Middle Eastern cities cannot be lumped together as a single group. Rather they make up the urban kaleidoscope of the title, as the diversity of the six cities included here shows. They range from cities rich in tradition (Cairo, Tunis, and Baghdad), to neglected cities (Algiers and Sana'a), to newly emerging 'oil-rich' Gulf cities (Dubai).
The authors are all young Arab scholars and architects local to the cities they describe, providing an authentic voice with an understanding no outsider could achieve.
These contributors move away from an exclusively 'Islamic' reading of Arab cities - which they regard as outdated and counterproductive. Instead, they explore issues of identity and globalization in the context of the struggles and solutions offered by each city from the late nineteenth century to the present day. Their focus is on how the built environment has changed over time and under different influences.
Table of Contents:
1. The Middle East City: Moving beyond the Narrative of Loss 2. The Merits of Cities' Locations 3. The Spatial Development and Urban Transformation of Colonial and Postcolonial Algiers 4. Globalization and the Search for Modern Local Architecture: Learning from Baghdad 5. Sana'a: Transformation of the Old City and the Impacts of the Modern Era 6. Lake Tunis, or the Concept of the Third Centre 7. Cairo's Urban Déjà Vu: Globalization and Urban Fantasies 8. Redrawing Boundaries: Dubai, an Emerging Global City Index
Review :
This volume provides a nonspecialist audience with a thorough overview of issues and approaches to contemporary Middle Eastern urbanism. - Sophia Shwayri, Traditional Dewlling and Settlements Review, Spring 2005
'Will inspire further critical investigation on the sites and cities of the Middle East that have until now been marginalized in the debates regarding globalization and urban change.' - Journal of Architectural Education
This book is a very informative and lively read that certainly adds fresh perspectives to the study of Arab cities… This collection could be an interesting text for undergraduate and graduate courses in Middle East and urban/cultural studies. International Journal of Middle East Studies
A thorough overview of issues and approaches to contemporary Middle Eastern urbanism. Traditional Dwelling and Settlements Review
The essays collected by Elsheshtawy raise as many questions as they answer, but this is also a strength of the book, which provides insights into places often grounded in an idealized past, both in their architecture and their architectural history. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
This is a laudable collective effort with an excellent choice of case-studies which make a compelling argument in favour of the ‘urban kaleidoscope’. This certainly provides food for thought for architects, planners, urban specialists and historians working on and in the Middle East - Urban History Journal
