The Political-Economy of RECONSTRUCT to Urban Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Case of Jobar

This thesis aims to understand the failures in traditional approaches to urban post-conflict reconstruction, assess them from a political economy perspective, and compare them with the bottom-up and participatory RECONSTRUCT approach developed by the Università Iuav di Venezia. The dissertation learns from the mistakes of top-down reconstruction approaches in Beirut, Mosul, and Kabul to argue that a RECONSTRUCT framework that takes into consideration political economy dynamics can help achieve social cohesion and economic empowerment in post-conflict settings. These case studies aim to explain where top-down reconstruction failed in achieving sustainability and inclusiveness, and how this kept those cities vulnerable to relapse to conflict. The Syrian government is preparing for a highly centralised, exclusive, top-down, and unaffordable urban planning approach in the Jobar town in northeast Damascus and elsewhere in government-controlled provinces. This approach does not represent local communities that remained or were forced into displacement. As such, RECONSTRUCT is proposed as an approach to revive the fully-destroyed town and help achieve much-needed social cohesion and peace, while being affordable and driven by the local community. However, RECONSTRUCT lacks a political economy framework. Therefore, the thesis aims to build on RECONSTRUCT while taking into consideration the political economy of Jobar. The aim of the political economy framework is to understand the diverse challenges facing the proposed classical reconstruction approach set forth by the central government without any community consultation or consideration of demographic changes due to displacement and the economic fabric damage that took place during the past decade. The thesis concludes that RECONSTRUCT is affordable because it is owned and driven by the people. It is also a reflection of local communities’ histories and cultures. The research aims to contribute to literature on reconstruction by explaining the shortfalls of traditional approaches, proposing RECONSTRUCT as an alternative approach for a more inclusive and sustainable approach to urban revival, and introducing a political economy framework to that approach. It also aims to make RECONSTRUCT more relevant and viable as a policy option for reconstruction, and not just a technical process.