Note the shrine to Sheikh Qenawi in the upper left corner. As in the old towns, spaces shift in meaning depending on the contextualization of plan. Public parks and museums were intended to be open public spaces for entertainment and information, but coffeehouses very much take on these roles for the male population of the region. Hajj paintings and narratives like the ones in the old settlements decorate concrete apartment buildings. The crossroads of the major roads connecting the towns of the Oasis are another public focal point.
People gather to catch buses, and markets have sprung up along the side of the road.
Groups and shops encroach on the wide avenues. Perhaps these changes are not the discursive acts of protest again modernist planning, but they are voices that shape the dialogue that is modernity in the Oasis. 6 Mut, new and old. This small town is laid out on a regular grid pattern of streets. There is a school and other government buildings, and most of the homes are of concrete.