The Arab City does not exist. Yet, as an idea, it has occupied the site of endless projections—from exotic to political—which, re-examined, can enable us to better understand the region’s architectural and urban complexities, amongst other things. As a reality, the Arab City has manifested itself in varied ways across time and place. As such, it is a wonderful lens through which to understand a shared culture and people, its interconnected geography, and complex histories.
In the past decades, The Arab City has fostered a wide array of radical experiments in architecture and urbanism. From leading the wave of ‘instant urbanism’ to building the first zero carbon city, the MENA region has hosted the FIFA World Cup, witnessed a resurgence of social housing and investment in outstanding institutional buildings, public spaces, and education campuses, led major reconstruction and preservation efforts as well as re-affirmed for the world the importance of public space through ongoing civil resistance and revolutions, however brutally repressed.
