A planning & design approach for the rehabilitation of historic centres in Iraq

The paper deals with the proposal of a methodology for the Iraqi historical centres. Of course the paper assumes that the current war will end one day and outlines a project totally related to the heritage preservation in times of ideological and armed conflict. The paper starts by describing how in Iraq the revitalisation of historic centres is developing in a frame of great uncertainty, marked by a controversial notion of identity and by strong market-oriented operations. The paper argues that in a city under reconstruction like Baghdad principles and methods adopted in Western world are often of limited value when adopted in countries of late modernisation. Consequently, the proposed strategy is based on the implementation of two integrated operating modes. The first is centred on the definition of a technical and regulatory planning, oriented to organize the multiple operations to carry out in the ordinary urban fabric. The second deals with the design of five central places providing the spatial and functional focuses of Adhamiya neighborhood. As such, the proposed strategy rests on the design of a ‘planning process’ and the design of five ‘urban projects’ mainly addressed to developers. These two levels, although developing at different speed, are intended to help each other facilitating the meeting of public and private interests.