Wars in cities: three rules for protecting the built environment during conflict

By Hisham Abusaada, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Housing and Building National Research Center
Abeer Elshater, Professor of Urban Morphology, Ain Shams University

During the course of wars, the infrastructure of cities faces destruction. Fighting, regardless of its intentions, destroys roads, bridges, commercial and residential buildings, as well as the architecture they embody.

Throughout history and around the globe, calls to stop wars have focused on the value of people’s lives. In recent decades, there has been a lot of attention paid to protecting cultural heritage. However, there has been little consideration for the value of public places and people’s memories of these spaces.

Buildings – such as residential and commercial…

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