Mapping Cities in the MENA Region

This project examines seven cities scattered across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, from Dubai in the east to Nouakchott in the west. Each researcher follows the urban evolution and expansion story of one of these cities since the late 19th or early 20th centuries up until the present day in order to narrate how a small city at that time came to be what it is today. This time span marks the transformation and expansion of what is typically now perceived as the old quarter, to the vastly spread city of today.

The chosen time span also highlights the repercussions of the shared yet distinguished cross-influences that these cities witnessed, particularly from the Ottoman Empire and European colonial powers. The different controlling periods and manners in which these powers ruled meant that these cities experienced different circumstances and were on different trajectories. This led to the production of different urban outcomes that are still visible today.

In addition to the focus period of each study, which covers the city in question from the late 19th or early 20th century up until today, the geographical focus of each research is city-scale. Each researcher narrates a story that is not often discussed, aided by visuals such as maps, sketches, timelines, or explanatory models. Additionally, each study discusses the historical, political, social, and economic aspects, and how each one of these aspects influenced how the city evolved and expanded and how these combined aspects leave their mark on the city. In other words, each researcher moves beyond a one-sided story, such as that city plans or buildings are merely the creations of urban planners or architects. Hence, the illustrations created by the different researchers attempt to visualise for readers the untold story behind each city.

Publication
Zeido Zeido und Suna Suna Çağaptay, eds. Mapping Cities in the MENA Region: Visualising the Untold Narratives of Heritage, Birkhäuser Verlag 2025. ( https://doi.org/10.1515/9783035625677)

Research-led teaching
"Mapping Cities in the MENA Region", Seminar in Winter semester 2025-26 at BTU

Project management: Dr. Zeido Zeido