Urban Development in the Middle East and North Africa: Deconstructing Visions, Politics and Identities

Abstract

#12–2019 Battlefields, visions, and construction sites: the urban as an arena of contest. This is how urban development1 in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is presenting itself at the end of this decade. Urbanity and identity are still violently transformed into ruins in long-lasting civil, and in fact international, wars. They destroy the homes and livelihoods of millions of people and eradicate not only national but also world heritage in some of the culturally richest and longest-urbanized areas on earth. In contrast, other urban landscapes in the region seem to fascinatingly prosper and are being massively pushed upward to the global scene.