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Research Article
The transformation of the inherited
historical urban and architectural
characteristics of Al-Najaf’s Old City and
possible preservation insights
Sabeeh Farhan
a,
*, Venus Akef
b
, Zuhair Nasar
c
a
Department of Architectural Engineering, Engineering College, Wasit University, Iraq
b
Department of Architectural Engineering, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq
c
School of Architecture, University of Liverpool, UK
Received 1 December 2019; received in revised form 9 June 2020; accepted 20 July 2020
KEYWORDS
Transformation;
Preservation;
Architectural
heritage;
Historic center;
Urban conservation;
Al-najaf;
Prague
Abstract This paper focuses on the dramatic transformation of the inherited historical urban
and architectural characteristics of the city of Al-Najaf in Iraq, seeking new ways of seeing the
possibilities of preserving and revitalizing the historical center of the city.
In addition to being one of the most sacred centers for Shia Muslims, Al-Najaf has a rich cul-
tural and architectural heritage. Its architectural characteristics and urban structure not only
reflect the history of the city but also stand as evidence of the most important junctures in
Islamic history: the martyrdom of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, who is a central Islamic spiritual per-
sonality and the second most important figure after the Prophet Muhammad. Since its estab-
lishment in 750 AD, the formation of Al-Najaf has never separated from its sociopolitical
context and Islamic principles, particularly Shia Muslims’ beliefs.
Today, the city is a destination for more than million Shia Muslim pilgrims each year, and the
number is rapidly increasing. However, as the city continues to develop, its architecture and
unique urban structure transform dramatically. The cultural and architectural heritage of
the city is seriously threatened. Several factors played a crucial role in the formation and
the transformation of the city’s specific architectural and urban structures. The most influen-
tial factors were mainly related to religion, environment, and politics. This paper introduces
the main forces behind the transformation of the deep organizational structures of the archi-
tecture and urban fabric in Al-Najaf. The question of whether it is still possible to protect and
preserve the remaining parts and revitalize the Old City center is also examined. The goal is to
identify the major preservation issues and provide possible insights based on successful pres-
ervation experiences that address similar issues in different contexts.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: sabeeh.farhan@ntu.ac.uk,drsabeeh@uowasit.edu.iq (S. Farhan).
Peer review under responsibility of Southeast University.
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Please cite this article as: Farhan, S et al., The transformation of the inherited historical urban and architectural characteristics of Al-
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1. Introduction
Politics and architecture in Iraq have almost never been
separated. The formation and transformation of important
historical cities in the country, such Al-Najaf, Karbala, and
Baghdad, were based on political forces. Analyzing the
relationship between the main political junctures and the
architectural and urban transformation of Al-Najaf’s Old
City, particularly throughout the modern history of the
country, reveals that politics played a crucial role in the
transformation of the deep organizational structures of the
architecture and urban fabric of the city. The Old City has
suffered from urban-scale demolition and lost invaluable
architectural heritage that changed its basic characteris-
tics. More important is that the spirituality of Al-Najaf’s Old
City as a main theological center is very much associated
with and translated through its architecture and urban
structure. To contribute to the process of saving and pre-
serving the spiritual, cultural, and architectural identity of
the city, this paper sheds light on the major forces of for-
mation and transformation that shaped the current struc-
ture of the city. Revealing the main causes might help in
providing possible insights through which preservation and
revitalization of the spiritual and historical center become
possible.
2. Methodology
Through an analytical approach, this paper focuses on the
architecture and the urban structure of Al-Najaf’s Old City
from historical and political perspectives. The key forces of
formation and transformation are examined, and the major
preservation problems are concluded. Possible preservation
insights are provided based on different experiences that
proved successful in addressing similar problems and chal-
lenges in other historical cities.
3. Al-Najaf’s Old City: a brief history
Al-Najaf (or Al-Nedjef in some English literature) is one of
the most important historical cities not only in Iraq but in
the whole Islamic world, especially for Shia Muslims. It is
the home of the tomb and the shrine of Imam Ali ibn Abi
Talib (601e661 AD), who is the cousin and son-in-law of the
Prophet Muhammad. For Shia Muslims, Imam Ali is the first
imam and the second important figure after the Prophet
Muhammad. Therefore, his burial place in Al-Najaf has
turned into a holy shrine. For Shia Muslims, Al-Najaf’s Old
City is the third most important theological center after
Mecca and Medina ( ﺍﻝﺥﻝﻱﻝﻱ،1965،ﺹ138 ). Millions of Shia
pilgrims visit the shrine at different annual religious occa-
sions, practicing inherited rituals to pay tribute to Imam
Ali. Therefore, the city is registered as a global human
heritage center.
Al-Najaf ( ﭐﻝﻥﺝﻑ ) today is the capital of Al-Najaf
governorate. It is located about 160 km south of Baghdad
in the central south of Iraq. Its population was estimated as
1,000,000 in 2013. Al-Najaf’s Old City is the historical
center around the Imam Ali Shrine and Mosque (Al-Mufid,
1981).
In addition to its importance as a theological center and
a destination for Shia pilgrims, the city has a unique ar-
chitecture and urban structure that reflect the major forces
that have shaped its characteristics. These forces are
mainly the Islamic religion, the geography, and the
environment.
Unlike many other historical Islamic cities, Al-Najaf’s Old
City has gradually developed in the aftermath of one of the
key events in the Islamic history: the revealing of the burial
place of Imam Ali, which remained hidden and secretly
protected for about 90 years following his martyrdom in the
middle of the eighth century (Ataba Alawia eImam Ali
Organization). Before this historic event, the city did not
exist and the site was a desert plateau near the city of Kufa
(Al-Daraji, 2014).
Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib was assassinated inside the Grand
Mosque of Kufa in 661 AD. Before his martyrdom, he ex-
pected that his body might be subjected to some indignity
by Umayyad enemies, who were behind his assassination
(Ataba Alawia eImam Ali Organization). He was very
circumspect not to leave anything that might cause any
conflicts or hate between Muslims. Thus, he gave in-
structions to keep his burial place hidden. Upon his
request, the holy body of Imam Ali was buried outside of
Al-Kufa in a site that cannot host human settlements. His
tomb was not raised, and his burial place remained secret
to all, except for a few trusted people, for many decades
until it was revealed by Imam Jaafar Al-Sadiq (one of Imam
Ali’s grandsons and the sixth of the 12 Shia imams)
following the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate and the rise of
the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 AD. Once the burial place was
revealed and the tomb was built, people started to visit
and settle down near and around the tomb, marking the
establishment of what is today is known as Al-Najaf (the
Old City).
4. Architecture and urban structure of Al-
Najaf’s Old City
In 786 AD, because of the continuous waves of Shia Muslims
visiting the tomb of Imam Ali and his high status among
Muslims, the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid ordered a
mausoleum to be built to house the tomb. As a sacred place
for Shia Muslims, this mausoleum became a holy shrine
known as the Sanctuary of Imam Ali; the mosque (known as
2 S. Farhan et al.
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the Mosque of Imam Ali) was also included in the site
(Kammona, 2010).
Around the Holy Shrine and the Mosque of Imam Ali, the
Old City of Al-Najaf had expanded into a unique organic
structure. According to (Karimi, 1997), irregularity is the
primary characteristic of organic cities. This notion of ir-
regularity in this sense is not what is understood as disor-
der, chaos, or disorganization. Rather, the irregular organic
system is based on very specific organizational structures
that create a highly flexible system of urban growth
(Karimi, 1997). In Al-Najaf’s Old City, these deep organi-
zational structures are the best response to social and
environmental requirements; they also reflect the theo-
logical culture of the city. In fact, considering these re-
quirements never generates regular patterns
(Papageorgiou, 1971).
Hierarchy has manifested clearly through the deepest
organizational structures of the city such as the spatial
organization, city skyline, structure of land use, privacy at
architecture and urban levels, and structural relationships
of the urban fabric (Farhan, 2018). The organic urban fabric
in Al-Najaf city was extremely cohesive. The highest den-
sity was found around the mosque. The first line of buildings
shared the same wall with the main courtyard of the shrine
and the mosque (Fig. 1). The whole structure of the urban
fabric in Al-Najaf was mainly characterized as being
organic, cohesive, and composed of low-rise buildings. The
structural elements were made with traditional materials
considering the human scale, and the mosque was the
dominant structure and the main landmark that occupies
the center of the city; its golden dome and minarets were
the highest and most prominent and defined features of the
city’s skyline (Al-Kubaisy, 2009). The hierarchy of the
spatial organization with the mosque as the dominant
structure confirms the Islamic basis of the city and created
its distinctive skyline (Fig. 2).
The hierarchy also manifests through the organization of
the land use in the city. In general, Al-Najaf’s Old City is
characterized by the predominance of religious uses. All
other activities were structured based on their relation to
the theological center (Raouf, 2013). The closest structures
to the shrine and the mosque were the madrasas (schools or
colleges for religious and scientific education). The resi-
dential neighborhoods were built along circumferences that
centered on the main mosque in a cohesive, compact, and
organic urban fabric composed of traditional units of
courtyard houses. Suqs (markets) were built on the most
public axis as the main street because this activity was
considered nonspiritual but economically necessary to the
town. Near Imam Ali’s shrine, particularly to the north and
northwest of Al-Najaf, is where the Cemetery of Wadi-Al-
Salam (Valley of Peace) is located. It is currently the
largest cemetery in the world (Fattah and Caso, 2009).
Throughout its history, Al-Najaf was surrounded by six
walls. The first wall was built in 981 AD. The second wall
was built in 1010 AD, and the sixth and most recent wall was
built in 1811 AD with four main gates considering the city’s
existing land use, and the main movement axes the sixth
wall can be seen in Figs. 1 and 3.
The spatial organization and the land use distribution
further define the hierarchy of the privacy at the urban
scale in the city. The center of the city is the most public
space. Spaces closer to the center are more public and
further relate to religious activities. As the spaces move
farther from the center, they gradually become semiprivate
through the alleys, reaching the most private units in the
urban structure, namely, the courtyard houses (Al-Daraji,
2014).
The organic urban circulation network is also a hierar-
chical system. The main streets are the wider, the most
public, and the closest to the center. Main streets bifurcate
into an organic web of narrower streets (alleys) and cul-de-
sacs to connect the public spaces with the private resi-
dential units, connecting the whole structure of the city
with its center.
Al-Najaf’s Old City was described by Frederick Simpich in
1914 as a mysterious desert city of golden domes (Simpich,
1914)(Fig. 3).
The main characteristics of architecture and the urban
structure of Al-Najaf, similar to other Islamic cities, reflect
Fig. 1 Aerial view of Al-Najaf in 1918, Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (14 July 1868 e12 July 1926). Najaf, the Gate of Wisdom,
p. 47. Source: Public Domain.
Al-Najaf’s Old City 3
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a complete response to the environmental requirements
and Islamic values socially and spiritually. Thus, environ-
ment and religion (Islam) can be considered as the main
forces of formation of the Old City of Al-Najaf (Farhan,
2018).
Unfortunately, today, Al-Najaf’s Old City has lost most of
these characteristics as a serious consequence of the
different dominant forces of transformation, including
politics and economy.
5. Al-Najaf city: the forces of formation and
transformation
In the Old City of Al-Najaf, several forces have played a
crucial role in shaping the architectural characteristics and
the urban structure of the city throughout its history and
since its establishment in the middle of the eighth century
(Farhan et al., 2019). Among the most influential forces are
religion, environment, politics, and economy. These forces
Fig. 2 Traditional skyline and cohesive urban structure of Al-Najaf. Source: (Fattah and Caso, 2009).
Fig. 3 View of Najaf, 1914 The Golden Dome and the Flat-roofed Arab Houses Frederick Simpich eMystic Nedjef, The Shia
Mecca, pp. 593e598, Created: January 2, 1914, Source: The National Geographic Magazine v. 26 no. 6 (1914), Public Domain
Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Given in Memory of Elisha Hanson by Letitia Armistead Hanson, Washington DC, PRESS of JUDD &
DETWEILER, Inc. 1914.
4 S. Farhan et al.
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can be classified under two main sections: the forces of
formation and the forces of transformation.
5.1. Forces of formation
The forces of formation mainly include religion and envi-
ronment. On the basis of these forces, the distinguished
architectural and urban characteristics of Al-Najaf were
shaped, reflecting the core of Islamic principles and
considering the environmental requirements.
The architectural styles and planning patterns of Al-
Najaf’s Old City clearly express the unified Islamic philos-
ophy and methodology of life in Muslim communities. At the
planning level, this point manifests through the deep
organizational and spatial structures of the city, including
the centralization of the holy shrine, the cohesive urban
fabric, the circulation network of the zigzagged narrow
alleys that connect all the units in the urban fabric with the
center, hierarchy of the spatial organization and privacy,
and the structure of land use. On the architectural level,
these same Islamic principles manifest through the modu-
larity of house planning, the inward-directed courtyard
houses, and fenestration such as the use of the shanasheel
1
as a main element on fac¸ades to maintain the privacy of
families. Other examples are the rich interior ornamenta-
tions that express the richness of the soul versus the simple
external architectural treatments and sold elevations that
express equality among all members of society. Each unit in
the system is essential to the whole.
Thearchitectureandtheurbanstructureofthecityare
also a strict response to the requirements of geography
and climate. On the urban scale, the circulation system,
which is represented by narrow zigzag alleys that pene-
trate the cohesive urban fabric starting from the central
space in the city and ending at the courtyards of the res-
idential units, is a holistic structure that basically provides
the city with air conditioning, wind circulation, and shade
and shadows during hot weather. On the architectural
scale, the climate treatments manifest in every single
detail in each unit. The courtyard, for example, is an
essential part in the house through which hot air is pushed
outsidetobereplacedwithcoldaircomingfromthewindy
alleys. The use of natural building materials and the sha-
nasheel are other examples.
These forces of formation have always been behind the
shaping of the deep organizational structures of the city
and keeping them stable, sustained, and preserved; they
provide the city with all the required potential to continue
to thrive.
5.2. Forces of transformation
The main forces behind the architectural and urban trans-
formation of Al-Najaf’s Old City are politics, economy, and
imbalanced modernization. These forces are very much
interrelated; their impact, when the basic requirements of
the context are not considered, have caused massive de-
formations in the city’s architectural characteristics and
urban structure, especially during the modern history of the
city.
5.2.1. Political force
Political force is the key in changing the deep structures of
the architectural and urban organizational systems of Al-
Najaf’s Old City. The main junctures in the modern political
history of the country in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries have directly affected the economy and the
modernization of the country and marked the major
transformation stages in the architecture and urban fabric
of Al-Najaf’s Old City.
The twentieth century, following World War I, marked a
significant shift in the history of the country. In 1920, Iraq
was officially declared through a League of Nations
mandate as the State of Iraq under British control.
Throughout the next three decades, even after the Great
Britain granted independence to Iraq and the country
became the Kingdom of Iraq in 1932, the whole country was
growing prodigiously and taking on some of the character-
istics of British cities on social, cultural, and architectural
scales. The British mandate gradually became the model
for institutional, social, economic, and educational
modernization of the country (Papageorgiou, 1971). Even
though Al-Najaf maintained the Islamic religion, similar to
other Iraqi cities, it witnessed the emergence of new
educated social classes yet was very much influenced by
Western thoughts. The global modernization movement,
Industrial Revolution, and technical development that was
taking place in the West were brought to Iraq by the British
during the colonial and neocolonial era that lasted until the
fall of the monarchy in Iraq in 1958. This occurrence was in
parallel with the rapid economic boom following the oil
discovery in Iraq in the 1920s. Cities were expanding based
on modern planning systems, modern public transportations
were brought into the country, and cars were exported in
big numbers to meet the requirements of economically
flourishing Iraqi families. The entry of cars into Al-Najaf’s
Old City was among the most influential factors in the
transformation of the deep organizational urban structure
of the city. On the one hand, the entry of the cars increased
the numbers of pilgrims from throughout the Shia Islamic
world. In the attempt to enhance the capacity of the city to
accommodate all the arriving pilgrims, the city was rapidly
expanding without the requirements of the historical cen-
ter being considered. The two forces of formationdIslamic
principles and environmentdwere gradually falling behind
the new transformational forces. On the other hand, the
entry of the personal cars in the historical center of the Old
1
Shanasheel, plural of Shansh
ul (Arabic: ﺵﻥﺵﻭﻝ )orr
ush
an
(ﺭﻭﺵﺍﻥ ), or mashrabiya (Arabic: ﻡﺵﺭﺏﻱﺓ ), is a type of projecting
oriel window enclosed with carved wood latticework located on the
second story or higher of a traditional building and is often lined
with stained glass. It is one of the essential elements of the
traditional Arabic city system and has been used since the Middle
Ages up to the mid-twentieth century. It is mostly used on the
street side of the building; however, it may also be used internally.
The shanasheel design basically controls privacy. People inside the
house can clearly see the outside through the shanasheel especially
when opening the windows to allow the cool air from the street to
flow through, whereas the outsiders and strangers are prevented
from seeing the inside. The shanasheel also controls the natural
sunlight inside the building, keeps the place warm in the winter,
and gives shade and protection from the hot summer sun.
Al-Najaf’s Old City 5
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City required modernizing the urban circulation network. A
grid of wide modern streets replaced the organic zigzag
narrow alleys.
By 1950s, a nationwide plan for urban development
projects started in the historical cities and theological
centers, including Al-Najaf, Kerbala, Kadhimya, and
Samara. Part of this plan was to open new modern streets
around the holy shrines. The goal was to modernize the
urban circulation network in these cities to accommodate
the increasing numbers of vehicles in the area and to
facilitate the transportation for the increasing numbers of
pilgrims (Farhan et al., 2019).
As part of the modernization plan, a ring road around the
city, four streets through the traditional fabric of the Old
City of Al-Najaf, and a ring road around the holy shrine
were opened. Consequently, most of the historic buildings
and monuments were demolished and removed to provide
enough space for these projects, including all the historical
buildings that were directly attached to the walls of the
shrine and the mosque (see Fig. 4 in comparison with Fig.
2).
The four new streets are Al Sadeq and Zainulabidin,
which link the east and west parts of the city, moving
through the center where the Shrine and Imam Ali Mosque
are found. The other two streets, Al Rasool and Al Tousi,
link the south and north sides of the city with the center
(Fig. 5).
In 1958, the sixth historical wall that surrounded the
city was demolished and replaced with a ring street. Two
of the four streetsdAl Rasool and the east side of Al
Sadeqdwere opened through the urban fabric of the his-
torical center (the Old City) (Farhan et al., 2019), By the
1970s, the Al Tousi and Zainulabidin streets were opened,
and the west side of Al Sadeq Street was opened in the
1980s (Fig. 6).
This plan considered avoiding the demolition of some of
the main monuments and historical buildings in the city,
such as the Al Khadra mosque, Khan Al Shifaa to the east of
the city, and the Al Yazdi religious school to the south.
However, other historical buildings and monuments, such as
part of Al Ras mosque on the west side of the shrine and
part of Al Badkopi religious school in the Al Mishraq quarter,
were demolished and completely removed.
Such a massive transformation in Al-Najaf’s Old City
destroyed one of its main urban characteristics; with the
urban fabric being penetrated, divided, and ruptured by
the four new streets, the city is no longer cohesive. More-
over, the shrine and the urban fabric were separated; they
are no longer integrated or connected. This point contra-
dicts the spiritual principle in which Muslims should always
be connected to the mosque and the shrine. In addition,
the new streets pulled the commercial activities into the
heart of the fabric, breaking another organizational sys-
tem: the structure of land use.
1980 marked another political juncture in the modern
history of Iraq. The country was involved in the eight-year
IraqeIran war. Since then, Iraq has gone through four de-
cades of successive wars, internal political unrest, and
unresolved conflicts. One of the main consequences is
deterioration in all aspects of life, including architecture
and urban planning in Iraqi cities, particularly the historical
cities and sites. Many high-profile historical and religious
sites in Iraq were not only a part of the collateral damage
but were also a target of systematic destruction as a
potentially crucial aspect of warfare and political unrest in
what is theoretically referred to as “warchitecture”
(Herscher, 2007). Unfortunately, in such contexts, the best
case would be for a site to only be neglected and not yet
destroyed, such as the remaining parts of Al-Najaf’s Old
City.
Fig. 4 Destruction and removal of the fabric around the shrine, and the separation between the holy shrine and the urban fabric.
6 S. Farhan et al.
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Please cite this article as: Farhan, S et al., The transformation of the inherited historical urban and architectural characteristics of Al-
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During the 1980s, major urban transformation, defor-
mation, and destruction took place in Al-Najaf’s Old City. A
whole part of the traditional urban fabric, particularly in
the Al Imara and Al-Hoiesh quarters, was completely
demolished and removed without any documentation as to
what existed on the site. This part comprises the whole
zone to the west of the shrine between the Sadeq and
Zainulabidin streets (Fig. 7). The goal, based on the sce-
nario announced by the government, is to build a new
project to serve Shia pilgrims. This project is the City of
Pilgrims, which was planned to include hotels and public
services above ground and car parking underground.
Despite the announced scenario behind this urban-scale
transformation, the locals of Al-Najaf viewed this project
from a totally different perspective. They perceived that
this massive destruction is based on a political agenda in
reaction to the anti-government movement that started in
the 1970s and ended with the execution of Sayed
Mohammed Baqir Al Sadr in 1980. For the locals,
completely removing this specific part of the city to the
west of the Shrine is a form of systematic destruction to
eliminate the whole zone, which served as the home of
antigovernment activities and the site of Al Sadr’s house.
This was the policy of the government at the time: to
remove any place that is suspected or proved to be a home
for antigovernment activities. Draining the marshes in the
south of Iraq, removing the palm groves in Al Dujail, and
demolishing the Kurdish villages in Kurdistan in the north
of Iraq are other examples of this policy. The following
points support this scenario (Kammona, 2010):
1. All monuments such as schools, libraries, and historical
houses were removed completely without any docu-
mentation. The Al Yazdi and Al Khalili religious schools
are examples of demolished monuments.
2. Despite starting in the 1980s, this project was not
completed until the fall of the regime in 2003.
3. All the local residents in the removed part of the Old City
were required to leave the city and compensated with
new houses outside the city. However, religious schools
and other public buildings were not compensated, and
monuments and heritage buildings disappeared.
This scenario, which is seen by the locals from a political
perspective, is similar to different other cases in other
conflict zones on a global scale, in which architecture
became the target instead of human beings during warfare
in what is theoretically called “warchitecture”.
Warchitecture is another version of ethnic cleansing; it
targets human beings through targeting their habitat,
architectural identity, and heritage during conflicts and
warfare (Herscher, 2007). Targeting architecture that has
specific symbolic values for a particular group of people is a
systematic targeting and destruction of that group of peo-
ple themselves (Woods, 1993). Such a systematic act of
destruction not only shatters a nation’s culture and morale
but is also a deliberate act of completely destroying a
culture’s memory and, ultimately, its existence (Bevan,
2007).
However, in both scenarios, demolishing a whole sector
from the historical urban fabric of Al-Najaf’s Old City was a
Fig. 5 Site and photos illustrating the ring roads and the four new streets that were constructed in the 1950s and 1980s in Al-
Najaf. Al Sadeq and Zainulabidin streets link the east and west parts of the city, moving through the center where the shrine
and Imam Ali Mosque are located. Al Rasool and Al Tousi link the south and north sides of the city with the center. Source: the
authors based on (Dewan architects and engineers, 2015).
Al-Najaf’s Old City 7
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huge loss that cannot be justified under any circumstances.
With the removal of the whole historical part, the city lost
invaluable architectural and cultural treasures. The Old
Bazar (Suq Al Imara), for example, was included in the
demolition. This historical bazar was the main axis that
links the west gate of the shrine (Bab Al Faraj) with the
west end of the city. Bab Al Faraj was opened in the shrine
by the Ottoman Emperor Abdul Aziz at 1279 Hijri and was
originally called Al Bab Al Sultani. This urban structure,
which is represented by the relationship of the west gate of
the shrine with the main axis of Suq Al Imara, was one of
the main organizational structures that define the charac-
teristics of Al-Najaf’s urban fabric. This structure was
similar to the still-existing east side of the shrine, in which
the Suq Al Kabeer links the east gate of the Shrine with the
east end of the city. Such brutal and massive scale
destruction has deeply ruptured the urban structure and
transformed the spatial organization of the city. In addition
to the loss of rich architectural heritage, traditional activ-
ities disappeared and a rich cultural heritage associated
with the place was lost.
By the end of the twentieth century, the deep organi-
zational structures of the architecture and the urban fabric
of the Old City were radically transformed (Fig. 8).
The year 2003 marked a key political juncture: the fall
of the ruling government in the aftermath of the Second
Gulf War (March 20, 2003 eDecember 18, 2011). Iraq was
directly occupied by coalition forces up until 2011 when the
coalition forces withdrew from the cities after the treaty of
strategic framework cooperation between Iraq and the
United States was signed. Throughout these eight years,
particularly starting from 2004, Al-Najaf was very much
affected by the war between the American and Iraqi forces
against the Iraqi militias and irregular armed troops in the
historical center of the city. Some buildings were partially
destroyed as part of collateral damage. However, the
remaining historical fabric of the city survived. American
and Iraqi troops did not storm into the Old City considering
the presence of the holy shrine, which, if damaged, would
cause massive conflict.
In 2006, the new temporary Iraqi government decided to
include the shrine in the area of the City of Pilgrims project
to be used for its future expansion considering the rapid
and unprecedented increase in the numbers of Shia pilgrims
after the fall of the previous regime, which had restricted
the practice of some Shia pilgrimage rituals (Pieri, 2010).
Many proposals were discussed. However, the main
approach was to direct the expansion of the shrine toward
occupying the west side of the city, which was already
demolished to provide enough space for the City of Pil-
grims. This approach means that the shrine will expand in a
linear axis rather than radially. Unfortunately, the radial
Fig. 6 Site and photos illustrating the transformation of the urban structure of Al-Najaf’s Old City in the twentieth century. The
sixth historical wall, the historical buildings, and monuments, including all the historical buildings that were directly attached to
the walls of the shrine and the mosque, were demolished to provide space for the new circulation network. The ring roads and the
four new streets were constructed in the 1950s and 1980s in Al-Najaf. Source: the authors based on Al-Hakim, 2006.
8 S. Farhan et al.
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expansion is crucial to keep the structural relationships of
the shrine as the center of the city. On the basis of the new
proposed expansion plan, the main entrance to the shrine is
only to the east side, whereas the west side is the exit gate.
This new zoning will further support the longitudinal
structure rather than supporting the center as a main
concept, leading to a massive deformation and trans-
formation of the deep organizational planning and spatial
structures of Al-Najaf’s Old City (Fig. 9).
The project of updating the master plan of Al-Najaf was
approved in 2010. The expansion of the shrine to the west
side was completed. The project was named the Fatima’s
Courtyard Project or Sahn Fatima, which includes four
stories, two of which are above ground and the other two
underground (Imam Ali Network).
The project established a general framework for the
historical part of the city and recommended that urban
renewal projects should be conducted based on the
following general guidelines:
1. The shrine should remain as the visual focus in the city.
2. Buildings in the historic center should not be more than
three stories.
Fig. 7 Demolition of part of the Al Imara and Al-Hoiesh quarters and the whole zone to the west of the shrine between the Sadeq
and Zainulabidin streets. The photo also illustrates the separation of the shrine from the surroundings. Source: Google Earth, the
authors based on Mervin et al., 2014.
Al-Najaf’s Old City 9
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3. The building elevations should consider the historical
architectural style and the heritage values of the city.
4. Service systems should be enhanced.
5. The sources of visual pollution that affect the urban
scene of the city should be removed.
Among the most important recommendations related to
the Old City is to establish an independent municipality for
the Al-Najaf Historical Center. Multiple decision-makers
could be involved in the lack of fixed and clear policies to
develop the historical center of Al-Najaf.
Unfortunately, since 2011 up to the present, the lack of
strict policies to protect the historical center has resulted
in violations and lack of consideration for these points,
thereby causing further deformation and expediting the
transformation of the historical architecture and urban
fabric in Al-Najaf’s Old City (Fig. 10).
5.2.2. Economic force
The economy, which is very much influenced by politics, is
the other essential force of transformation that largely
contributes to the deformation of the architectural and
urban structures of the historical center of Al-Najaf.
From the economic side, the first major transformation
happened when the sixth historical wall of the city was
demolished to be replaced with the ring road around the
city. The second stage was when the four new streets
penetrated the historical urban fabric. These wide streets
have become the center of commercial activities. In other
words, it is through these new wide streets that the
commercial activities were pulled inside the residential
quarters in the historical urban fabric, thereby causing a
major confusion in the traditional land use of the city (Aziz
et al., 2011).
Capitalist development projects have started flourishing
on these main streets. As a result, the value of the land rose
rapidly, and the local residents lost their traditional jobs.
This situation was the main reason that forced and
compelled local landowners to sell their historical properties
to commercial agencies. With the absence of enforcement of
conservation law and lack of awareness among locals about
the importance of their properties and the possibilities of
investing in them, all these historical properties were sold
and demolished. New, modern, and capitalist multistory
buildings emerged without the requirements of the historical
context being considered, and an alien architectural lan-
guage was imposed on the traditional fabric, leading to a
total discontinuity in the fac¸ade patterns (Fig. 11). Almost
all these buildings are hotels and restaurants that were
established to accommodate the increasing numbers of Shia
pilgrims on different religious occasions each year, espe-
cially after Najaf Airport was opened in 2011. Some of the
new hotels were built with heights up to 12 stories,
destroying the city’s skyline, in which the golden dome and
the minarets were previously the dominant and defining
features. These accommodations were supposed to be
included in the City of Pilgrims, yet such issues were never
addressed. Such changes resulted in a dramatic trans-
formation of the city’s skyline, visual pollution, and archi-
tectural and urban deformation (Fig. 12).
Fig. 8 By the end of the twentieth century, the deep organizational structures of the architecture and the urban fabric of the Old
City was radically transformed from being cohesive and hierarchical into fragmented parts. Source: the authors based on Al-
Kubaisy, 2009.
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6. Concluding major conservation problems in
Al-Najaf’s Old City
On the basis of the previous sections, the main conservation
problems in Al-Najaf’s Old City are the result of the critical
relationship between the forces of formation and trans-
formation. The impact of politics, economy, and imbal-
anced modernization has exceeded its limits, surpassing all
the requirements of the historical context without even
considering the basic principles of its formation. The result
is a radical transformation at the formal and deeper orga-
nizational structures of the city at both architecture and
urban scales.
The major conservation challenges and problems
examined in the previous sections can be outlined as
follows:
Fig. 9 Expansion of the holy shrine; Fatima’s Courtyard. The transformation of the deep organizational planning and spatial
structures of Al-Najaf’s Old City. Source: Imam Ali Network, online at https://www.imamali.net/.
Fig. 10 Following 2011, the deformation of the Old City’s skyline. The Golden Dome and Minarets of the Holy Shrine are no longer
the defining features of the skyline of Al-Najaf’s Old City. Source: the authors based on Dewan architects and engineers, 2015.
Al-Najaf’s Old City 11
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1. The destruction of the deep organizational structures
of the urban fabric of Al-Najaf’s Old City and the radical
transformation of the Old City’s spatial organization.
The transformation of the city’s skyline: The golden
dome and minarets have faded behind multistory con-
structions and are no longer the defining features of the
skyline of Al-Najaf’s Old City.
The fragmentation of the cohesive urban fabric as a
result of a new, alien circulation network system and the
continuous demolition of the historical sites in the Old
City on both urban and architectural scales.
The separation between the shrine and the surrounding
historical urban fabric
Decentralization. The shrine and the mosque are no
longer considered the center for the city’s expansion.
The expansion of the shrine itself is planned to be axial
and longitudinal instead of central.
The radical deformation of the spatial organization. Hi-
erarchy has disappeared and is no longer the key char-
acteristic of the urban structure at all levels, including
the circulation network, privacy, and land use. The
organic system of zigzag narrow alleys has been
ruptured and no longer connects all the units in the
urban fabric with the center. The public spaces and
commercial activities penetrated into the private resi-
dential sectors.
Religious uses are no longer the predominant activity in
the city.
Large-scale demolition.
2. The visual pollution, the deformation of the formal
structure of the traditional architectural style, and the
discontinuity of the fac¸ade patterns.
3. The destruction and the demolition of the historical
buildings and the loss of many architectural characteristics
and historical value inherited by the buildings.
4. Traffic congestion and mixed use between pedestrian
and car pathways at the main axes in the center of the Old
City.
5. Weak maintenance and the lack of experience in the
field of preservation among the stakeholders.
6. The absence of clear and updated preservation leg-
islations and policies.
7. The absence of conservation law enforcement.
8. No cooperation between the central authorities,
professionals, academics, investment agencies, land-
owners, and local stockholders.
9. The lack of awareness about the importance of
maintaining and preserving cultural and architectural
heritage.
10. The lack of awareness about the role of preservation
in building a strong and sustainable economy.
11. The decline of all traditional crafts and cultural ac-
tivities (the regression of intangible heritage).
7. Conclusions: possible preservation insights
1. Even though the historical architecture and urban fabric
of Al-Najaf’s Old City have been transformed dramatically
and some parts were completely demolished, major op-
portunities to save the remaining parts still exist.
Fig. 11 Alien architectural language imposed on the tradi-
tional fabric, leading to a total discontinuity in the fac¸ade
patterns.
Fig. 12 Deformation of the Old City’s skyline after 2011. The golden dome and minarets of the holy shrine are no longer the
defining features of the skyline of Al-Najaf’s Old City. Source: Authors.
12 S. Farhan et al.
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2. The three existing and still surviving historical quarters
(MishraqeAhoiesheBuraq), and the remaining parts of the
Imarah quarter have been ruptured in terms of deep orga-
nizational structures. Yet, each of the three parts embraces
a rich architectural and cultural heritage and introduces
living examples of how the city was structured before its
transformation (the four quarters are shown in Fig. 7).
These quarters, if saved and carefully restored and pre-
served, will play a crucial role in revitalizing the quality of
urban life, the cultural heritage of the Old City, and the
economy of its local residents.
3. Some of the highlighted problems from the previous
section have caused extreme damage that cannot be pre-
served or restored, especially at the urban scale. The
extreme damage mainly includes the destruction and
radical transformations of the deep organizational struc-
tures of the urban fabric of Al-Najaf’s Old City, such as the
fragmentation of the cohesive urban fabric and the
decentralization of the shrine and the mosque.
4. The fragmentation of the cohesive urban fabric is mainly
a result of unjustified continuous demolitions on both the
architectural and urban scales, which started in the 1950s.
The first stage was the urban demolition of all the historical
sites, including the historical structures around the shrine
and the sixth wall around the city. This was justified as a
necessary action to provide enough space for the new cir-
culation network that was imposed on the traditional urban
fabric (Bevan, 2007). The second stage was the dramatic
removal of the whole west side of the shrine in the 1980s. In
both stages, the announced goal was to enhance the cir-
culation system and traffic capacity of the city to accom-
modate the increasing numbers of pilgrims. However, the
dramatic consequences that were never considered are the
separation between the shrine and the surrounding histor-
ical urban fabric, the loss of invaluable historical buildings,
and the dissolution of the hierarchical system of moving
from public to private spaces on the urban scale. Such
major problems and transformations at the deeper organi-
zational structures of the city are impossible to correct via
restoration or preservation (Andrew, 2007). However, suc-
cessful experiences in other historical cities, such as Bath,
Chichester, Covent Garden in London, and Prague, can
provide insights into what should have been decided when
facing similar challenges. For example, all these cities
faced similar issues: traffic congestion and increasing
numbers of population and visitors. The response of each
city is different yet successful in preventing demolition and
in protecting and conserving the existing historical fabric.
In Bath, for example, an underground transportation and
tunnel system was constructed below the city. In Chi-
chester, a new ring road was added around the historical
city center, supported with all the necessary facilities such
as public transportation, which made it possible to shift and
direct the traffic out from the center into the circumfer-
ences of the city. In Covent Garden, a new highway con-
struction project was cancelled as a result of a massive
public awareness campaign and rejection of the project, as
well as fears that the new highway construction would lead
to the removal of entire parts of the historical district
(Guachalla, 2009). The decision was to move and relocate
all the activities and the new alien land uses that caused
the major traffic congestion; all the invaluable buildings in
and around the historical square were protected from de-
molition. In Czech Republic, particularly in Prague, the
central government worked to ensure that the organiza-
tional structures of the historical center were never
transformed even though the country went through a pop-
ulation boom after World War 2. The demolition of any of
the historical sites inside Prague has never been allowed
even though doing so may be necessary to provide the
required spaces for residential projects. Instead, a large
budget was allocated to build new residential projects
outside the historical city and new transportation systems
to link them with the historical center (Stubbs and Maka
s,
2011). The goal was to preserve the architectural heritage
in the historical fabric, such as the beautiful Ericsson
Palace complex, and to enhance the quality of the urban
life in the historical center.
5. Another structural problem at the urban scale that is
difficult to address through restoration or preservation is
the decentralization of the shrine and the mosque. This
major problem was a result of two poorly thought-out de-
cisions. The first is the expansion of the city outside the
historical center since the 1930s based on a grid planning
system without considering the shrine as a center (Bevan,
2016). The second and most important point is the expan-
sion of the shrine itself to the west for the Fatima’s
Courtyard project. This expansion transformed the spatial
organizational structure of the city from being central into
being axial and longitudinal. Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan
Iraq, has rapidly expanded since 2003 after more than 10
years of isolation and with development being cut off for
political reasons. This city has a historical citadel on a hill in
the center. Despite not associating with any religious or
spiritual aspect like the center of Al-Najaf’s Old City, this
historical citadel has been carefully addressed and
considered in the continuous expansions of the city on an
urban scale since 2003 (Fig. 13).
6. Other organizational structures on the urban scale, if
carefully addressed, can be partially preserved. Examples
of this case include the possible partial preservation of the
organic system of the zigzag narrow alleys, which were
ruptured by the imposition of the modern circulation axes
and the demolition process. Parts of these alleys still exist
and survive in the three historical quarters yet are very
much neglected and partially destroyed. Although these
traditional alleys no longer connect the urban fabric with
the center, they embrace all the rich architectural char-
acteristics that represent an important part of the histori-
cal urban fabric. Another example is the hierarchy between
public and private spaces on an urban scale, which was very
much violated, thereby causing a radical transformation in
the whole system to the point where it cannot be fully
restored. Accordingly, the commercial activities have
expanded from the public spaces and penetrated into pri-
vate residential sectors through the wide main streets,
thereby causing another major transformation in the
structure of the land. The religious uses and traditional
activities have been replaced with commercial uses as a
dominant activity in Al-Najaf’s Old City. In addition,
establishing new multistory commercial buildings, some of
which rise up to 12 stories, in the traditional fabric changed
the skyline of the city and caused the emergence of a new
alien architectural language.The architecture of the
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commercial buildings neither considered the architectural
language of the existing historical context nor respected
the idea of keeping the shrine as the dominant landmark.
The result is a total deformation on the morphological
level, discontinuity of the fac¸ade patterns, and trans-
formation of the skyline. Such major issues can only be
addressed by legislating new construction principles, strict
regulations, and laws. In Prague, for example, strict laws
regulate the construction of new buildings and facilitate
and support the maintenance, restoration, and conserva-
tion of the existing historical architecture and urban fabric
of the city after World War 2. The government established
the National Institution for the Reconstruction of Historical
Buildings and Cities to regulate and manage conservation
projects through special departments in each governorate.
Through these departments and with strict conservation
laws and legislations, the historical city center of Prague,
which was dramatically damaged after 40 years of
Communist control, was preserved. In Bath, strict laws
prevent profit-oriented property agencies from demolishing
historical sites and regulate new uses (Papageorgiou, 1971).
7. Architectural and individual historical buildings in Al-
Najaf’s Old City have seriously deteriorated, yet full pres-
ervation is still possible. The three remaining quarters of
the historical fabric in the Old City (Mis-
hraqeAhoiesheBuraq) and the remaining parts of Imarah
quarter still contain invaluable historical buildings and
monuments. Each of these individual buildings is a source of
information and an example of the historical architecture,
lifestyle, and culture and traditions of the city. These
buildings should be urgently protected, preserved, and
revitalized; otherwise, they will end up demolished. Pre-
serving these buildings is the last chance to save and pre-
serve the cultural and architectural heritage of the Old
City.
On the one hand, the flourishing of commercial activities
has raised the value of the land and changed the traditional
uses. The regression of traditional uses has caused local
craftsmen to lose their jobs. Moreover, with the weak
enforcement of conservation law and the absence of in-
vestment in the potential of historical buildings, local
landowners are compelled to sell their historical properties
to commercial and capitalist agencies to be demolished and
replaced with new multistory buildings. Even if these his-
torical buildings were not sold, most of them were either
neglected and have gradually decayed and were thus
demolished. Some buildings were unprofessionally main-
tained and modernized, causing serious damage and de-
formations within the narrow alleys in each of the three
quarters. In both cases, the demolition of historical build-
ings is a serious problem that needs to be urgently
addressed and stopped. With each demolished building, a
cultural and architectural heritage is lost, and the urban
fabric is further ruptured and destroyed.
Many examples show how such major issues have been
carefully addressed and successfully managed through
different strategies with one main goal: to not only stop but
also prevent the demolition of the remaining historical
units and parts. In Bath, extensive efforts were focused on
addressing the status of the unit and the cluster in the
historical urban fabric. Conservation regulations require
systematic and continuous evaluation of the historical
buildings, sites, and urban fabric based on particular eval-
uation criteria set by historic preservation specialists. The
evaluation criteria included aspects such as the age of the
building, style, activity, building shape, and building ma-
terial (Rodwell, 2008). This point raises awareness off local
owners of the historical properties and educates them and
prevents them from damaging their own properties. More-
over, to stop the sale of the historical buildings to com-
mercial agencies, a cooperation between the central
government and the local authorities has been enacted
through providing the individuals with financial support,
such as loans and tax reliefs, to be invested in the process
of maintaining or buying and rehabilitating the historical
buildings and sites. Strict conservation regulations also
prevent profit-oriented property agencies from changing
the historic sites and their use (Papageorgiou, 1971).
Similar strategies were enacted in Chichester; financial
support and tax relief was allocated to the residents of the
Old City to ensure that they stay and maintain their places.
However, the focus in Chichester is on the relationship
between the social and architectural heritage; the con-
servation of city’s architecture and urban spatial organi-
zation went in parallel with the conservation of the existing
traditional social structure and revitalization of the cultural
values in the city (Rodwell, 2008). In Prague, investing in
the high potential inherited by the historical buildings and
sites is limited to preservation strategies such as adaptive
reuse, restoration, rehabilitation, and reviving cultural and
traditional heritage. The individual building or a group of
buildings are considered a part of the holistic structure of
the city. Thus, any intervention or change in the individual
buildings’ level will not be legal without considering the
requirement of the whole urban context. In other words,
the whole historic fabric is considered as one holistic
structure to prevent damage on a smaller scale (Dobby,
1978).
8. Financing the conservation of historical city centers is
among the key challenges that can be managed through
different strategies. In Bath, for example, the conservation
includes all the historical areas of the city (Falamaki, 2008).
The conservation process includes, but is not limited to,
architectural preservation, fac¸ade conservation, and
adaptive reuse of historical buildings in addition to the
underground transportation system as the first step to
completely resolving the major traffic issues to enhance the
capacity of the city as a prospective tourism destination
(Dobby, 1978). Such holistic city conservation projects are
extremely expensive, which is why the central government
has cooperated with the local authorities in Bath to provide
them with financial support through loans and tax reliefs to
be invested in the conservation of the city. This decision
was based on the fact that fully conserving the historical
center will revitalize the economy of the city as a tourist
destination. The conservation plan focused on investing in
the existing potentials of historical sites, such as the hot
mineral water springs that distinguish the city. In addition,
the local stakeholders and private sector were actively
engaged in the process of rehabilitation and adaptive reuse
of existing activities. On this basis, the economy of this city
is expected to flourish and be enhanced in the long run.
This plan was successful; the city not only established a
strong economy and paid all the loans back to the
14 S. Farhan et al.
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government but also contributed to lifting and supporting
the national economy. Such plans are based on the long-
term enhancement of the economy through the revitaliza-
tion of the historical potential of the city; thus, Bath has
become among the most active tourist destinations in the
region. In 1987, the entire city was listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Site (Rodwell, 2008). Hence, conservation
of historical city centers is considered an active sustainable
development strategy.
Unlike Bath, the historical conservation in Chichester
was conditional to a limited budget. A different financing
strategy was employed and was successful in revitalizing
the historical center. With the aim to avoid overriding the
specified economic imperatives, a very careful conserva-
tion process was planned, focusing only on the buildings
that best reflect the history and architectural and cultural
values of the city. This elective conservation strategy was
based on careful studies and analysis of reports. Financial
Fig. 13 Comparison of the expansion of the Erbil master plan (Aziz et al., 2011) and the expansion of Al-Najaf (Google Earth).
Source: Authors based on the mentioned information.
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support through loans and tax reliefs ensured that local
residents and owners of the historical buildings were
engaged in the conservation process. Getting the locals stay
and invest in the potential of their historical properties was
crucial to stopping demolitions and preventing the owners
from selling their houses to commercial property agencies,
which might remove the structures in the long run. More-
over, the local residents will be responsible for rehabili-
tating their historical properties, with the support and
monitoring of conservation professionals (Stubbs and
Maka
s, 2011). More importantly, having the locals stay
and invest in their historical properties plays a crucial role
in revitalizing the cultural heritage of the city and keeping
social traditions and values active and alive. Continuous
support for the conservation project was provided by the
central government. However, because of the limited
budget, the focus was on giving more authority to a
nongovernmental organization and local stakeholders to
continue sustaining, developing, and investing in conser-
vation projects in the city. In Prague, the conservation of
the whole historical city was financed and fully funded by
the central government (Dobby, 1978).
9. All the examined examples of the conservation of his-
torical city centers improved and revitalized the economy
of the cities in the long run. Conservation is proved to be a
sustainable development strategy because it ensures the
cultural and economic growth of the old cities.
10. Conservation strategies for historical city centers can
be topebottom (Prague), bottomeup (Covent Garden), or
both (Bath and Chichester). Collaboration among all the
stakeholders, including the central government, local au-
thorities, architects and planners, and preservation pro-
fessionals, local residents, and craftsmen, is essential in all
cases.
11. Raising awareness and getting the community engaged
in revitalizing historical buildings and cities are essential in
sustaining preservation projects on both architecture and
urban scales.
12. According to Ernst Cassirer, essential for human devel-
opment is the tension between forces of stability that tend
to keep systems stable and forces of transformation that
produce what can be defined as relatively new. This duality
exists at all tangible and intangible levels of human civili-
zation (Tyler and Sebastian, 2015). However, especially in
historical contexts, carefully considering the forces of for-
mation is crucial to keep the deep organizational structures
of the architecture and urban fabric active and alive.
Otherwise, the system will structurally transform, losing its
basic and distinguish characteristics. The late Iraqi archi-
tect Rifat Chadirji supports this understanding from an
architectural perspective. In healthy societies, the forces
of formation (the constant) and the forces of trans-
formation are supposed to be in a state of equilibrium,
balance, and harmony; otherwise, the result is imbalance
(disturbed system), which particularly occurs in historical
and traditional contexts that have a rich cultural and deep
architectural heritage (Chadirji, 1986). The rising contra-
dictions between the constant and the changeable leads to
what is best defined in the literature as a crisis (Woods,
1993). From this perspective, the major conservation
problems in Al-Najaf’s Old City can be understood as a
result of imbalance between the forces of formation and
the forces of transformation; the latter dominated for more
than 60 years. This challenge can be addressed by clearly
defining what is constant and what is changeable in the
existing system. In this sense, whereas the constant is what
defines the identity, the changeable is the creative evolu-
tion of the system ( ﺏﻩﻥﺱﻱ1982ﺹ100 ).
8. Recommendations
1. The urban and architectural preservation of Al-Najaf and
conservation decision-making in general should be a
collaboration between the central government in Iraq; the
local authorities in Al-Najaf, including the official Imam Ali
institution (Ataba Alawayah); preservation professionals;
historians; academics; local residents and craftsmen; and
all stakeholders. Such collaborative work makes the pres-
ervation of the remaining historical parts possible.
2. Legislating firm conservation regulations and ensure law
enforcement. These legislations regulate the conservation
of historical sites and cities in Iraq and strictly follow the
impact of commercial agencies on historical sites.
3. Iraq is the cradle of civilization and can be considered a
large-scale museum. The preservation process in the
country can be developed and regulated by establishing a
national conservation institution to run local representative
offices in each governorate.
4. Raising awareness among locals about the importance of
preserving the cultural and architectural heritage of their
cities. The locals need to realize that conservation is not
against economic development. Rather, preserving cultural
and architectural heritage is an active sustainable devel-
opment strategy that ensures the revitalization of urban
life and the economy of historical city centers in the long
run.
5. Engaging the community in the conservation process
plays a crucial role in sustaining the historical buildings and
sites.
6. Encouraging the communities in historical city centers to
focus on investing in existing potentials of the historical
sites.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
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