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9. Identify ways of extracting both tangible and intangible persistent elements of the urban core by chronologically monitoring and analysing its changes.

10. Re-draw maps of the urban core area from 1920-2014, because no available chronological maps display the evolution of this area throughout this period of time. The originals belong to different periods and were either maps or images drawn by hand and had erroneous dimensions and/or inaccurate information. The AutoCAD version that shows the existing situation of the city in 2014 (the master plan of the city) also has inaccurate dimensions.

11. Identify the methods – through the concept of the tangible and intangible aspects of its persistent elements – which may inform and support any future conservation programs, particularly the one occurring in the historic urban core of the Tell cities.

Structure of the Thesis

Historic living cities are shaped by, and constitute, syntheses of events and circumstances (agents) in different periods; this is continued in the process of being.

These agents are variable in their effect but interact together and bring change. This change moves the image of historic cities from their actual traditional shape towards a different level. Within this process the concept of persistence – or permanence – is revealed as part of the change. All historic cities inherit old aspects from their past and generate new additions under different circumstances and conditions. This dual nature of change and persistence, or durability, embraces a city’s shape and by studying the history of any city, it is clear that a new period produces its own changes and additions.

However, the degree of change and the way it impacts on the new varies considerably.

In some periods, the old urban fabric remains much the same with few changes, for example during the Ottoman period, where the forces that acted were gradual and limited. In other periods, especially in the recent past, the changes become radical and the impact of the new on the old leads to significant alterations. Therefore, in order to trace these changes, it is important to divide these stages into different periods.

Due to the diversity of the subject matter, a literature review has been developed within each chapter. Also, the subjects in some chapters will overlap so as to reduce an unnecessary concentration of materials in individual chapters.

The thesis is divided into eight chapters, each of which focuses on a major field of content. The research is presented in two main phases; the first, which appears in chapters one and two. Chapter one defines change and persistence and the meaning of tangible and intangible aspects. It describes the urban cores of South West Asia, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (SWANAAP).

Chapter One: describes change and persistence of the urban core. The first part of this chapter is concerned with the urban elements of the city in general and the urban core in particular. These elements of paths, nodes and edges are intertwined with the intangible aspects. The main aspects of the urban cores of cities in South West Asia, North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (the SWANAAP) were introduced. This is followed by covering the concept of change, the type of change and the agents of change in the city. This urban core, with its public spaces, was the first part of the city to absorb the changes. Karimi (1998) indicates that this part of the city reflects a society’s particularity as it conveys the past or the history of that society. In the case of Erbil, current research focuses on the change in Erbil’s public sector, as it is one of the cities that has faced different changes that have impacted on its urban structure with, in some stages, forces destroying its intrinsic properties. Following that the knowledge gap is identified and the key terms are extracted to support the analytical chapters.

In Chapter One the definitions of ‘change’ and ‘persistence’ are given. ‘Change’ is the movement of a structure from a specific situation considered to be the origin or the base, to a new situation. The impacts of agents of change can either be minor, which means the effect happens gradually, and leads to adaptation, or major, where the impact happens radically or suddenly, which can sometimes lead to displacement and disconnection. The result is represented by specific alterations, subtractions and/or additions that work on different levels, either internally or externally, ultimately creating a new relationship between the elements. The process of change can happen suddenly or it can take long or short periods of time.

‘Persistent elements’ carry a long history and have an impact on a city’s formation’.

These present in different aspects – they can be intangible events or traits and customs.

That is to say, rituals or myths are manifested by physical signs. They can also be tangible aspects represented by primary urban elements such as a path, a node, and an edge. The physical aspects of these persistent elements can propel a city’s growth or can be a hindrance since they become pathological elements, resulting in their isolation. The persistent elements can be identified through morphological studies and a diachronic approach and are revealed clearly by analysing and monitoring any change that has happened to the old urban fabric.

Chapter Two: this chapter focuses on the methodology chosen to achieve the aims and objectives of this research. It discusses the reason for choosing this kind of methodology and the relationship between the research methods and research objectives

Chapters Three: Erbil, the Ancient City; Erbil, the Prosperous City; and Erbil, the Early Modern and Modern City. Any given city, along with its architecture and urban environment, is embodied in its inhabitants. Therefore, in order to achieve the aims of this study, it is important to understand the historical background of Erbil, its cultural aspects and its location. Chapter three identifies Erbil’s roots and its historical context by introducing a hypothesis that connect ancient Arbail with present day Erbil and by describing Erbil during the Assyrian period, which throws further light on its urban

core. The chapter also provides a foundation for chapters Six, Seven and Eight, which address change and persistence in the urban core throughout history.

Chapter Four: the Prosperous City, this chapter introduces the Hathebani and the Attabeg periods, which identifies the outline of the city, consequently that will help to identify the outline of the urban core and also the intangible aspects that helped to shape it.

Chapter Five: the Early Modern and Modern City, they tracks the changes in the city’s outline with emphasis on identifying the tangible and intangible aspects of its historic urban elements, some of which form part of its urban core.

Chapters Six, Seven and Eight: cover respectively the Urban Core, the Attabeg Period, the Early Modern Period and the Modern Period.

In these chapters the configuration of the urban core is analysed, the urban elements, their interrelationships, and the intangible aspects of the urban core are the main concern. This aids in revealing the fundamental characteristics of traditional urban fabric and the persistent elements. This study does not only complete the understanding of modernisation and change in Erbil’s historic urban core, it also contributes to the understanding of another important urban theme: 'urban conservation'. Thus, the analytical sections of the spatial configuration of the urban core analyse the interrelationship of the urban elements (this reflects the integration or segregation of the urban elements and interactions of the tangible with the intangible aspects).

These layers of analysis, however, focus mainly on the historic urban core and investigate how the traditional part of Erbil, the historic part, has been changed and what the spatial consequences of these physical interventions mean.

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Source: Adapted from Heraldry in Commons.Wikimedia