The Syrian war has caused unprecedented destruction to the nation’s architectural heritage, endangering both its tangible fabric and intangible cultural values. Among the most affected areas is the Old City of Aleppo, where traditional courtyard houses, key bearers of cultural identity and social continuity, have suffered extensive damage. While post-Syrian-war reconstruction initiatives in Aleppo have largely focused on monumental buildings, the residential heritage has remained overlooked.

This dissertation addresses this critical gap by developing a participatory, resident-based approach to the conservation and reconstruction of Aleppo’s residential heritage. Drawing upon data collected through on-site surveys, interviews, and questionnaires in three neighbourhoods of the Old City, the study identifies the principal administrative, legal, and socio-economic obstacles hindering sustainable reconstruction. In parallel, an analysis of Syrian policies related to residential heritage and international post-war reconstruction experiences highlights the importance of residents' participation, flexible regulations, and educational initiatives.

Building on these findings, this dissertation proposes a co-creation educational programme designed to engage residents, architects, and craftsmen as active stakeholders in the reconstruction process. The programme delineates four phases of co-creation: co-diagnosis, co-design, co-implementation, and co-monitoring, each employing validated teaching and participatory methods adapted to the specific context of Aleppo.

The proposed approach contributes to bridging the existing gap between official reconstruction procedures and the lived realities of post-war communities. Besides, it offers a replicable and adaptable approach that can be refined and applied to a wider range of conservation interventions in other post-war heritage contexts.

This research investigates how community participation can be enhanced to support the sustainable reconstruction of residential heritage in the Old City of Aleppo. In the aftermath of the Syrian war, reconstruction interventions on traditional courtyard houses have been affected by several issues, such as a lack of knowledge among junior architects and craftsmen (regarding houses’ conditions, relevant regulations, and residents’ needs), and limited residents’ participation in decision-making processes. Drawing on international experiences in similar post-war contexts that highlight the role of education and a participatory approach as critical components for sustainable reconstruction efforts. This research conducts a comparative analysis of several international capacity-building and co-creation initiatives to identify effective methods of stakeholder engagement. Building on these findings, the study proposes an education programme tailored to the socio-cultural and regulatory context of the Old City of Aleppo. The proposed programme integrates academic knowledge with community perspectives using validated teaching and participatory methods, such as photovoice, walkthrough, and lectures etc., within a co-creation framework. It aims to raise awareness, build capacity, and enable residents through participation in all phases of the programme: co-diagnostic, co-design, co-implementation and co-monitoring. This way, residents are empowered to play an active role in interventions on residential heritage and to align these interventions with their needs and current regulations. Thus, the research presents a scalable model for cultural and socially sustainable residential heritage reconstruction.

Reconstruction and recovery of historic cities after destruction due to conflict or natural disasters have gained increasing relevance in the last decades. The investigation of international examples of recovery after war or natural catastrophic events can provide knowledge for improving guidance and strategies for sustainable reconstruction/ intervention in similar cases in the future. This paper aims to identify and analyze the legal, administrative, social, and economic factors that can favor the reconstruction and recovery processes of the historic city and its residential neighborhoods. An extensive review of international examples and literature on guidance has been conducted to provide insight into best practices and potential solutions. As a result, a set of lessons learned that can be used to address post-conflict and post-disaster recovery and reconstruction in similar situations is given.

Purpose: Housing interventions carried out in accordance with current regulations in the Old City of Aleppo, both before and after the Syrian war, are minor in comparison to those carried out without a license and illegally. This suggests current policies are inadequate and needs upgrading. Design/methodology/approach: This article critically reviews current Syrian policies and their implementation on residential heritage in the Old City of Aleppo with the aim to identify gaps and propose directions for modifications. Next to a review of the text of official policies and implementation documents, the archive of the Directorate of the Old City has been consulted and license applications, presented in the period 2018–2022, have been examined. Moreover, interviews with decision-makers from academics and practice were conducted. Findings: Major limitations of these policies and relative application procedures have been identified: these involve: legal/administrative, economic and social aspects. Originality/value: The specific needs have been highlighted and some proposals for improvement made.

The Old City of Aleppo, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1986. In the early 1990s the Aleppo municipality initiated the project for the Rehabilitation of the Old City with the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) as a partner. As part of the process, a Development Plan was issued as a general framework including ten strategies for upgrading the historical urban fabric in line with the sustainable development. Despite implementation of these strategies, the physical fabric of the Old City has continued to deteriorate, and the demographic transition has continued to increase until the escalation of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The paper analyses the development plan’s strategies in the Old City of Aleppo, mainly those related to housing aspects. It evaluates the effectiveness of these strategies based on the concept of good urban governance that intersects with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aiming to overcome the administrative gaps to rebuild the Old City more sustainably after the Syrian Civil War.

The rehabilitation and sustainable transformation of residential heritage of the Old City of Aleppo (Syria) is one of the most pressing issues to regain the livability of this city. This research paper aims to gain insight into the residents’ conditions and needs by studying/mapping/analyzing the status of the residential heritage and the interventions on it during the aftermath of the city’s devastation. It also intends to provide a better understanding of the residents’ attitude towards living in the Old City, their expectation for its reconstruction and transformation, and the difficulties they encountered in the process. In fact, in order to start a collective reconstruction and transformation process, it is important to understand the readiness of the inhabitants and their financial capabilities to engage in this process. A combination of research methods was used to explore the above-mentioned issues and their relation to the socio-cultural sustainability. These methods included: gathering data in the field (specifically, Al-Jalloum, Al-Farafra and Al-Aqaba, three neighborhoods in the Old City of Aleppo, were used as case studies), and setting up a questionnaire (Winter 2020) and conducting interviews (Summer 2021) with 39 returnees and their families. AutoCAD and Excel programs were used for data visualization. This research has highlighted the main problems and factors that have affected the interventions on courtyard houses in the Old City of Aleppo since 2012—the outbreak of the Syrian War in Aleppo City. Lack of funds and craftmanship, high costs and long bureaucratic procedures related to the enforcement of the regulations have been identified as the main causes that discouraged the residents to carry out repairs in a proper way

Purpose: Eight years of civil war in Syria severely impacted the historic core of Aleppo, with about 30 percent of its buildings completely destroyed and huge amounts of debris generated. This paper proposes recovery strategies for some of the most badly damaged sites in the city through material reuse and transformation, one of the goals of which is to ensure the continuity of the city’s urban cultural heritage. The purpose of this paper is to presents not only risks but also opportunities with respect to the integration of technologies to support recovery and reconstruction. Design/methodology/approach: The paper analyzes the current situation in the Old City of Aleppo by identifying the most seriously damaged sites, namely those that have sustained damage to between 80 and 100 percent of the site. It reviews comparable international post-disaster examples and investigates appropriate options for dealing with the damage caused by the war and the management of debris, with consideration given to minimal intervention, the retention of structural integrity, technology and the integration of historic materials within new components and buildings. The methodology has relied on research through field work, including interviews with stakeholders in Aleppo. Findings: The paper proposes two strategies to guide post-war rebuilding and conservation efforts in the Old City of Aleppo through: the creation of new multi-purpose, public open spaces and the use of debris in the repair of buildings and construction of new components and buildings, including infrastructure for solar panels within the new public spaces. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the development of a post-civil war sustainable material recovery approach for the Old City of Aleppo and for Syria more generally, where a disaster waste management strategy is still in development.