The Role of Urban Heritage in Achieving Spatial Justice After Conflict

In post-conflict reconstruction, the dominant focus on rapid economic recovery and infrastructural efficiency often comes at the expense of deeper social and psychological dimensions of place. In this talk, we address a critical gap, arguing how urban heritage can function as a strategic instrument for achieving spatial justice in cities marked by prolonged violence. Focusing on Iraq, a country shaped by decades of war, sectarian conflict, and state-sanctioned demolition, the presentation offers a comparative analysis of urban repair initiatives in three distinct contexts: Basra which suffered severe damage during the First Gulf War for eight years; Baghdad, the capital, reshaped by the 2003 US invasion and subsequent sectarian violence; and Mosul in northern Iraq, heavily impacted by ISIS occupation. We explore how memory, materialized through restored landmarks, revived public spaces, and community-led reconstruction, can redistribute three core elements of spatial justice across fragmented urban landscapes: Access, Recognition, and Participation. The central argument is this: embedding memory into material form is not a nostalgic act. It is a necessary strategy for transforming post-conflict cities from sites of rupture into platforms for equitable urban futures.

Speaker:
Dr. Ula Merie is an urbanist and architectural historian specializing in the history and theory of architecture from the modern through contemporary periods. Her work explores the intersections of power, urbanism, and socio-political dynamics in cities, with particular attention to urban conflicts, nationalism, and the socio-politics of post-war urban environments. She is an Associate Researcher at GIGA and a Research Fellow at The Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TARII). She received her PhD in Architecture from the University of Sheffield in 2019. Dr. Merie’s research aims to foster a deeper understanding of the complex relationships between architecture, design, and power to support equitable and sustainable urban development.