Senior Associate Coen+Partners Los Angeles, California
The foundations and guiding principles of the Islamic city is rooted in the concept of ‘Ummah’ - the united community. In the context of urban design and planning, this translated to an approach that can still inspire and guide the planning profession today in its goal to achieve safe, healthy and socially cohesive communities.
Participatory planning and conflict resolution fostered a sense of ownership and mutual respect among residents. Communal spaces such as parks, mosques, and marketplaces encouraged social interaction while the hierarchy of streets reflected varying layers of privacy. Land uses were carefully planned to ensure a balance between public interest and individual rights for the benefit of society as a whole. Social justice, neighborliness and social relationships were considered in mixed-income neighborhoods, cleanliness and a hierarchy of privacy were considered for physical and mental health, and responsible resource consumption fostered some of the earliest codified sustainability efforts.
This session aims to analyze many of the universal values represented in the frameworks and governance found in these cities, how they apply to a modern, secular, and American framework, and identify how we as planners can consider many of the positive lessons learned from a thousand years of experimentation.
Understand how cultural values were infused into urban form, architectural responses, governance structures within the traditional Islamic city.
investigate how many of these traditions are similar or have equal comparisons to planning frameworks and foundations in the United States and western europe.
Consider what universal values will help strengthen our values, principles, communities, and approach to planning in the United States.
