Urban Recovery and Reconstruction Strategies for the Old City of Mosul After ISIL/Da’esh Occupation

Abstract

The paper deals with the strategic approach to urban recovery and reconstruction for the Old City of Mosul after the damage deliberately inflicted by ISIL/Da’esh to its cultural heritage in 2014, and subsequently the loss and damage aggravated by the liberation of West Mosul in 2017. The damage to cultural heritage intentionally perpetrated by ISIL/Da’esh during the three years of occupation of vast swaths of territory in north-western Iraq, e.g., the twelfth-century Al-Nuri Mosque and its Al-Hadba Minaret, and the multilayered spiritual site of Nabi Younis within the ancient city of Niniveh, is unprecedented in modern times. Several months of armed conflict for the retake of the city left behind a wasted urban landscape, punctuated by destroyed monuments, demolished houses, damaged buildings, massive amounts of rubble, and unprecedented level of contamination from unexploded ordnances. Circa 40 percent of the historic urban fabric has been severely affected, with significant loss of integrity within the historic core, especially along the Tigris River. The paper aims at illustrating the methodology for the restoration and critical reconstruction of the Historic Urban Landscape of Mosul.