The Preservation of Iraq’s Architectural and Urban Heritage in the City of Mosul: Valuing Heritage in Urban Redevelopment

Architectural and urban heritage has come under significant pressure as a consequence of wars in Iraq and the wider Middle East. The region has suffered deliberate destruction of ancient heritage sites while simultaneously housing and urban infrastructure has been destroyed. In alignment with the Iraqi government’s strategic priorities, this project will focus on heritage preservation and support strategic planning for preservation during the urban redevelopment programme for the City of Mosul. This will include sensitive and surgical analysis of heritage remains, strategic and systematic recording, and the prioritising of critical assets for preservation as an essential part of the city’s redevelopment. As the urgent demand for housing and infrastructure projects is paramount, heritage assets and archaeological remains could soon vanish without any trace. This project will therefore engage with the redevelopment and city planning priorities within Mosul analysing approaches to housing/property development and city regeneration and how heritage can be valued and protected within this process. It will examine sustainable approaches to redevelopment that value architectural and urban heritage in the recreation of modern urban environments.

As a PhD student on this project, you will join an increasing number of PhD students in the School of Architecture Design and the Built Environment. Your research will be integrated with the University’s strategic research theme in Global Heritage: Science, Management and Development. You will work within the Centre for Architecture Urbanism and Global Heritage (CAUGH) that focuses on the investigation of human aspects of architecture, spatial practices, urban heritage, material culture and the built environment within the changing urban and social structures of contemporary cities.


Specific qualifications/subject areas required of the applicants for this project
Entrants must have a first/undergraduate Honours degree, with an Upper Second Class or a First Class grade, in [Architecture, Heritage Management, Digital Archaeology, Planning and Development]. Entrants with a Lower Second Class grade at first degree must also have a postgraduate Masters Degree at Merit.