Urban Unplanning: How Violence, Walls, and Segregation Destroyed the Urban Fabric of Baghdad

Abstract

Baghdad was formerly a relatively well-planned and thriving city, serving as home to a multitude of intertwined ethnoreligious groups. As a result of the American-led invasion, and five years of urban civil war that followed, the city was segregated along ethnic lines. The effects of comprehensive wall building to segregate the warring urban neighborhood have altered the very fabric of the city and have undone the earlier rational urban planning. Contemporary Baghdad shares much with cities like Belfast that have been physically divided due to civil unrest. The author visited Baghdad a number of times following the 2003 invasion, collecting data personally or through hired informants.