Copyright

Lilia Makhloufi;

Published On

2025-06-03

Page Range

pp. 1–8

Language

  • English

Print Length

8 pages

Introduction

Housing and Local Heritage

Chapter of: Housing, Heritage and Urbanisation in the Middle East and North Africa (pp. 1–8)

In Chapter Two, Nibal Muhesen considers the past in the context of the present, with a reflection on urban heritage destruction and housing in Syria. In this post-conflict society, heritage sites have come to accommodate communities, making this heritage an inseparable part of their everyday lives. Muhesen explores how this could encourage the restoration of damaged sites and the involvement of civil society in the process. She concludes that the reconstruction process should not be driven solely by economic circumstances or security concerns but should also enable social transformation and improve liveability in newly built environments.

Contributors

Lilia Makhloufi

(author)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8778-5132

Lilia Makhloufi is an architect and urban planner. She obtained her magister’s degree in urban planning in 2003, and her doctorate of science degree in territory planning in 2009 and her postdoctoral degree (habilitation) with accreditation to supervise research in 2019. As a teacher and researcher, she worked at the University of Constantine, the University of Jijel and since 2010 at Ecole Polytechnique d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme (EPAU) in Algiers. In January 2025, she received a promotion to the rank of full professor of architecture. She is also an Alumna of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences

and Humanities (AGYA), based in the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy

of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) in Germany. Her main research

experience and international collaborations are related to housing

projects, public spaces, cities and sustainability.