Govt to focus on blueprint for next 20 years of development

Muscat: Oman’s Supreme Council for Planning, (SCP) represented by the Oman National Spatial Strategy Project (ONSSP) team will hold the last of its regional spatial strategies workshops, this time to debate the strategic spatial alternatives for the Governorate of Muscat.

The workshop, which includes hundreds of participants, will work towards determining the ideal development plan for Muscat Governorate for the next twenty years from among three possible choices.

In a statement, the SCP said: “The outcome of this participatory event, together with the Multi-Criteria Assessment for the three alternatives, will feed into the final recommendation for selecting the most suitable spatial development alternative for Muscat Governorate.

“The participants will be debating three spatial alternatives, based on various themes including Urban Development, Economic Diversification, Environmental Management and Cultural Heritage, Transport and Infrastructure development,” the statement added.

The regional plans and workshops are part of an Oman-wide strategy for the Sultanate’s development.

“The draft National Spatial Strategy together with the Regional Spatial Strategies, including that of Muscat, are expected to be presented to the Cabinet by June next year. The ONSSP will provide the Government with the blueprint required for transforming the Sultanate’s spatial development for the next two decades.”

The Oman National Spatial Strategy revolves around how the country will develop during the next 20 years, while the Regional Spatial Strategies will look at the 11 governorates in Oman and how each of them should evolve to take Oman to greater heights.

The SCP statement continued: “The ONSSP is one of the largest long-term national planning endeavours the government has ever undertaken.

“When it is complete, the ONSSP, supported by the legal framework, will be the highest spatial policy, providing the framework for the Sultanate’s development for the next two decades and will help guide government investments and decisions for the sustainable development of Oman, while aligning its objectives with those of the Oman Vision 2040.”