المنتدى

Reconstructing neighborhoods destroyed in war involves two aspects which are both interrelated and interdependent: From the technical perspective issues as mapping the damages, developing strategic plans for reconstruction, restoration and renovation of buildings and infrastructures, and, in the process, possibly archeological examinations. From the social perspective it involves questions pertaining to the social fabric of the destroyed neighborhoods. For neighborhoods are the spatial and social clusters which make up cities. A neighborhood is not only a city quarter, i.e. a bounded geographical territory made up of living spaces but also a series of social networks of varying intensity where neighbors interact in various ways.

 

While the spatial concept of neighborhood has long been the focus of geographical, architectural and archeological research, the social concept of neighborhood has been quite neglected. This is especially true when it concerns the question of reconstruction after armed conflict.

 

Neighborly relations are multi-faceted and ambiguous. Mostly sociological research has shown that the concept of neighborliness, i.e. the set of expectations or norms for behavior in a neighborhood entails mostly an aspect of mutual aid in either the daily life (more socially inclined neighbors) or an emergency (less socially inclined neighbors). Neighbors can have a wider network of neighborly relations or one close to their living space. Research has shown that only a minority, even in big Western cities, prefers total anonymity and independence. Much less research has been undertaken in non-western neighborhoods where, as a hypothesis, also kinship and group affiliation plays a role in neighborhoods.

 

Everywhere, however, the mostly forced spatial relationships of neighborhood are on the one hand a source of mutual aid and cooperation and, at the same time, by their very nature, also the source of potential friction, hostility and even violence. Neighborhoods have been described as extensions of one’s household, i.e. one’s most personal space. Conflicts between neighbors thus are particularly bitter and long-lasting.

 

Residents can be tied to and anchored in their neighborhoods in mostly two ways which reflect the double aspect of neighborhood: they can be attached to the actual locale with its specific traits. Or they can be tied more to the relationships and social networks they have established with their neighbors.

 

When it comes to the successful reconstruction of cities after wars, all these aspects play a role. The aim of the conference is to find out in a historical and comparative way how neighborhoods had to be socially structured for them to be reconstructed in a way so that they function successfully again. Or, in cases where they did not function well how they could be reconstructed in a better way.

 

We consciously want to compare cities from various world regions (Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East) and of different sizes, which are of course situated within specific historical political war and post-war settings. We therefore invite concrete examples of cases of neighborhoods which had to be rebuilt after conflict. We encourage the bottom-up perspective which especially looks at people on the ground – neighbors, neighborhoods, local responsibles and stakeholders for reconstruction and how they used (and use) the possibilities open to them in the face of political and other odds.