vision for the year 2030 which aims to “transform the state from a carbon-based to a knowledge-based economy”. The state foundation plans to invest 190 billion US dollars in the large-scale project, which is founded on the key principles of creativity, intellect and critical thinking. A large Science & Technology Park is already in place, where scientists and engineers from all over the world work on future technologies. Not far away is Education City, which houses branch campuses of top Western universities. What’s more, Doha plans to establish itself as a leading location for sporting and cultural events, most notably the 2022 Soccer World Cup.

The Qataris are busy enhancing their urban infrastructure, already impressive by modern standards. In addition to a metro system, there will be a whole new district without skyscrapers and gated communities. Instead, the focus will be on traditional Qatari architecture blended with Western modernity. For instance, traditional arcades, combined with shady solar roofs, will be designed to make the sweltering heat bearable even without air conditioning.

“Our team is developing an environmentally friendly, energy-efficient and high-quality infrastructure”, promises Saad Al Muhannadi. “After all, state-of-the-art technology and tradition combined with sustainability are rated highly here.” A sentence that could just as easily have come from Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer.