D&C technique as an MCDM tool for managing the heritage value assessment of historic buildings in post-war cities: Mosul Old City as a case study

Abstract

PurposeThe value assessment process of the built heritage is a multipart procedure that includes diverse aspects with overlapping requirements. This process requires various measures to obtain better results, making it a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process. In post-disaster cases, a management system is required to promptly evaluate the degree of risk and damage and to set the preservation priorities in order to effectively supervise and protect the heritage places. MCDM is utilized for configuring and solving decision and planning problems encompassing multiple criteria, to assist decision-makers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper suggests an approach as a tool to be used in the development of the Built Heritage Record for Mosul Old City. It proposes a D&C technique as an MCDM effectual tool for solving multifaceted problems of heritage significance assessment process in post-conflict cities, adopting the conservation of the traditional houses of Mosul Old City as a case study.FindingsThe research results showed the need for a method to solve the complexity of the decision-making problem regarding the process of determining the value and significance of heritage buildings and sites in the old city of Mosul, and how to develop a methodology to facilitate decision-making within databases related to such a multi-criteria issue.Research limitations/implicationsFor an effective judgment of the expert or participant in the evaluation process, and to contribute to the decision-making more objectively, exploiting digital management programs including an interactive user interface with the ability to share on the Internet is the focal next intention of the project.Originality/valueThe paper shows that by using specific software, a database for heritage places of the old city of Mosul could be generated to apply the proposed system. The expert can utilize the software to calculate and define the total value of the place automatically according to the entered data.

Urban Morphology, Identity, Heritage, and Reconstruction Processes in Middle East Post-War Scenarios: The Case of Mosul Old City

“…In a scenario, as previously described, where much of the wartime destruction involved a widespread building heritage with no monumental status or character, the question that emerged was what preliminary operations could be preparatory to reconstruction. Interesting in order to understand the dimensions of the problem at a purely architectural and urban level are Ismaeel's words [3], when he states how the "assessment of cultural significance is still a new concept for Iraqi heritage community", as much as the ability to plan. The result is therefore the difficulty of indicating guidelines for reconstruction at both architectural and urban levels.…”

“…In addition to the clock that has withstood destruction, unlike the complex, it stands as the last representative of a religious syncretism that has always characterized the city. Just as there are Christian origins 3 , it is well known that the position on the Silk Road trade communication network led to the coexistence of different religious groups and populations. The church, with its polylobate shape, is reconstructed in its monumental presence, while the monastic structure revisits some of the exasperated linearity found in the original drawings where the entire monastery was based on a cross-shaped layout (Figure 8), later altered by the overlapping of the two new north-south and east-west axes of the city.…”

“…In addition to Colin Rowe, we remark also the presence of John Hejduk, Robert Slutzky, Werner Seligmann, Lee Hirsche, Bernhard Hoesli, Lee Hodgden, and John Shaw. 3 Herzfeld believes that the first settlement of Mosul, understood as an urban community autonomous from Nineveh on the opposite bank of the Tigris River, can be traced back to a few groups of houses that had sprung up around the Christian monastery of Mar Yshaia, built in 570 AD.…”