Silk Cities 2017: Reconnect Population and Urban Heritage in the Middle East and Central Asia London, UK, July 11-13, 2017

Overview

Cultural heritage, in essence relate to both physical and social sciences. It intertwines with identity and connection to the world where culture is still seen in its concrete manifestation of expression in the physical space i.e. built environment as well as in its observance of social values, experiences, connection in its intangible dimension Urban cultural heritage, relates to urban elements (urban morphology and built form, open and green spaces, urban infrastructure), architectural elements (monuments, buildings) and community rituals and ceremonies, rooted in their histories and values. The region, which is geopolitically called the Middle East and Central Asia, is the home of ancient settlements and early human endeavours to form their cities. Urban historic characteristics such as historical city centres still exist in many cities in particularly those along the historic trade routes across the region beside contemporary exercises of city formation. However, the urban continuity that once existed across generation in the physical and social paradigm have been interrupted in the midst of rapid urbanisation, globalisation and urban economic pressures, in addition to the conflicts and frequent destructive natural hazards. These have played a vital role in disrupting cultural connection of the city and its population. It is often a case that dealing with such pressing issues in a historic city is more complex than dealing with those in newly built cities and urban areas.

Taking a forward-looking approach, the conference takes both cross disciplinary and cross sectoral perspectives to examine contemporary historic cities in the region. The conference aims to bring researchers, practitioners to explore the discourse of this interruption and how to reconnect population to their urban cultural heritage in the Middle East and Central Asia. It also intends to explore the ways in which the knowledge of the subject matter, existing practical lessons and inspirational practices can be shared to inform other practices, from responsive urban projects to community based practices and creative solutions.

Conference themes

• Urban heritage and cultural identity
• Governing urban heritage
• Post-crisis urban reconstruction in historic contexts
• Urban economy in an inclusive society in a historic city
• Potential policy transfer on urban heritage?

Committees

Co-organisers

• Silk Cities
• The Bartlett Development Planning, UCL

Institutional Support

• Oxford Brookes University

Conference Convenor

Dr. Farnaz Arefian, Silk Cities; The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, f.arefian[at]ucl.ac.uk

Scientific Committee (in progress)

• Dr. Mansoor Ali, Water, Engineering & Development Centre, Loughborough University, UK
• Dr. Farnaz Arefian, Silk Cities; The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, UK
• Dr. Camillo Boano, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, UK
• Prof. Yves Cabannes, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, UK
• Prof. Mohammad Chaichian, Department of Psychology, Sociology and Social Work, Mount Mercy University, USA
• Prof.  Kate Darian-Smith, Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Prof. Iraj Etessam, Emeritus Professor, University of Tehran, Iran
• Dr. Kalliopi Foseki, Institute of Sustainable Heritage, UCL, UK
• Dr. Cassidy Johnson, The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL, UK
• Prof. Muhammed Kadhem, School of Architecture and Built Environment, German Jordanian University, Jordan
• Prof. Ramin Keivani, School of the Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University, UK
• Dr. Luna Khirfan, School of Planning, University of Waterloo, Canada
• Prof. Ali Modarres, Department of Urban Studies, University of Washington Tacoma, USA
• Dr. Iraj Moeini, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Development, Shahid Beheshti University, Iran
• Dr. Farhad Mukhtarov, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Netherlands 
• Mr. Benjamin Henri Mutin, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, USA
• Mr. Babar Mumtaz, URBANNOVATION, DPU Associates, Turkey & Pakistan
• Dr. Elena Paskaleva, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University, Netherlands
• Dr. Shahid Ahmad Rajput, Department of Architecture and Design, Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Pakistan
• Dr. Rania Raslan, Architectural Engineering Department, Alexandria University, Egypt
• Ms. Judith Ryser, ISOCARP, UK
• Prof. Ashraf Salama, Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde, UK
• Ms. Anna Soave, UN-Habitat, Afghanistan

Submission Guidelines

All papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference.

Language: English

Length: 300 to 500 words (Excluding titles and footnotes)

You should submit your abstract through an online system.  You need to create an account first and make sure you type your email address correctly. The system will send you an email with a link to verify your email and complete the account creation.

Submissions will be reviewed by the Scientific Committee. The Conference uses blind review process.  Thus you should also upload an anonymous abstract to the online system.  We have prepared a fully formatted template for this. Only abstracts which followed the template will be reviewed.

Abstract submission link here.   https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=silkcities2017

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to info[at]silkcities.org.