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Using Collective Memory to Bulid Authenticity Case Study (Al-Adhamiya and Al-Kadhmiya Districts in Baghdad-Iraq)

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Using Collective Memory to Bulid Authenticity Case Study (Al-Adhamiya and Al-Kadhmiya Districts in Baghdad-Iraq) International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 9, Issue 10, October 2018, pp. 1–11, Article ID: IJCIET_09_10_001 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=9&Issue=10 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 ©IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed USING COLLECTIVE MEMORY TO BULID AUTHENTICITY CASE STUDY (AL-ADHAMIYA AND AL-KADHMIYA DISTRICTS IN BAGHDAD-IRAQ) Malk Jamal Hamzah Postgraduate Student, Center of Urban and Regional Planning for Postgraduate Studies University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq Mustafa Abduljalil Ebraheem Assistant Professor, Center of Urban and Regional Planning for Postgraduate Studies University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq ABSTRACT The importance of the authenticity in the world is increasing by matching it with the sustainability of the cities, besides using it as clean economy investments, from reflecting the cultural, aesthetic, vernacular, and moral related to any city as investment chance, from that this subject takes its importance. One of important thing in the forming of urban fabric were the events are related to that fabric, from these events the urban fabric get its meaning and authenticity, so we are facing in most Iraqis cities problem of neglecting the effecting of either positive or negative events to increase our cities authenticity, this will be done by defending on collective memory of residents and visitors to these cities, by trying to creating mental map for each city depending on the collective memory of people. The research goal is to find out the landmarks that are related to collective memory, then which we can depend on to recreate the urban fabric, that will be done from implementing space syntax analysis on the fabric, and analyze its indicators to show the priority of power nodes in the fabric with its relationship to the urban fabric landmark that are discovered from people's collective memory, therefore as a conclusion These features should be redesigned to fit with the events that happened in them, this will need a full study considered with each feature(study their events) and come out with plan to redesign them, also redesigning the land uses to focus on these features, increase their importance and interaction within the urban fabric. Key words: Baghdad, Collective memory, Identity, Space syntax, urban fabric Cite this Article: Malk Jamal Hamzah and Mustafa Abduljalil Ebraheem, Using Collective Memory to Bulid Authenticity Case Study (Al-Adhamiya and Al- Kadhmiya Districts in Baghdad-Iraq). International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(10), 2018, pp. 1-11. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=9&Issue=10 http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1 [email protected] Malk Jamal Hamzah and Mustafa Abduljalil Ebraheem 1. INTRODUCTION The city is the birthplace of civilization and this civilization reflects man's view of the world and the ideology he believes in. It is a product of human consciousness and responds to the social, political, economic and symbolic human necessities, The city generally oscillates between the network system and the organic system, it is necessary to sense the specificity of the place, determine the interrelationship between the elements of the place itself, and understand the formulas that link the elements of the environment (both natural and artificial), with the aim of reordering it to meet the necessary human needs. It is assumed that the human sense of place is necessary and should be developed, this place should contain strong historical events that are stored in the collective memory of the people, (Al-adhamiya, Al- kadhmiya) will be analyzed in space syntax program in order to make scenario that arranges the urban fabric of every study area, therefore the research problem is (There is confusion and lake of authenticity in the urban fabric in the Iraqi cities as general, and specifically in the areas (Al-adhamiya, Al-kadhmiya)), while research hypothesis is (The process of organizing the urban fabric in the Iraqi city is based on activating the concept of collective memory of the residents and the visitors) 1.1. Research Objectives 1-Using spatial analysis indicators to physically analyze the urban fabric to rearrange it. 2-Understand the mental map of the people according to their memories and the relation of these memories with the important events that occurs in the important places of the city. 1.2. Space and Place Space and place are known words indicating common experiences. Place is security, space is freedom; we are connected to one and long for the other [1]. Places, However, have their impact on man live, how our understanding of them influences our behavior. If we want to understand people's responses to places and their behaviors within them, it is prime to understand what (and how) people think [2],and that as people construct places, places construct their sense of place, perhaps the most difficult to understand, is described as 'the subjective and emotional attachment people have to place' supporting the social element of place which has preoccupied human geographical sense more recently [3]. Kevin Lynch knew the place through the term urban environment : It is a complex system of connections between people and many things surrounding their city, their image is deeply soaked in memories and meanings [4]. Place is the base of the planning process in a constant presence that recognizes and interacts with the human through their activities. Figure 1 A visual metaphor for the nature of places. http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 2 [email protected] Using Collective Memory to Bulid Authenticity Case Study (Al-Adhamiya and Al-Kadhmiya Districts in Baghdad-Iraq) The goal of Environmental Design is the Creation of Places, from this starting point the questions of definition, structure and location of places always emerge so that, whether it is a city center, a building that is being created, the major concern is an identification of the conceptions of that place. This suggests that a place is the result of relationships between actions, conceptions and physical attributes as shown in (figure 1) [2]. 1.3. Collective Memory Our memory of the city, of space and time, must be redesigned by reexamining the writing of history and by reawakening public involvement invested in urban forms [5]. The requests and pressures of social reality always affect the urban fabric of the city, yet it stays the theatre of our memory. Its collective forms tell us of the changes that occurs; they remind us of the traditions and cultures that set this city apart from others. It is in these physical artifacts and traces that our city memories lie, for the past(events) is carried to the present through these sites [6]. 1.4. Experience Experience is directed to the outside world, it needs perception and depends on the cultural heritage of the people. Place is experienced directly as having a space in which to move, by moving from one place to another, a person acquires a sense of direction [1].We can conclude that the experience of the places and objects Leeds us to the concept of perception which also can come from our knowledge in our cultural heritage. culural heritage experience perception Figure 2 Shows the relationship between the perception, cultural heritage and experience. 1.5. Events Events are created in a certain time and place by an action, its existence is related to it being rediscovered and remembered over and over again in the place by humans, our relation to the event may differ in time, it also differs from one to another, in this way it energy appears to the place and being felt by humans [7]. 1.6. Identity Identity is related to the place by knowing it, feeling related to it and creating mental map for it, in this way this place will be different from other places, and thus it will be in the mind of the people [8]. This means that the collective memory of the city comes from certain historical events, these events are translated into features and nodes representing the past, it is also related to the culture of the city which differs from on city to another. Humans experiences in the city and their memories on these features is the most important aspect which leads to authenticate the urban fabric, http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 3 [email protected] Malk Jamal Hamzah and Mustafa Abduljalil Ebraheem historical experience+c collective events ulture memory Figure 3 Shows the relationship between historical events, experience, culture and collective memory of the city. 2. DATA USED AND CASE STUDY AREAS In thus research two different methods were used to reach to an understanding on the urban fabric, these methods are first: questionnaire that was distributed to the residents of each case study to identify their mental map and specify their collective memory, then these mental maps were analyzed to know which features or streets were mostly chosen, thus these features would be described by their events that led the residents to choose them, these features and streets will be analyzed then in Space Syntax program to spatially analyze them, the case study are two districts in Baghdad they were chosen for many reasons: -Each area has its own distinctive features and streets which are considered to be the most important landmarks and streets of the capital Baghdad and the oldest ones. -The reason that these areas are the most important areas in the capital and the oldest that they have witnessed important historical events led to important changes in the urban fabric. 2.1. Al-adhamiya Analysis 2.1.1. Al-adhamiya Historical Background Before it was called Al-adhamiya, it was the eastern part of round Baghdad (al-Mansur city), abu jafar al mansur let his furs army live in it and it was called al-shonaziyah (it was the cemetery of al-furs).
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