Al Arouba Street, late 1960s

In the 1960s, Al Arouba Street connected Sharjah to Dubai. That made it one of the main roads in the city, and also one of the first to be paved and trimmed with street lights. Superseding storefronts on Al Meena Street, Al Arouba Street was where banks and stores strove to establish branches and shops. Behind scaffolding is the US-based First National City Bank’s Sharjah branch building under construction, designed by Lebanese architecture firm Khatib & Alami, 1969. Next to the bank stands a four-story building owned by contracting and engineering company Darwish Engineering. Courtesy of Badr Al Ansari.