Space and violence. Critical geographical imagination in face of Syria’s reconstruction

Abstract

The paper starts by reviewing multiple dimensions of violence, covering systemic, structural, epistemic, and slow violence. This discussion progresses to a brief presentation of forensic architecture and military urbanism, exploring the idea of urbicide, in an attempt to connect space, architecture and urbanism with violence, and aiming at highlighting the importance of the increasing militarization of urban life. I then proceed to illustrate some post-war reconstructions, from Berlin and Warsaw after World War II, to Beirut, more recently. I conclude with some notes on the Syrian case.