Transforming the Street into a Place: A Practical Study of Souq Hamada in Baghdad

Abstract

All over the world, countries strive to establish development and space-making policies to improve their performance and quality and to support urban development and the welfare of society. Traditional places have had their share of these interventions, some of them have been positive, and others negative.This paper seeks to find the best urban solutions to address the negative outcomes resulting from demolishing a large portion of the traditional fabric in the area of Souq Hamada to cut out a main road, without adhering to the policies of preservation, rehabilitation or development. In addition to not taking into account the principles and strategies of urban design and contemporary place-making policies.This study focuses on how to transform Al-Tala'i Street (the street cut out from the traditional urban fabric) into a place by repairing the damaged urban form. This street is located in the center of the old city of Baghdad next to Al-Karkh, and it was developed in the early eighties of the last century, which led to the loss of many important landmarks that were important points of attraction, including the Hamada Heritage Souq, which was a main attraction adjacent to the newly established street.The study will be based on the idea of transforming the street from a path of movement to a place (reviving the Souq Hamada) as a catalyst for urban revitalization and improving the quality of life for the old area and rebuilding the urban memory of the local community through the use of the urban fill policy.The research discussed several design scenarios that contribute to the revival of the urban memory, restoration of the urban body, reuse of land, organization of movement paths, and the separation of cars from pedestrian movement, concluding a suitable design solution to respond to these challenges the area suffers. Therefore, the importance of using an inclusive urban mass to restore and repair the urban fabric and transform the street into a place to be an important urban focus in the region has emerged. Keywords: Street as a place, Urban infill, Urban acupuncture, Urban memory, Urban structure, Urban densification. DOI: 10.7176/ADS/82-03 Publication date: May 31 st 2020