Lessons from Baghdad City Conformation and Essence

What is it about?

This chapter aims to address the emergence of Baghdad and the phases of its morphology and transformation. The first era began with the Round City; this originated the first nucleus that later formed Baghdad. The historical parts of most Middle Eastern old cities usually occupy polar places in relation to the rest of their city zones. These historical centres can give a city its own identity and embody exceptional urban assets, if carefully maintained and managed. In this chapter, there are two significant periods, the Abbasid Empire and post-Abbasid Empire. One of the main concerns is the conflict between two trends, old fabric as a traditional pattern and modern thoughts and, consequently, how that could affect in formulating the development plan.

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Why is it important?

Since the beginning of the last century until today, Baghdad in Iraq has remained one of the more unstable cities in the world. Political unrest and wars have played a crucial role in its development. Nevertheless, as the capital of the Islamic Empire for more than 500 years, Baghdad has a vibrant historical fabric and some of the most critical historical sites. However, despite the range of academic and consultancy studies conducted throughout the last 100 years, the city has not received the care that it requires. Social and political unrest and wars have prevented successive regimes from implementing preservation projects, and because of this, Baghdad has lost significant parts of its precious and valuable historical fabric. Although more focus has been paid to the oldest part of Baghdad, this does not underestimate the importance of the modern era and the subsequent growth of the city. The methods to recognise and examine different aspects of the city are varied, although these can broadly be considered under two key foci. The first method of the study concerns advanced programmes, for which computing systems have been developed and tested to examine and analyse the spatial configuration of the urban environment. The second method studies the interrelationship between the people and their surrounding spaces, which particularly relates to the city’s street life and social interactions. The current chapter addresses the configurational processes of the emergence of Baghdad.