Cities, Heritage and Transformation – serie

This book analyzes the role of integrated spatial planning in constructing eco-sustainable urban housing in post-conflict scenarios and investigates two different spaces in an emergency: Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan and Damascus city in Syria. The book presents a new innovative tool that assists in building a successful and sustainable reconstruction after emergencies which corresponds to the planning approach's heterogeneous nature within emergency situations. The same innovative theoretical framework also covers the ramifications of climate change on the urban built environment and reduces its sociological impact on the stricken communities.This book is intended for researchers, academics, students, spatial planners, policy makers, think tank groups, and public entities who are interested in post-disaster reconstruction and the issues of refugee camps.

This book analyzes the role of integrated spatial planning in constructing eco-sustainable urban housing in post-conflict scenarios and investigates two different spaces in an emergency: Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan and Damascus city in Syria. The book presents a new innovative tool that assists in building a successful and sustainable reconstruction after emergencies which corresponds to the planning approach's heterogeneous nature within emergency situations. The same innovative theoretical framework also covers the ramifications of climate change on the urban built environment and reduces its sociological impact on the stricken communities.This book is intended for researchers, academics, students, spatial planners, policy makers, think tank groups, and public entities who are interested in post-disaster reconstruction and the issues of refugee camps.

This book discusses the importance of socio-spatial patterns in cities that are embedded in the cultural heritage and self-understanding of a society, showing that Indian cities follow different urban concepts. In nine episodes (nine is a sacred figure), it highlights the principal influences and social impacts on cities from ancient times to contemporary city developments. As such, it provides planners and architects with insights that can easily be applied in contemporary cities and towns and help foster India’s cultural heritage—a much-needed, but little-discussed approach.Indian cities are the result of various factors, some imposed, others following local traditions that shaped them. They were founded around social needs, landscape conditions and production routines, as well as the religious influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and animism. However, Western town-planning models are often implemented, blurring the traditional way of life in cities. For sustainable town development, it is of key importance to find solutions that deal with Indian city models.

This book discusses the importance of socio-spatial patterns in cities that are embedded in the cultural heritage and self-understanding of a society, showing that Indian cities follow different urban concepts. In nine episodes (nine is a sacred figure), it highlights the principal influences and social impacts on cities from ancient times to contemporary city developments. As such, it provides planners and architects with insights that can easily be applied in contemporary cities and towns and help foster India’s cultural heritage—a much-needed, but little-discussed approach.Indian cities are the result of various factors, some imposed, others following local traditions that shaped them. They were founded around social needs, landscape conditions and production routines, as well as the religious influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Christianity and animism. However, Western town-planning models are often implemented, blurring the traditional way of life in cities. For sustainable town development, it is of key importance to find solutions that deal with Indian city models.

This book studies the change in Mediterranean port cities, from the nineteenth century when they flourished as a result of international economic relations and advances in transportation technology, through the twentieth century when the nation-states were at their prime time.  This trajectory with two distinct parts belongs as a whole to what we call the modern times. Whereas in the first phase, Mediterranean port cities became hubs of spontaneous urban complexity and social diversity thanks to reciprocal relations that made them the places of cultural exchange, where people from different parts of the Mediterranean met one another, during the second, because of the interruption of such connectivities and major demographic changes the same cities experienced by way of massive migration, they became less and less unlike other cities with which they shared the same geography in general and the nation-state territory, in particular.  Over the last few decades, with a new roundof globalization, port cities increasingly find themselves facing new opportunities and connectivities, the realization of which would make them once again different, albeit in variegated ways and to degrees. Our narrative foregrounds contexts and connectivities with specific attention paid to mobility, fragility, and precarity. The purpose of this book is to highlight commonalities of and differences among the select Mediterranean port cities, with a focus on the role of social actors, changing economic relations and spatial characteristics and practices.

This book studies the change in Mediterranean port cities, from the nineteenth century when they flourished as a result of international economic relations and advances in transportation technology, through the twentieth century when the nation-states were at their prime time.  This trajectory with two distinct parts belongs as a whole to what we call the modern times. Whereas in the first phase, Mediterranean port cities became hubs of spontaneous urban complexity and social diversity thanks to reciprocal relations that made them the places of cultural exchange, where people from different parts of the Mediterranean met one another, during the second, because of the interruption of such connectivities and major demographic changes the same cities experienced by way of massive migration, they became less and less unlike other cities with which they shared the same geography in general and the nation-state territory, in particular.  Over the last few decades, with a new roundof globalization, port cities increasingly find themselves facing new opportunities and connectivities, the realization of which would make them once again different, albeit in variegated ways and to degrees. Our narrative foregrounds contexts and connectivities with specific attention paid to mobility, fragility, and precarity. The purpose of this book is to highlight commonalities of and differences among the select Mediterranean port cities, with a focus on the role of social actors, changing economic relations and spatial characteristics and practices.

This book shows through historical data, diagrams and drawings, the design system of an Italian historic center, that of Vicenza, Italy. Vicenza is the result of an urban construction process that has as its model the invention of the Palladian design system. The main argument is how the architectural vision of Andrea Palladio shaped Vincenza to the city it is today. Vicenza is an example of a collective dream, an expression of the best Renaissance artistic culture, a classic example that a city can reform itself through intellectual activity.

This book shows through historical data, diagrams and drawings, the design system of an Italian historic center, that of Vicenza, Italy. Vicenza is the result of an urban construction process that has as its model the invention of the Palladian design system. The main argument is how the architectural vision of Andrea Palladio shaped Vincenza to the city it is today. Vicenza is an example of a collective dream, an expression of the best Renaissance artistic culture, a classic example that a city can reform itself through intellectual activity.

This book is the voice of everyday people talking about their city’s poetry–prose transformation. Through the narrative-imagination of the local lives, the book takes the reader on a journey of the past–present–future of Yazd: how the city was formed and transferred from the historic core to the newer parts over time; how people daily engage with the city; why some people enjoy living in the Historic Yazd while others prefer dwelling in the Old and New cities; why these areas are still occupied with the locals keeping the whole city alive and dynamic; if there is a socio-cultural interrelationship between these areas; and hearing the locals’ wishes about the future of their city.  Using the "shoe" as a symbol of various social fabrics of Yazd, the book reveals unseen important matters affecting city life from the moment residents put on their shoes to engage within the city and their public lives to the time they remove their shoes on entering their households to share in their private lives. Beyond hearing the locals' voices, the book also examines to what extent scholars’ definitions of place are in parallel or in contrast with the ordinary people’s definitions of their living places.  The book aims to introduce a new urban methodology to urban studies so that local voices can truly be considered in urban planning and design projects. This approach is particularly absent in Iranian urban studies on which this book attempts to investigate, which was examined in Yazd.

This book is the voice of everyday people talking about their city’s poetry–prose transformation. Through the narrative-imagination of the local lives, the book takes the reader on a journey of the past–present–future of Yazd: how the city was formed and transferred from the historic core to the newer parts over time; how people daily engage with the city; why some people enjoy living in the Historic Yazd while others prefer dwelling in the Old and New cities; why these areas are still occupied with the locals keeping the whole city alive and dynamic; if there is a socio-cultural interrelationship between these areas; and hearing the locals’ wishes about the future of their city.  Using the "shoe" as a symbol of various social fabrics of Yazd, the book reveals unseen important matters affecting city life from the moment residents put on their shoes to engage within the city and their public lives to the time they remove their shoes on entering their households to share in their private lives. Beyond hearing the locals' voices, the book also examines to what extent scholars’ definitions of place are in parallel or in contrast with the ordinary people’s definitions of their living places.  The book aims to introduce a new urban methodology to urban studies so that local voices can truly be considered in urban planning and design projects. This approach is particularly absent in Iranian urban studies on which this book attempts to investigate, which was examined in Yazd.

Informed by urban political economy and critical social analysis, this book provides a critical comparative analysis of macro- and micro-level spatial design processes in architecture and urban planning. It interrogates the extent to which past and existing approaches to design have catered to social justice issues. With a special focus on the Right to the City approach and recent efforts to democratize urban spaces in the post-COVID 19 pandemic era, the book draws on examples of spatial design from the USA, Northern European countries and elsewhere to shed light on the presence (or lack) of social justice concerns in liberal capitalist and social democratic societies. This book is an important academic addition and resource for undergraduate and graduate curricula in architecture and urban planning/design programs, as well as a complementary resource for practitioners and policy planners who engage in urban development and transformation.

Informed by urban political economy and critical social analysis, this book provides a critical comparative analysis of macro- and micro-level spatial design processes in architecture and urban planning. It interrogates the extent to which past and existing approaches to design have catered to social justice issues. With a special focus on the Right to the City approach and recent efforts to democratize urban spaces in the post-COVID 19 pandemic era, the book draws on examples of spatial design from the USA, Northern European countries and elsewhere to shed light on the presence (or lack) of social justice concerns in liberal capitalist and social democratic societies. This book is an important academic addition and resource for undergraduate and graduate curricula in architecture and urban planning/design programs, as well as a complementary resource for practitioners and policy planners who engage in urban development and transformation.

This book provides indispensable and interdisciplinary insights into the revitalization and redevelopment of urban centers in war-stricken conflict regions, such as Aleppo in northern Syria. This contribution explores innovative, cutting-edge toolkits for academicians, digital building technologists, engineers, architects, archeologists, (urban) planners, land policy advisors and legal scholars. The compendium not only analyzes strategies and shortcomings of implementation guidelines drawn by donor organizations, development agencies and political actors, but also explores possibilities for initiating functioning and sustainably resilient networks that can establish capacity-building platforms for recovery and reconstruction. Although the work focuses on a city in Syria, it holds lessons, toolkits and instruments for other areas in the region and beyond.

This book provides indispensable and interdisciplinary insights into the revitalization and redevelopment of urban centers in war-stricken conflict regions, such as Aleppo in northern Syria. This contribution explores innovative, cutting-edge toolkits for academicians, digital building technologists, engineers, architects, archeologists, (urban) planners, land policy advisors and legal scholars. The compendium not only analyzes strategies and shortcomings of implementation guidelines drawn by donor organizations, development agencies and political actors, but also explores possibilities for initiating functioning and sustainably resilient networks that can establish capacity-building platforms for recovery and reconstruction. Although the work focuses on a city in Syria, it holds lessons, toolkits and instruments for other areas in the region and beyond.

This book offers an insightful exploration of how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) contribute to understanding heritage change and revitalizing urban identities amid rapid urbanization. Geographic Information Systems for Urban Identity, Urban Morphology and Urban Transformation shows how GIS bridges the gap between urban development and heritage preservation, supporting informed decisions for sustainable historic city management. Through an interdisciplinary lens combining geography, planning, architecture, and technology, it encourages collaboration among diverse stakeholders—from planners to local communities. Including global case studies, it highlights innovative practices and critically examines ethical and socio-cultural challenges of using GIS in urban transformation. This volume is an essential resource for planners, researchers, policymakers, and heritage professionals seeking tools for sustainable and culturally rooted urban futures.

The notion of intangible heritage as a key urban element is underexplored, yet inherently intertwined with urban life that can influence and be influenced by urban policies and practices. This book undertakes the fundamentally interdisciplinary tasks of conceptualizing intangible heritage and recognizing communities' roles as its stewards.From celebration of new years to cultural expressions in daily life, such as religious practices, music and food, intangible heritage is an integral part of communities and individual lives, often considered a natural extension of their ‘being’. Cultural practices are intertwined with human existence. Traditions and cultural expressions do not happen in isolation; they are conditioned by socio-cultural and urban spatiality.The book offers compelling narratives, explorations, and testimonies on the intangible nature of heritage, and it highlights the challenge of the invisibility of heritage in urban discussions. This volume unpacks links between space, community, and heritage and interconnections between cities, urban characteristics, and the intangible heritage of communities in both normal and disastrous contexts. Contributions offer innovative and exploratory methods and representations of under-explored cases, balancing practical strategies and policy-oriented approaches with storytelling and experiential components.