Toward an integrated sustainable urban design framework in the historic center of Baghdad

Al-Saffar, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1356-8979 (2016) Toward an integrated sustainable urban design framework in the historic center of Baghdad. International Journal of Environmental Sustainability, 13 (1). pp. 31-52. ISSN 2325-1077

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Abstract

The old center in Baghdad is well defined by its unique urban fabric, surrounded by modern urban pattern and by modern roads, which replaced its walls. Narrow alleys, natural shading, mixed use, human scale, privacy, and walkable and natural environments are the most significant features in the historic center, which also represent the main principles of urban sustainability. The historic area in Baghdad is currently suffering from problems such as air pollution, a lack of modern facilities, traffic congestion, uncontrolled land use, and a low standard of infrastructure. These problems have brought into focus the extent to which a sustainable urban design framework can provide appropriate solutions to regenerate the traditional fabric in terms of urban form, land use, transportation, and create a new vision to deal with the social and economic processes. This paper will explore how the traditional urban fabric in Baghdad might be the perfect solution for implementing urban sustainability. Consequently, our challenge in this paper is to find a solution that can serve as a platform to resolve the conflicting values of traditional urban form and modern design models, sourcing new sustainable technologies and the integration of the infrastructure systems.