In 2000, the Yemeni-German Shibam Urban Development Project (SUDP) launched its activities. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenar-beit (GTZ) GmbH and the German Development Service (DED) are working with local partners -such as the Historic City Organisation- on the complex task of sustainable district and urban development. The mandate of the Historic City Organisation dates back to the time of the UNESCO campaign to preserve the Old City of Shibam in the 1980s; today it is a branch of the General Organisation for the Preservation of Historic Cities in Yemen (GOPHCY) and reports to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is responsible for the preservation and protection of the historic city centre and for the renovation of selected buildings.

With its four priority areas of cultural heritage management, economic and social development, building local capacity and infrastructure improvement, the project offers the local partners in the district and the residents of the Old City a wide range of advisory services to improve their quality of life, to harness the economic potential and to stimulate local initiatives. The key idea behind all the measures is that the world heritage of Shibam can only be preserved if it helps the inhabitants too and they support and help shape these measures.