2010
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Valérie Clerc et al., « Property Investments and Prestige Projects in Damascus: Urban and Town Planning Metamorphosis », HAL-SHS : architecture, ID : 10670/1.6zut9c
In 2005, in announcing the acceleration of the open-economy policy, Bachar al- Assad, President of the Syrian Arab Republic, responded positively to the growing interest from Gulf region investors in regionally specific investment. Several laws were initiated to accompany a rapid increase in number of investments in luxury property projects announced. This paper studies this process, the impacts on Damascus of the announcements and the (limited) realization of these prestige projects. It highlights the new dynamics produced to revitalize the city centre and to create new secondary urban centers. It also shows that this process induced the emergence of new urban planning practices, as well as the implementation of many other projects designed specifically for lower income categories.