Urban Acupuncture, a Strategy for Development: Case Study of Al-Rusafa, Baghdad

Abstract

City centres face many social and environmental challenges, such as environmental pollution, narrowing or lacking green spaces, low urban quality of life and loss of vitality. These challenges have brought calls for sustainable development. The strategy of urban acupuncture has emerged as a model and approach for developing third-generation cities. It combines the principles of urban design with the traditional medical theory of acupuncture: catalytic and energy-intensive interventions in the urban fabric regulate so-called “energy flows” (environmental, social, cultural and informational) within the city. The strategy transforms the scope of acupuncture into the larger urban context, as needles refresh the whole patient’s body through the healing of parts. Our research problem is the lack of a comprehensive knowledge of the mechanisms of acupuncture theory and its benefits in the context of city centres. To address the research problem, we built a comprehensive theoretical framework for the concept of acupuncture and the levels of intervention in general. We propose an acupuncture theory for revitalizing city centres in particular, which we then test and apply in a part of the historical Rusafa Center in Baghdad City.