Historic Cities in the Face of Disasters

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Introduction: Towards Multi-perspective and Multidisciplinary Approaches

   • Fatemeh Farnaz Arefian, Judith Ryser, Andrew Hopkins, Jamie Mackee

   Pages 1-19

3. Heritage and Collective Memory

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 21-21

      PDF

   2. Thinking About Post-disaster Reconstruction in Europe: Functionalist and Identity Approaches

      • Francesca Fiaschi

      Pages 23-45

   3. Old Souks of Aleppo: A Narrative Approach to Post-conflict Heritage Reconstruction

      • Judy Mahfouz

      Pages 47-64

   4. Photography for the City, Between the Need for Protection, Conservation and Civic Identity

      • Simona Manzoli

      Pages 65-84

   5. Cultural Heritage as Stones of Memory: The Recovery of Archives in the Marche Crater Area

      • Giorgia Di Marcantonio, Pamela Galeazzi, Caterina Paparello

      Pages 85-104

   6. Intangible Heritage and Resilience in Managing Disaster Shelters: Case Study in Japan

      • Miwako Kitamura

      Pages 105-119

   7. Water Gives, Water Takes Away. Memory, Agency and Resilience in ENSO—Vulnerable Historic Landscapes in Peru

      • Rosabella Alvarez-Calderón, Silva-Santisteban

      Pages 121-137

   8. Intangible Cultural Economy, a Mould for Tangible Urban Built Fabric—The Case of Shahjahanabad, India

      • Abhishek Jain

      Pages 139-159

   9. The Tree: The Concept of Place After the Earthquake, L’Aquila

      • Arianna Tanfoni

      Pages 161-174

4. Historic and Contemporary Reconstructions of Historic Cities

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 175-175

      PDF

   2. Marsica: One Hundred Years on

      • Simonetta Ciranna

      Pages 177-190

   3. Coventry: Shell or Phoenix, City of Tomorrow or Concrete Jumble?

      • Patrizia Montuori

      Pages 191-209

   4. Post-trauma Recovery of Monumental Buildings in Italy and the US at the Beginning of Twentieth Century

      • Marco Felli

      Pages 211-226

   5. Historical Town Centres and Post-seismic Reconstructions: Between Functional Recovery and Heritage Value Awareness

      • Carla Bartolomucci

      Pages 227-244

   6. Integrating Green Solutions into Post-earthquake Recovery of Bam, Iran

      • Ameneh Karimian, Alireza Fallahi, Seyed Hassan Taghvaei

      Pages 245-262

   7. Reconstruction of Heritage and Spirit: Mending the Scars of Aleppo

      • Mounir Sabeh Affaki

      Pages 263-279

   8. Beyond the Damage, the Reconstruction of L’Aquila

      • Simona Bravaglieri, Elia Zenoni, Silvia Furioni

      Pages 281-300

   9. The “Solidere” Effect and the Localisation of Heritage Reconstruction in Post-war Transitions, Libya

      • Nada Elfeituri

      Pages 301-316

This book examines reconstruction and resilience of historic cities and societies from multiple disciplinary and complementary perspectives and, by doing so, it helps researchers and practitioners alike, among them reconstruction managers, urban governance and professionals. The book builds on carefully selected and updated papers accepted for the 2019 Silk Cities international conference on ‘reconstruction, recovery and resilience of historic cities and societies’, the third Silk Cities conference held in L’Aquila, Italy, 10-12 July 2019, working with University of L’Aquila and UCL.

This multi-scale, and multidisciplinary book offers cross-sectoral and complimentary voices from multiple stakeholders, including academia, urban governance, NGOs and local populations. It examines post-disaster reconstruction strategies and case studies from Europe, Asia and Latin America that provide a valuable collection for anyone who would like to get a global overview on the subject matter. It thereby enables a deeper understanding of challenges, opportunities and approaches in dealing with historic cities facing disasters at various geographical scales. Additionally, it brings together historical approaches to the reconstruction of historical cities and those of more recent times. Thus, it can be used as a reference book for global understanding of the subject matter.

• Post-earthquake
• Urban Development
• Cultural Heritage
• Reconstruction
• Disaster Resilience

“There is a vast amount of information in the book for readers to understand the complexity of this field. Hopefully, not only urban designers will take advantage of it, as the details are extensive enough to also be relevant for architects, engineers, policy-makers and public administration officials involved in the rehabilitation process.” (Meenakshi Bhagat, Urban Design, Issue 164, 2022)

• Silk Cities, Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London (UCL), London, UK

  Fatemeh Farnaz Arefian

• Urbanist, Silk Cities, London, UK

  Judith Ryser

• Dipartimento di Scienze Umane, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

  Andrew Hopkins

• School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle Australia, Callaghan, Australia

  Jamie Mackee

Dr. Fatemeh Farnaz Arefian is an interdisciplinary expert in development planning, urban design, and architecture. She combines academic research and education with extensive practice-based experience in the Middle East, UK, and Southeast Asia.

As a private sector consultancy director, her first-hand encounter with disasters in the historic city of Bam motivated her to return to academia and pursue her multidisciplinary Ph.D. research and further academic activities at the Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London (UCL), where she is also associated with. She is the founding director of Silk Cities initiative on contextual contemporary challenges cities in countries along the historic Silk Roads face within the process of urban transformations. She is an invited speaker for international conferences and workshops. Her industry experience in post-disaster reconstruction has been featured in a guidance for humanitarian organisations. Farnaz has published academic and professional books and papers, such as Urban Heritage Along the Silk Roads (Springer 2020), Organising Post-Disaster Reconstruction Processes (Springer 2018), and Urban Change in Iran (Springer 2016). The latest publication Farnaz currently leads on is Historic Cities in the Face of Disasters. Her past knowledge exchange activities received special attention from UNESCO Director General.

Judith Ryser qualified architect and urbanist with a social sciences MSc, Judith’s cosmopolitan professional life in London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva (United Nations), Stockholm and Madrid is focusing on built environment sustainability and researching, reviewing, writing on cities in the knowledge society. She is a life member of ISOCARP (International Society of City and Regional Planners), ex-Vice President, General Rapporteur of the 50th anniversary congress 2015, editor and writer of several publications (e.g. "ISOCARP, 50 Years of Knowledge Creation and Sharing"; with Teresa Franchini 5th & 6th editions of the International Manual of Planning Practice) and member of the Chartered Institute of Journalist. She is senior advisor to Fundacion Metropoli, author and editor of many books and participant in urban projects; senior adviser, book co-editor and co-reviewer of Silk Cities; co-editor and coordinator of CORP (International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Information Society); editorial board member, reviewer and topic editor of the Urban Design Group and has written and edited numerous books and articles. She taught at University College London and other universities, is on various scientific committees and mentoring mature students and young planners.

Andrew Hopkins FSA is professor and chair of architectural history at the University of L'Aquila. Architecture and urbanism, together with how people use city spaces in an historical context, is a long-standing interest. His earliest and latest books are Santa Maria della Salute: architecture and ceremony in baroque Venice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000; and La città del Seicento, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2014. Having taught at L'Aquila since 2004, in the last, post-earthquake, decade he has been involved in several initiatives to do with understanding the issues facing historical cities vis-à-vis disasters, including the exhibition and conference held in the ducal palace of Venice in 2010: L’AQUILA 2010, Luogo, Identità, Etica, Ricostruzione, Salone del Piovego, Palazzo Ducale, Venezia 28 Agosto 2010; and recently he was thrilled to be able to welcome the Silk Cities conference of 2019 to the Department of Human Sciences (Dipartimento di Scienze Umane), University of L’Aquila.

Jamie MacKee 's most recent research has focused on the way in which risk of climate change impacts can be assessed to better protect our cultural heritage. This has resulted in the development ofa Cultural

Heritage Risk Index (CHRI) that allows stakeholders involved in the management, protection and conservation of cultural heritage to assess risk and plan and manage interventions to mitigate against any potential impacts. The results of this are being published in a forthcoming journal paper.

Jamie's broader interest in "old buildings' stems from his eight years teaching in a University and living in Sri Lanka and two years studying in Singapore. His teaching and research work on disasters arises from his work during the Asian Tsunami in Sri Lanka sponsored by the University of Newcastle in 2005. He has two books specifically on cultural heritage and one recent book and book chapter on cultural heritage conservation theory fusing the concepts of Buddhism and Systems theory proposing an alternative to the traditional Eurocentric ideals of conservation theory for dealing with the rich and very unique heritage of the Asian region. Jamie is aco-leader of the School of Architecture and Built Environment's Disaster Research Group, University of Newcastle, Australia.

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