29 — Aleppo - Civil Society as a Driver Towards Rehabilitation - a Chance for Future Recovery?
lated and gained expertise and know-how from international and regional experts who used to come visiting. All this pandered the initiation of many local initiatives joining other groups of interested individuals. Besides beautification projects, capacity building and socio-economic initiatives were projected by all agencies. The AKDN’s Aleppo Socio-Economic Development Initiative (ASDI) considered capacity development and empowerment of the local community in the areas of Jalloum and Qalat Al-Sharif. The centre of these activities was the Shibani School, where other DOC-related projects, such as the LED (Local economic development with CIM) and an urban historical archive, operated and thus cooperation was also eased in spatial terms. Hence, since 1994, the rehabilitation process achieved overall strengthening of local capacities for the above mentioned subjects as well as for subjects such as improvement of environmental conditions, upgrading and development of public space, restoration of monuments, traffic management, housing funds that enable the poorer sections of society to restore their homes, local economic development (LED), sustainable tourism promotion, community development, urban archive and documentation centre, cultural events, etc. (GIZ, Toolkit, 2008). [...] Changing the Mental Image of a Historic Place
In fact, the rehabilitation process has set up several initiatives and projects aimed towards social coherence and inclusiveness through community development, in order to achieve such a goal. For example, cultural events, especially in the Old City, are aimed at promoting cultural identity and relinking both populations of the old and new city by consciously choosing places
and monuments hosting numerous cultural events. This consequently improved the general image of the heritage site as a ‘catalyst for esteem and respect’ (GIZ, Toolkit, 2008) over time. In addition to this, restored old city buildings became attractive for administrational and representative uses. In the course of the past two decades, the Old City has been promoted as a declared setting for offices, cultural institutes, cafés, etc. that attracted Aleppo’s population to get involved in volunteering activities for NGOs (cleaning and greening campaigns, etc.), work in administration or in international agencies located in the heritage site (AKTC, GIZ, etc.), take language lessons (Goethe Institute), dine at well-catered restaurants, work in hotels or shops, serve as tourist guides, lead foreign acquaintances throughout the city or conduct targeted research (at school or at university). [...] Conclusions
The case of Aleppo shows that the local popuThe case of Aleppo shows that the local population succeeded, first by forming pressure groups towards reevaluating planning policies of the city’s local administration. Their resistance caused a chain reaction that resulted in a comprehensive rehabilitation process. It showed that, despite officially ratified procedures, local resistance could succeed as a corrective measure on the level of heritage preservation. Initially, small scaled but targeted resistance led to a large scale improvement and development. It furthermore illustrated the inhabitants’ active involvement in the process of keeping their heritage site a conservable, yet livable habitat. In both respects, people managed to successfully be the main protagonists and become the major