There are webinars then there are WEBINARS

This was a Webinar of note. The UCL’s Urban Laboratory held a Webinar called Urbicide and Horizons for City Re-making.

An event in which panel members recalled, and reacted to the impact of conflict on urban life, whilst explaining their views on urbicide (a term which describes the deliberate wrecking or "killing" of a city, by direct or indirect means) in relation to Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq and beyond. There were two online speakers (Dr Nurham Abujidi and Abir Saksouk-Sasso and two in-person speakers Dr Ammar Azzouz and Dr Sana Murrani). Four speakers with a wealth of experience and knowledge. The webinar was recorded and will be available soon.

As practice familiar with, and indeed consult on the various forms and processes in which the built environment is targeted before, during and after conflict, we recognise the meaning of destruction and the iterations of violence during reconstruction. We understand the macro and granular political agendas involved, and the trauma and ramifications felt in the short and the risks of further violence in the long term.  However, it has been a struggle at times to find actors that fully recognise the importance of place, its impact and potential. This webinar offers valuable resources of information for all stakeholders, more importantly perhaps, it offers further quality evidence that place is a critical component of peacebuilding and protection during and after conflict.

We were extremely impressed by the work presented at the event and would like to share some links:

Abir Saksouk-Sasso has co-founded a fabulous resource in both English and Arabic Public Works “is a multidisciplinary research and advocacy organization that brings together architects, designers, researchers and activists who are critically and creatively engaged in issues of urbanism and spatial justice in Lebanon, with a particular focus on environmental and housing rights, the right to integrated development and accessible public space. The organization initiates projects that create possibilities for making urban planning and public policymaking a democratic process – not a tool of power through which a few people impose their”

Dr Nurhan Abujidi has written a book titled (Urbicide in Palestine: Spaces of Oppression and Resilience) This publication explores “the way urbicide is used to un/re-make Palestine, as well as how it is employed as a tool of spatial dispossession and control, this book examines contemporary political violence and destruction in the context of colonial projects in Palestine”. Sadly, like mainly important resources it is too expensive to be a part of my library and only in English.  It is a pity because it looks like a fascinating publication and I know many of my colleagues in Iraq and Palestine would enjoy reading it in their own language.

Dr Ammar Azzouz has a beguiling title ‘Principal Investigator of Slow Violence and the City’ which ensures further investigation. That said Dr Azzouz has two interesting publications (there are more to find) , the first is a free-access 6 page publication called Erased City (Only in English but I am sure AI can sort that out) and a book called Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria “The city of Homs, like so many places in Syria, has suffered mass destruction since the civil war began in 2011. So far, the architectural response to the crisis has focused on ‘cultural heritage’, ancient architecture, and the external displacement of refugees, often neglecting the everyday lives of Syrians and the buildings that make up their homes and communities”. I have known about this publication and have heard so many glowing reviews from scholars and students. Again it is only in English as far as I can see and reasonably expensive. I can imagine the communities I work with paying anything like this, I hope the local universities will purchase copies but still that doesn’t help the everyday person eager to learn from such respected scholars.

Finally, the highlight for me was Dr Sana Murrani, her work with the open-access Ruptured Atlas and Ruptured Domesticty Visual Archive was inspiring and engaging. Her recent book Rupturing Architecture: Spatial Practices of Refuge in Response to War and Violence in Iraq, 2003–2023 has had very high praise also (again too expensive for my collection and seemingly only in English (my architectural, engineer and conservation colleagues in Mosul would love to read this in their language and for free)

As you can tell this was an excellent Webinar, a gift that will keep on giving. It is an interesting milestone in the understanding and advocacy of place and its significance.

That said, the Webinar was also noteworthy for other less obvious reasons. In my opinion, it spoke also of weaknesses in the discourse– Weaknesses, are often overlooked as they may be seen as embarrassing, confrontational or impolite to voice. However, unless one speaks openly and without fear of reproduction, intellectual discourse is flaccid and its role in supporting a sustainably peaceful future becomes less likely.

The webinar was typical in that it seemed to follow an echo-chamber mode of communication, from a holistic perspective it is useful (critical) to hear alternative views, research and reasoning on the subject. There was a victim-perpetrator dichotomy and very little room for context and reflexive reflection. There are many sides to conflict and to fully understand and build responses to and ownership of violence (in my experience) it is a valuable practice to seek-out and engage all nuances of thought and action no matter how horrific they are.  This is one of the reasons Dr Murrani’s work stood out, as she touched on context, layers of violence, mapping and meaning of destruction and reconstruction, the transitional spaces between peace and more violence, all actors involved, failures and successes.  

A truly engaging event, Thank you  - I invite readers to watch/listen to the recording (I will add a link when available) and definitely explore the work of these fine speakers and UCL's Urban Laboratory.

#urbicide #domicide #place #peacebuilding #UCL #urbanlaboratory #urbanconflict #postconflictcities #uniformnovember #frazermacdonaldhay #stopwarnow

Image: sourced by author