Erbil Citadel Revitalization and the Presence of Its Emergence History

Abstract

In July 2014 Erbil Citadel (Iraq), a rare and unique surviving model of an urban ancient settlement, has been included in the UNESCO list of world heritage. The process of inclusion was preceded by many studies prepared to achieve the revitalization of the citadel as a residential, tourist and cultural center for Erbil. Other study was initiated for the area surrounding the citadel to enhance the integration between the Citadel and the surrounding districts and to provide an added layer of protection. Our paper focuses on the relationship between Erbil Citadel and the surrounding districts as a significant issue for the citadel revitalization project. It argues that the revitalization of Erbil Citadel as well as its neighboring area - buffer zone -, in an integrative approach cannot be justified only by the geographical adjacency between the two entities, but it may be necessitated, additionally, by their historical adjacency. It is argued that the relationship between the Citadel and the lower surrounding districts, historically and in terms of urban development, is a relationship of complementation rather than a relationship of a mere repetition as raised by previous studies. To support this argument, those studies are reviewed and discussed. Then, the nature of the urban growth occurred, the types of the urban fabric elements and the urban functions of certain elements are introduced as the indicators considered as the items of a theoretical framework used to support the abovementioned hypothesis. A methodology usually used in historical researches, is adopted to objectively investigate the historical documents, manuscripts and sketches, travelers’ journeys and other sources as evidences to be analyzed and compared. The research concludes that the unique adjacency relationship between Erbil citadel and its neighboring districts which characterized their emergence across history evidently justified the integrative approach adopted in the current Erbil citadel revitalization project.