Our Cities In Five Years
Cities of the Middle East are undergoing enormous transformations, particularly after the uprisings of 2011. In the past five years entire cities were leveled to rubble, while others have been swept by waves of militarization, privatization and capitalist speculation. We asked our friends from across the region how their cities have changed over the past five years.
Khartoum Cassius Fadlabi Artist
It's very hard to say what’s changed in the last five years. Khartoum has been growing and changing since the day it was founded by Ibrahim Pasha in 1821. In the last 20 years, some major changes have happened to its modest skyline. An egg-shaped building that was a gift from Gaddafi, dominates; they changed its name from Elfatih Tour to Corinthia Hotel after he was killed. It was built on the land that used to be the zoo. The only amusement park, which looked like a small temporary traveling Tivoli Gardens, also disappeared. The colonial architecture made by those who passed through Khartoum in the last 150 years has been destroyed by the attempts to make it prettier by painting the buildings’ brick walls. Most of the private villas spread all over the city are very influenced by the Gulf - Western buildings with curves and arches to make it “Islamic.” After a short period of oil flowing through Sudan’s veins, the government built some huge military buildings in the heart of the city. The navy have a ship shaped building and the air force has an airplane shaped one ...etc. Simply, it's a mess.
Alexandria Mohamed Adel Dessouki Architect
Alexandria has lost some of the most important buildings of its modern history. The city’s infrastructure has disintegrated while unsightly tower blocks replace old villas and small houses. Most of the city’s streets have lost their temporal characteristics and their visual identity. But the biggest loss, in my opinion, was of the collective sense of ownership among the residents of the city. This feeling evolved widely and spontaneously right after the January 2011 revolution, and it was the main energy behind the emergence of the pressure groups and grassroots movements that acted to defend the city and its urban heritage. Where is this feeling now? It ceased entirely with the change of political climate in the country. Without such feeling, and with the lack of any political will, it does not seem that there is hope in the near future for an end to the continuous deterioration of the city.
Dubai Rashid bin Shabib Urbanist
I've noticed a change over the past five years especially across the Arabian Gulf, in that the taste for imported aesthetics within the younger generation is changing. Khaleejis are no longer satisfied adopting Western or Eastern trends, but many are adapting traditions and customs to fit their transformative cities. This form of adaptation is now being seen in all forms of the native vernacular (fashion, architecture, design, art, etc). Not only that, but we are now seeing a reverse of such concepts being exported globally, such as the popular Qatari Karak & Chapati restaurant opening its first branch in central London last year. This could be the beginning of a generational cultural transformation.
Beirut Mazen Haidar Conservation architect
The lack of an effective law protecting architectural heritage has led to unfortunate results where the cultural heritage in Lebanon has become an optional accessory, preserved or eradicated on the whim of private citizens. Yet since 2010, civil society actors have shown considerable progress with public awareness campaigns to shed light on what little remains of Beirut’s historical and modern architectural heritage. This, however, did not spare older neighborhoods from rampant overdevelopment and the new appearance of towers in previously low-rise areas, especially in nightlife areas such as Monot street, Gemayze and Mar Mikhael districts. On the other hand, public pressure has succeeded in playing a major role in reactivating public projects put on hold by stakeholders, such as the rehabilitation and reopening of the Forêt des Pins, becoming the only green lung in the city.
Tunis Leila Ben-Gacem Cultural entrepreneur
Thanks to the newfound freedom of expression, the Medina is finally not the affair of the government alone; active youth from civil society are pushing for heritage preservation, an investment in culture, and identity preservation. There are some exciting civil youth initiatives. MedinaPedia is a project developed by Carthagina and the Association of Medina Preservation of Tunis, where young volunteers get together one Sunday per month to research, develop and upload Medina information onto Wikipedia. There’s Doolesha, a collective of Medina-passionate university students who take visitors on tours to infect them with an interest in the historical city. Also, there is Aswar El Medina, an association of youth advocating for better use of historical monuments, and pushing for a municipal reaction to the illegal use of urban spaces.
In this sense, it’s the rebirth of Tunis’ 8th century quarters.
Nevertheless, since the revolution, government is restructuring itself and is looking for ways to coexist with the various forms of political activism today. This, unsurprisingly, places historical quarters preservation and urban building controls low on the government’s list of priorities. Building licensing, control and monitoring have tremendously weakened, and this has harmed the Medina greatly, which makes the work of civil society crucial to compensate for the government’s absence in some urban quarters.
