The BA Center for Islamic Civilization Studies organizes a lecture entitled “The Arab “Islamic” City: Between the Genesis of Urbanism and the Historiography of a Concept”, delivered by Prof. Nezar AlSayyad, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Architecture, Planning, and Urban History at the University of California, Berkeley. The lecture will take place on Thursday, 9 February 2023, from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm, in the Auditorium Hall, BA Main Entrance.
Prof. AlSayyad will examine the history of the emergence of the idea of the "Islamic City" by European orientalists, and will analyze its development as a historical concept, while discussing the pattern of urbanization and the process of building and developing the city in the early years of Islam. He will also focus on the role played by Muslim caliphs and rulers in shaping the city’s architecture and urbanization, and will explain the difference between the cities of the early camps and the capitals of major Islamic empires.