• People have rebuilt in wadi valleys beside the road where construction supplies and generators can now easily reach old ancestral land. Even in areas without new roads, construction has increased thanks to stronger financial support for Emirati housing.
    People have rebuilt in wadi valleys beside the road where construction supplies and generators can now easily reach old ancestral land. Even in areas without new roads, construction has increased thanks to stronger financial support for Emirati housing.
  • With generous government grants in the Northern emirates, more people are building permanent homes in wadi basins of the mountains.
    With generous government grants in the Northern emirates, more people are building permanent homes in wadi basins of the mountains.
  • Rashed Saeed Al Qaishi, an elder who is a honey collector from Wadi Shaha.
    Rashed Saeed Al Qaishi, an elder who is a honey collector from Wadi Shaha.
  • An older, single-storey concrete house in Wadi Qada'a.
    An older, single-storey concrete house in Wadi Qada'a.
  • A new-style stone building.
    A new-style stone building.
  • Saeed Zaid Al Qaishi looks for his missing goats in Wadi Shaha.
    Saeed Zaid Al Qaishi looks for his missing goats in Wadi Shaha.
  • Workers building the modern housing.
    Workers building the modern housing.

In pictures: Urbanisation in the mountain wadi basins


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

Significant government grants towards the infrastructure of the Northern Emirates has allowed urbanisation in the mountain wadi basins. All photos by Delores Johnson / The National.