Encounters by Design: Souq Waqif and the Spatial Life of the 2022 Qatar World Cup

Abstract

Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the first in an Arab Muslim country, offers a lens on how public spaces can enable or limit interaction among diverse groups. This chapter focuses on Souq Waqif, a historic marketplace in central Doha that became one of the tournaments’ most socially dynamic sites. While much of the event unfolded in ticketed or branded areas, the Souq remained open and largely unprogrammed, presenting a different model for how fans and locals might meet, observe and celebrate together. Drawing on fieldwork during the tournament, the author examines encounters between fans and residents, from brief, incidental exchanges to more emotionally engaged moments. Using Lofland’s framework of stranger relationships, the author shows how the Souq’s spatial design shaped these interactions. What emerges is a story about how urban design affects movement, access and the social life of public space during global events. Visitors arrived as fans, a distinct public with a shared identity oriented to celebration and spectating, yet marked by team-based distinctions in colours, chants and rivalry. Souq Waqif made both dynamics visible, showing how design can host shared joy while accommodating group difference without escalating conflict and offering lessons for more inclusive fan experiences.