31‏/01‏/2009

full edition :Privacy As an Image For The Islamic Societies City -By: Shafiq Bara

By Shafiq Bara

a Palestinian architect

Urban Analysis Course final research

V.U.B – Brussels –Belgium 9/1/2009

Note: “ Islamic society cities are the interpretations of Muslim societies way of life not the utopian way of Islamic religion “.

Part 1

Introduction :

The modern Fabrics of the western Cities today which was the result of The Modern school of urban Planning from 1960 and onward made a big Difference in the way that ordinary people Perceive their Own Cities , The Big free standing buildings (Shaped by the Internal Spaces Needed For its Use& empty from any Local Cultural Marks from outside and inside ) that form the Modern urban Fabric , were seen after a little while (by many Urban & Architectural schools ) as un sufficient and doesn't Respond to the human needs ,

In their try to find solutions Urban Scientists went back to study the Urban Morphology Of the Traditional Urban Fabrics that for a long time(before The Industrial Revolution ) was a Natural Respond to the Deepest Human Needs ,

The Modern Islamic society Cities By its Own Has Many Problems that Aroused By the effect of the new urban Regulations that was imposed during the colonial period and after ,Many Basic Cultural Aspects And needs of the Local Communities were not considered for many reasons Especially those how affect the matrix of control for the governments and Militants ,

One of the Most Islamic Cultural Aspects That were Affected by the new Urban Strategies is (Privacy ) , for a long time Privacy was the main Aspect for design in the Islamic societies , In each Islamic society city ( whatever Its Origin ) all the urban Fabric were Built and Manipulated in order to achieve Privacy .

The research will analyze The evolution and change In the Traditional Islamic Urban Space , In their seek for Privacy, Using the Kevin Lynch Methods In analyzing The Human settlements Morphology , which could help in further research in figuring solutions for the Problems that face the new Islamic society cities , especially the lack of privacy.

What is the City?

Cities are much more than their Physical Components , The City " Is above all Things a theater" as Mumford Argues , he sees the Urban experience as an integral component in development of human culture & human personality , as he say : " the physical design of cities and their economic functions are secondary to their relationship to the natural environment &to the Spiritual values of human community " [1],

The Traditional Islamic society Cities have many similarities with cities of other societies in providing there citizens with the basic needs for shelter , economy & safety , but their physical interpretation remained throw history very deferent ,

What gives The traditional Islamic architecture and urban planning its originality that it’s the result of a production processes of " The character and mentality of Muslims, there Unique philosophical and symbolic dimension, and the shapes used to form those cities " as Mr. Oleg Grabar argues, [2] And that what gives those cities a universal since of unity despite the diversity of the geographical , cultural & environmental aspects between the Islamic societies,

Privacy was One of the main aspects of design in all the Islamic societies, the meaning of privacy may defer from one society to another but for Muslims it was derived from individuality , giving a space for individuals , and it is against public , [3]or " the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively", as argued in Wikipedia.[4]

A Special identity for the Islamic society cities had been formed for the tradional cities, this Identity was seen during the colonial period as a threat and danger for the control matrix that they applied , the Colonization authorities used Baron Haussmann's theory and project of Restructuring the City of Paris , and in the name of security (as in the case of Jaffa And Jenin were total parts of the traditional fabric were destroyed and new paths opened by the UK mandate in 1936 ) or under the name of modernization by applying new laws and rules for the building and design process as happened in most of the modern Arab Islamic society cities ( Like the Laws of building in Historical Palestine under the British Mandate in 1920 , 1936, 1947)[5].image

Shape ( 1): Paris Medieval Core , 1771 Vaugondy map , and

what it looked after 1856 Haussmann's Project , Source : National Library of France

Major changes happened on the Urban fabric of those cities , a huge Urban sprawl motivated by the revolution of transportation and the Rapid increase of population , destroying the cultural and social fabric , and creating many problems that affected the City Image in the Eyes of the communities that live in , and the Aspect of Privacy was also badly affected

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Shape ( 2) :Satellite Photo for Dimashq- Syria , were you can see the deference between the traditional and the new fabric ,Source : Google Earth.

The search for solution:

Muslim societies tried to form some Individual solutions to these emerging Urban problems , new styles of houses and new extensive use for architectural elements like high external walls and gates , but there was no try to find solutions on the total scale of the urban fabric , in what appears like " a socially constructed counter-sites embodying a form of resistance to the increasingly surveyed , segregated& simulated socio_ spatial order " Urban planning as Mr. Foucault Argue .[6]

Similar Problems occurred in the western Cities ( American & European ) as they went throw almost the same process, in the name of modernity and better Life throw a process of Urban renewal , those Problems aroused to public Discussions after the 1960 by the arising of the Postmodern movement in reaction to the great destruction that the modern movement did in the western cities , were total parts of traditional fabric were destroyed ( Like the new Area Of Brussels Trade Center , the city center of Boston and many other cities ) .

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Shape (3) : Destroying the old fabric in Boston in the name of Urban renewal in 1950, Source : Eric Bowers , How Should a City Grow? ,Urban Photo web site , 16\10\2006 , http://www.urbanphoto.net

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Shape (4) : Panoramic View for Brussels City Center , Where We can see the old and the new Urban fabric , Source : http://www.skyscrapercity.com

"a city that allowed itself to be nearly destroyed by the automobile" Mr. Bowers Argue in reaction to the urban growth and urban renewal projects back in 1950 Boston[7] ,many schools of thought and theories emerged trying to suggest a better solution – postmodernist , traditionalist , " theorist such as Foucault, bourdieu , de Certeau Deleuze and others ,

Even they had deferent opinions they all have in common "a collective Desire to promote new forms of conceiving social space in an attempt to account for an eclectic occupation and engagement with an increasingly segregated , oppressively functionalist & electronically monitored everyday reality "[8] .

Going back to tradional Urban Space:

A return to the tradional urban space in a reaction to " Both modernist approaches & to contemporary development patterns, recent urban design has seen a new interest in the relationship between built space & urban space. This has led to attempts to organize the parts ,so that the whole (the public realm) is greater than the sum of its individual buildings and developments. It has also prioritized the need (both functional and aesthetic) to focus on the creation of defined, positive space ,

Such approaches have often taken reference from the traditional urban space of blocks formed by the connected mass of individual 'back­ground' buildings defining, or defined by, 'positive' spaces. As well as being a reaction to the Modernist attitude to the past, this also demonstrated a new interest in, and concern for, the continuity of places, together with a willingness to examine and learn from precedent.

This realm could be used to figure out some solutions to the issues that faces the Islamic society cities these days , but to do so we must figure out how the traditional spaces works in solving these issues , and for that we need a scientific approach to figure out the components of this fabrics .

Looking For suitable Approach :

Many approaches can be used like the " Mental Map " theory of Kevin Lynch in his book " The Image of The City" he "separated Meaning from Form , exploring image ability in terms of Physical qualities relating to identity and structure , through this theory he aimed to identify aspects of environment that left a strong image in observers minds , aggregation of individual images would define a public or city image"[9] .

Lynch derived five key physical elements :

1- Paths : the channels along which observers move ( streets , Transit Lines , Canals , etc).

2- Edges : linear elements that are either not used or considered as paths & often form boundaries between areas or linear breaks in continuity ( like Shores , railroad cuts , edges of development ,walls ) .

3- Districts : the Medium to large parts of a city which observers mentally " enter " and /or which have the identifying physical character of thematic continuities in terms of texture , space , form , detail , symbol , uses , inhabitants , maintenance, topography etc.

4- Nodes : are point references " the strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter , and which are the intensive foci to and from which he is travelling .

5- Land Marks : are point references external to the observer , some towers , spires, hills , they are typically seen from many angels and distances over the top of smaller elements , other sculpture , signs ,trees , are local and visible in restricted localities and from certain approaches ,

M. Carmona argue that " the Lynch's elements exist in isolation , all combine to provide the overall image { districts are structured with nodes , defined by edges , penetrated by paths & sprinkled with landmarks , elements regularly overlap and pierce one another, sets of images often over lap and interrelate in a series of levels reflecting the scale of the area , thus the observes move as necessary from images at streets level to those of the neighborhood, the city & beyond". [10]

The Tradional Islamic society Cities :

to understand the Islamic society cities we should look back at the early Islamic society cities , their roots and how the designers dealt with the urban fabric ,

D. Nizar alsayad sees that the Islamic society Cities has three deferent types in the term of rise , The Military Cities like Al Basra in Iraq, Royal Cities Like Fes In Morocco & Previous Settlements like the Roman City Of Damascus – Syria and Nablus - Palestine ,[11]but even they had deferent role and roots they evolved throw history to be very similar to each other in their physical interpretation , which Could be analyzed by of Kevin Lynch Method :

* Paths :

The street plan tends to be the most enduring element in creating the High level of Privacy in Islamic society Cities , as it is the most stable theme of the city throw history , M Carmona Urges : " the street stability derives from its being a capital asset not lightly set aside , from ownership structures , and in particular ,from the difficulties of organizing and implementing large scale change , changes do happen , however through destruction by war or natural disaster or throw comprehensive redevelopment programs in the modern period ".[12]

The Pattern of roads in the Islamic society Cities tends to be an organic one , were the Main road is in the middle of the Urban fabric , it could be linear Road as in Damascus and Nablus or going in curves as in Fes for example , this road is the widest one on the city , the markets and shops in the both sides of it , and most of the time goes throw the hall city from Gate to Gate dividing it into two parts , the only rich external walls by architectural elements in the city , were you can see some arches and some small high decorated windows most of time have some kind of colestra on it.

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Shape(5): part of the Old Market street in Nablus ,Source: http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/BIC_Photo3.jpg

Smaller roads go from the main road throw the districts around it and it become smaller and smaller as it go on till it reach a dead end most of the times , smaller alleys subdivide from it here and there creating connections for the gates of a small group of houses , most of the time the walls are empty and the type of playing with the sun light that create a sequence of dark areas and well lighted ones will give you the feeling that you entered a private space that you shouldn't continue in ,unless you know the exact place you are going to .

M. Carmona argue " that in countries & regions with a long history of incremental urbanization , most urban grids are deformed, they are often described as organic , their layout having been or appearing to have been generated naturally rather than being consciously manmade".[13]

But if you take a look on the way those networks has evolved in the Islamic society cities you will notices that they were designed consciously to provide the society need especially for privacy , One of the great examples for that process is the transformation on the network of roads that happened in the city of Damascus in the Umayyad period ,we can see the roman geometric network of roads changing to organic Islamic one , even we can still hardly notice the effects of this grid system till now in cities like Nablus and Damascus.

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Shape (6): the roman Urban fabric of Damascus, source : D. Nizar al sayad , Cities & Architecture In The First Islamic Era , page : 26

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Shape (7) : the changes that occurred on the fabric during the Islamic period , source : D. Nizar Alsayad , Cities & Architecture In The First Islamic Era , page : 31

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Shape(8) : the formation in main roman street ( cardo) that happened in Damascus at the Islamic era, source : D. Nizar Alsayad , Cities & Architecture In The First Islamic Era , page : 31

* Edges :

most of the traditional Islamic cites have an external defensive wall that surround it from each side and the entrance to those cites happen throw several gates around the city , some cities ( like the case of Nablus ) don’t have a real wall due to geographical reasons ( lying between 2 mounts ) but still the buildings overlay and form a kind of external wall .

The second edge is the main market street that we mentioned above , that cuts the city into 2 parts , sometimes there is smaller roads that connect this road with the city gates and makes subdivisions to the city into districts ,

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Shape(9) : part of the old city of Fes were we can still see the wall And market street the most powerful edges , source: http://www.fez-riads.com/West-working-copy-end-August-08.gif

*Districts:

M. Carmona urges that " the districts will be recognizable as such only to someone familiar with the city"[14] , the districts in the Islamic society cities is harder to recognize than any other cities , as most of these districts are mono functional ( Houses ) there access were limited even for the people who live inside the city ,

the Islamic governors did not interfere in the way the districts are built inside , they only look at the main roads and the basic features Like the Mosque , the Royal Palace, the Markets, and they only interfere when a problem occur between the neighbors, and that is very clear in the historical story for the Planning of al Basra city in the south of Iraq , told by D. Nizar Alsayad ,

Were the governor at that time started the Planning by defining the spaces of the Mosque , the governor House, the market and defining the main roads and the border of each district , after that he gave each district to a certain tribe to build her houses inside ,

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shape(10) : Aerial photo back in 1918 for the tradional city of Nablus before the new laws implemented, Source: www.nablus.gov.ps/nabphoto/details.php?image

*Nodes :

the nodes in the Islamic society cities are smaller that the western tradional ones ,as there is no public spaces inside the districts ( the gardens are very private court yards that lies insides the closed domain of the house and for the family use ) , the only public spaces in the Islamic society cities are in the front of the mosques or part of their spaces , especially the main mosque in the city which is most of the ti the main node of the city , and most of the times located in the center of the market road ,

The second kind of nodes are the Khans how play a big role in the commercial life of the city , and most of the time it is located on the edges of the city near the main market road so the strangers how use it never go inside the residential districts , The gates of the city play also Avery significant role as nodes for entrance to the city , that controls the visitors to the heart of the city .

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Shape (11): Nablus Gate in the wall of old Jerusalem, Source : http://humus101.com/EN/2007/06/22/a-holy-experience-in-ancient-jerusalem/

*Land Marks :

the land marks doesn’t play a big role in side the traditional Islamic society cities , even they contain many land marks like the Mosque Minarets , Dooms and even the Royal or Governor Palace , but all these land marks are local and limited for the city inhabitants , as the architectural form of buildings forbid the eye contact with these elements except from special places like the main market road , but those elements play a good role in identifying the city for the people visiting the city a long distance before they reach it .

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Shape (12):Minarets on the Horizon , H. Fenn, an old Paint for Nablus city , 1870, source : www.printsoldandrare.com

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Shape (13) : One of the dooms ,as it appears inside the old fabric of Nablus , Source: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_jrehk22SaZU/Rx-exh2a1vI/AAAAAAAAAXU/cpuuqgln600/s512/West%20Bank%20354.jpg

References :

[1] Lewis Mumford , What is a City? , Architectural Record, 1937

[2] Grabar Oleg , The Formation of Islamic Art ,yale uni press,1987,page 6-18

[3] Albustani, karam , the helper in Arabic language , 1984

[4] Unknown author , the Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy

[5] D. Moslim Abu Helo , The challenges of development in the province of Jerusalem- In the absence of national housing policies and strategies, Research , Al-Quds university, 14/1/2008

[6] Sophie Watson &Katherine Gibson, Postmodern Cities & Spaces, Blackwell, 1996, page: 36

[7] Eric Bowers , How Should a City Grow? ,Urban Photo web site , 16\10\2006 , http://www.urbanphoto.net

[8] Sophie Watson &Katherine Gibson, Postmodern Cities & Spaces, Blackwell, 1996, page: 36

[9] M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 89
[10] M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 90,92.

[11] D. Nizar Alsayad , Cities & Architecture In The First Islamic Era ,Bahrain ,1996 , pages: 12-37

[12] M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 61.

[13]M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 65.

[14]M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 90.
[15] M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 61.

Note:

all rights reserved for the other , you can use this material for academic research only , with prober referencing using the author name , research title , website and the date

©.

shafiq bara

Privacy As an Image For The Islamic Societies City

By Shafiq Bara

a Palestinian architect

Urban Analysis Course final research

V.U.B – Brussels –Belgium 9/1/2009

Note: “ Islamic society cities are the interpretations of Muslim societies way of life not the utopian way of Islamic religion “.

Part2

The New Islamic society Cities:

The new Islamic society cities went out of their interpretation as we mentioned before , the new interpretation is very near to the modern movement interpretation of space that emerged back in 1950-60 western cities , we can implement the definition of M. Carmona for the traditional and modern urban spaces , for him : a "Tradional Urban Space Consist of buildings as constituent parts of urban blocks , were blocks define and enclose external space ", he adds :" Modernist urban space typically consists of free standing Pavilion buildings in landscape settings ". [15]

Some cities like Dubai as an example went to the extreme side of implementing modern theory as its motivated by the move of Capital power , other cities like Damascus , Nablus and other cities still keeping part of the original identity , the new parts had deferent levels of resistance to that new interpretation ,this level of resistance changed throw the last century , ( we can see high level of resistance in the individual wealthy urban spaces and a low level one with the wave with economic investment sector of urban planning and housing sectors).

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Shape (14) : the new city of Dubai , the extreme (free Standing Pavilions ) modern urban fabric ,Source: http://www.bestwaytoinvest.com

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Shape (15) : Arial photo for apart of Nablus where you can see all kinds of urban fabric, source: www.nablus.gov.ps/govphoto/data/media/2/Nablus_FromJerzim

Nablus City was a good example for a high degree of resistance to the new urban fabric plans tell 1990 and inward , which started to decline after that by the increasing role of investment in housing sector and the lack of new urban projects due to the occupation role ,

If we compare the urban fabric of the city of Nablus with the modern one we can figure part of the resistance process , using the lynch theory we can notice the changes on the five elements :

* Paths:

In the modern cities a complete grid of streets is imposed all over the urban fabric, Nablus have grown in the past century out of the old city fabric , a mobile road network was established , a Linear one as it lies between 2 mountains, the total network seems to form an un complete linear organic grid with a main Longitudinal axis that connect the western Entrance with the eastern entrance of the city, the final result is very similar to the grid erosion process that happened in some American cities in their search , and in some parts of it it look very mush like the Laddered street system.

It seems that this way of road network provide the citizens of the city with their need of privacy because of the big number of dead end roads that lead for group of houses , but in the new plans the municipality try to make full grids and to complete some of the missing parts of the existing grid , and that will certainly affect this feature .

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Shape (16): Nablus Areal view 1994, Source : http://www.nakbaonline.org/images/LandBtwn/Nablus-1994.jpg

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Shape (17): the plan of Nablus municipal , with the roads ( opened and planned) , 6/2008, http://www.nablus.org/uploads/map.jpg

*Edges:

the cities have went out of the pervious artificial edges like walls , but new edges took the place , like the municipal borders , main roads , and industrial parks , Nablus for example have to main Natural edges ( Mountains ) how formed the city border for a long time but new machinery and roads make it possible in the last few years to expand the city over it , but Nablus still have many powerful edges that were designed by the occupation before to stop it's urban expansion like Industrial Parks in the east and the west sides of the city , settlements , Military bases , Bypass roads A,B, C Zoning are very powerful edges .

The main road that connects the two main entrances of the city in the east and west is a very powerful edge that separate the North district from the south one , this road serves as a leaner market with shops in the both sides of it .

deferent Urban fabric also creates powerful Edges , Like the old city fabric the 3 refugee camps and the poor areas with high density populations Like Ras alaen area.

*Districts:

the new districts in the city was till the 1990s build by the initiatives of the users ( every family build it is own house ether a single one or extended one) , they were forced by the new laws to separate the houses they built from each other ,creating a small pavilion with surrounding space that served as a garden for the house , this space was a positive space in the beginning because it was quite big ( due to the relatively big areas and sheep land prices ) and it was always surrounded by walls so it created a private green area ,

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Shape (18):part of the new fabric of Nablus back in 1950 , were you can see the small separated houses surrounded by gardens and walls , Source:

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Shape (19):Nablus Urban fabric In the year 1967, where you can see the old and the new districts, Source: http://www.nablus.gov.ps

But after the 1993 Oslo agreement those spaces became limited by the A, B, C areas which put an end to the city expansion , the economic situation for the society declined , and the land price become higher and higher , the building process after 1994 were led by the Investors how build commercial residential towers ( which was not accepted by the society back in 1980s ) , those investors tried to benefit from the land to the maximum , as the building laws were insufficient to deal with the issue, the piece of land witch served for one or two families before became for a use for more than 36 families in 7-16 floors residential towers .

The surrounding areas became limited to the minimum that the laws implement , as they were still surrounded by walls those areas became very negative and used as a car parking or dominated and closed by the family in the ground floor , and sometimes it's not more than a cement dumpster .

As there is no laws that limit the towers building in certain areas , we started to see those buildings everywhere in the city, and that affected all the surrounding buildings and the private areas , as there is no private space any more , rich people in their search for privacy started to build their own houses in small private districts around the city , were certain laws is implemented by the original owner of the land to prevent investors from building towers there.

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Shape (20): the new fabric in the city of Nablus , a mix of everything ,source: http://www.westbanktours.com

There is limited space for the public parks as there was a private Alternative before, most of the public land inside the city is used for schools & mosques , there is also 4 main parks in the city that they started lately ( in the intifada) to be heavily used because of the lack of private spaces and the closer on the city that forbid people from going outside to the nature , even most of these gardens is not designed to supply the basic society need for privacy ( which we could see it before intifada by a very light use for these spaces) .

The main important point in Nablus that the old traditional district is on the contrary of many other tradional cities all over the Islamic world is still full with life and very well connected with the Overlapping new market and those two districts form the commercial heart of the city and the surrounding cities and villages .

* Nodes:

the city have many local nodes that help in building the city image like a big number of mosques and schools that give the city its image as conservative Islamic society city , the main hospitals , the University Campuses and even the main parks in the city , the football play ground.

But public spaces are still very limited and the only public square is the main square in the heart of the commercial district & in the outskirt of the old district , and it is heavily used for commercial purposes especially in the holiday seasons and also used as a public activity space in occasions and even for demonstrations against occupation .

*Land Marks :

no big change happened in the land marks of the city of Nablus from those of the Islamic society cities , the mosques minarets and dooms still play Avery important role but this time as local ones as the new fabric make it possible to see them from inside the city , some residential towers in the mountains also play the role of a Local land Mark but Nablus mountains are the main land marks that help in recognizing your location in the city( this advantage also can be seen in cities near mountains or shore line's ) and that advantage was not available inside the old city fabric , and only the way the roads width change could give you a hint about your location from the main road.

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Shape(21): the new Clock Tower , a local land mark in the heart of the Commercial District ,http://nifblog.kesem.net/Image/nablus.jpg

Conclusion:

Many changes occurred in the Urban fabric of the cities all over the world , many changes and problems on the cultural and social life happened , as the Image of the city become a result of the Capital Perception not the society needs as before , Islamic society cities were effected badly by the lose of many main aspects that the tradional city fabric apply like the aspect of privacy.

As the effect of capitalism was limited on many Islamic society cities like Nablus , people showed a powerful resistance for the changes , trying to create some new solutions for the problems they faced .

the level of resistance against the implemented changes declining throw the time due to many factors , like space , economy And connectivity , the problems in the city fabric is growing , it is not the field of individual Capabilities or responsibilities any more , actions must be taken in rethinking the new Islamic society cities , and trying to figure out and implement solutions in further research .

Making a comparative study between those three types of urban fabric ( the tradional one , the modern one & the uncompleted deformed ones like Nablus case ) will give us a good idea for the actions and solutions that could be used to solve modern Islamic society cities problems.

The individual solutions ( wish evolved throw the social resistance to the modernity deformation process ) could be a base for solutions in a Grand scale , some solutions on this level were implemented in the western cities after a similar comparative studies , and you can see that many of those solutions were developed from the individual and tradional solutions .

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Shape (22): some Suggested solution for the network of roads that serve inside the units of big grids in American cities based on historical studies as Clarence Perry proposed, source: M. Carmona & others , Public Places – Urban Spaces , architectural press, UK, 2003 , page: 61

· The End

References :

Note:

all rights reserved for the other , you can use this material for academic research only , with prober referencing using the author name , research title , website and the date

©.

shafiq bara

Does Globalization lead to Cultural Homogenization or to more Cultural Diversity? , by Shafiq A. Bara

By Shafiq Bara

a Palestinian architect

as a final research for The Geography of Globalization Course

V.U.B – Brussels –Belgium 9/1/2009

Introduction:

Globalization is bringing the world smaller and smaller , a tiny Village as some critics say about the last era of globalization , connectivity, mobility ,technology and information are not limited any more ,this interaction bring different cultures together into uneven Exchange process which could lead to some kind of homogeneous culture as some critics argue , or enriching Cultural diversity other argue.

This contradiction in understanding is connected to the way you look at globalization , which is at last a system motivated by rules and conditions that we should understand to figure out wither This system is leading toward A homogeneous culture or to a cultural diversity condition .

Globalization as a Term:

It is not easy to define the term Globalization, as it is the main debate for deferent groups of people with deferent point of views ,wither supporting or acting against the process created by it ,they even have deferent part of views about when this process started , as some of them went back to Darwin theory of evolution as a start point ( Anew term for an old process) ,

But most of the debates look at Globalization as a term that describes the process that results due to the movement of the capital throw the globe which affects the economics , culture , social life , technology and almost every aspect of life , the term globalization was used in debates since 1960 in social science and 1980 in economic science ,[1] the meaning of the term is still improving new meanings and areas was added to it throw the time,

Nguyen Vn Phu argues that " Globalization is a strong tendency and a paradigm that has been improved after years of practice, Understanding its mechanism and applying it properly to a company or a country needs a lot of immense efforts and time. But if one can do that he can change the fate of his company or country. "[2]

A paper under the title CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALISATION issued In the Millennium Forum of the United Nations suggested " two main areas of definition into which the term " Globalization " would appear to fit:

globalization is a novel situation characterized by an enormous capacity for communication and exchange on a world-wide scale that makes possible the construction of a ‘world system’.

globalization is the exporting and imposition of the contemporary western socio-economic and cultural model (which in some instances has integrated certain elements from other cultures) around the world".

They add " We believe that globalization should be viewed from this double perspective, with all the contradictions and ambivalence that this involves"[3]

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Shape(1): Cartoon describes the effect of globalization in our daily life , as the hole planet earth in your living room without even you notice that , source : http://www.cartoonweb.com/images/globalization/globalization1.gif

The effect of Globalization on Culture :

Globalization has a certain impact on the diverse identities of culture and civilization, and it affects them whether economically, politically, socially, educationally, etc,

The Culture is one of the main aspects in the debates about globalization , many people sees that globalization is imposing a change on the cultural level , wither they see it toward a good improve or a bad one, to know the effect imposed on Culture we must first know what is Culture ?

there is many levels & definitions for Culture that could be issued ,sometimes in a very diverse way , but In general the critics of globalization refer to Peter Berger definition for it as: " a conventional social scientific sense: as the beliefs, values, and lifestyles of ordinary people in their everyday existence.“ [4]

and that doesn't contradict with the United nations adopted definition for Culture in the Mexico Declaration on Cultural Policies, which States " the term ‘culture’ takes in the values, beliefs, languages, knowledge and arts, traditions, institutions and forms of life by which persons and groups express the meanings they attach to their existence and development”.[5]

There is no civilization that can claim a Pure Culture, all the cultures in the world were affected throw history by each other , the effect may be deferent in level , but it is there , in the Globalization era a greater interaction happened between deferent cultures in the level of groups and individuals , the United nations paper argues that "There are sufficient elements to come to the conclusion that globalization does not always involve a greater degree of communication or exchange among the different cultures and civilizations on our planet on an equal footing, but that it often displays a tendency to impose one of these cultures on the others, which may end up by creating a homogeneous model that affects them all".[6]

This model of globalization is called Westernization or some time Called Americanization by the Europeans as the American culture is the dominant Culture in this relation which we can see throw Hollywood And MacDonald's for example .

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Shape(2):the same products can be found in every part of the world carrying the same American cultural signs . http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/boettche/graphics/globalization.jpg

Mr. Thomas Friedman one of the Prominent critics for globalization in his book "The Lexus and the Olive Tree" Argues that globalization "has its own dominant culture, which is why it tends to be homogenizing . . . Culturally speaking, globalization is largely, though not entirely, the spread of Americanization -- from Big Macs to iMacs to Mickey Mouse -- on a global scale." [7]

The Issue made UNESCO's Conference on Culture for Development concludes that globalization is undermining local and traditional cultures, and that cultural groups should form global networks to counteract this trend.[8]

Many Groups were established around the world to demand laws and acts from governments and politicians toward a conservation for the cultural Identity and diversity for each nation( Like the International network for Cultural Diversity established in 1998) , but even here there was a big debate about the Kind Of Cultural Homogeneity that Globalization Create.

Mr. Tom Palmer argues that " In particular, is it true that globalization is leading to a homogenized global culture, one in which life in Brazil approaches being indistinguishable from life in Bavaria, or - more to the point - is it leading to a world in which every country looks like southern California?" .[9]

Is globalization making the world more homogenous?

A question Many Observers around the world Like Michael Lynton In his Article Globalization and Cultural Diversity" asks , there is an increasing Movement that sees Globalization process Leading to A kind of Cultural Diversity not Homogeneity, Lynton Argues :" Instead of creating a single, boring global village, the forces of globalization are actually encouraging the proliferation of cultural diversity" .[10]

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Shape (3) : Using Cultural Diversity in marketing to increase the Value of the Products , is one of the capital policies to limit the competences of others , Source :http://83.137.212.42/siteArchive/catalystmagazine

This issue can be seen in the Increasing products that have Certain Cultural styles in the last wave of globalization ( Like American companies producing French or Indian Films or even a translated Hollywood film to French or Arabic or certain ethnic products ) , which underline the new way of thought adopted by The Capital from the famous statement of David Brower the environmental activist " Think globally, act locally" which Underline what we Know these days Under the term Glocalisation.[11]
Rachel Pillai argues that : " cultural difference has become a powerful currency in our global economy", he adds " our cultural and political landscape is punctuated by the commercial intervention of marketing"[12] .

Which even seen by the critics Opposing this kind of cultural diversity as " Price Tagging Cultures" as many people see their own cultural values are too much important than the way it is used by the Capital .

To Understand whether Globalization Is leading toward a Cultural Diversity or Homogeneity we must go back and Study The Capital theory, How does it act and think ?

Capital as the Main motivation:

Globalization is passed on the Capital Competition, where many Players act to Raze Money , to succeed in raising money you must be the most Creative thinker , the first to adopt new technology and adapt the needs of the customers , "It is all about The Money " many Capitalist summarize their motivation .

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Shape (4) : Competition by Companies on the consumer market , and new ways to add value to the products , Source: http://www.hse.fi/NR/rdonlyres/5983FBE3-EFB0-44D6-AC78-97B96DCF6933/3112/intro4.jpg

This motivation was discussed for the first Time by Jacob Vanderlint In his book under the Title" Money Answers all Things "issued in 1734, he argues an Essay about the role of money in the society were Wars as he says Could be launched for the sake of trade and money .

This could highlight the rule of capital in forming the hall economical system around the world , were TNC companies have greater rule in the society than some governments , were regulations are changed to fit the capital needs , and were the National State loses her Power in the front of the new regulations and world agreements and associations Like the World Bank & The World Trade Organization (W.T.O), which many researchers highlight as the end of National state era and the start of a post national state era.

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Shape (5): A Cartoon about How Countries Compete to Attract Capital Investment ( Changing rules and Laws ), Source : http://www.craigbellamy.net/images/freetrade.jpg

It seems to be hard to recognize wither Globalization leads to a homogeneous culture or to more diversity, but it seems that Capitalism uses the 2 themes in deferent layers were in some level it uses the first theme and in the second uses the other and sometimes changes the game rules in using those tactics to respond to the market need which is emerged from the people reaction against some polices or actions .

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ٍShape(6):the effect of dominant cultures who have the capital power on other nations ,Source: www.cooperativeindividualism.org/freeman-cartoon-mar-1941.jpg

The effect on the City Level :

To understand how the Globalization act on culture in the level of the city , we must first recognize what is the city , Cities are much more than their Physical Components , The City " Is above all Things a theater" as Mumford Argues , he sees the Urban experience as an integral component in development of human culture & human personality , as he say : " the physical design of cities and their economic functions are secondary to their relationship to the natural environment &to the Spiritual values of human community " [13],

The cities throw history were a clear Expression for the local culture and special features, after the industrial revolution and by applying the latest technology in the cities especially the western ones many features ( which can called Modernity elements ) entered the urban areas ,The Railway lines , mobile roots , electric networks , road signs , media signs etc.

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Shape(6 ) : A British Cartoon that focus on the changes that happened on the center of a medieval town in England and how it looks these days were you can't distinguish between a city in England and another in Belgium for example , Source : André Loeckx , Developments in urban design and planning, the case of Flanders, Lecture Material , VUB , 12/2008

It is not the technology alone that leads toward that kind of Homogeneity, the increasing role of capital and big companies and the political elite which limits the Urban planning and building designs in the hands of limited individuals ( architects & engineers ) who have most of the time a Biased cultural preview or a predefined school of thought ( Like the Modern school or the postmodern or tradional .

History is not made by people , history is made by men , few men how share most of the time Homogeneous thoughts with others creating a more homogeneous globe ,

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Shape (7): the rule of the capital elite , Cartoon , Source : internet web site .

But we can't say that the Cities around the world will be identical and homogeneous at the last , Because Of the main aspect of globalization era " Competitiveness" , if you look back at the communist era after the world war 2 you can see that the Lack of Competitiveness wish marked the social and industrial sectors turned the Soviet cities into a copy of each other , the cultural factor were limited down and a total homogenization process Occurred, as the government took the responsibility to spread the communist theory taking the responsibility of building the same design of houses, the same car , the same chair and even the same education system and imposing new cultural homogenization rules(Totalitarian Culture) , which made people get bored and the USSR collapse at the last.

We can see a similar phenomena in the western European cities after the world war 2 , as there was a great demand for new infra structure , new buildings for commercial and residential use to replace the war lose , which made a lack of competence era , we can See The modern School of thought dominate the architectural , urban planning and economical life between 1945-1960 .

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Shape (8) : Panoramic View for Brussels City Center , Where We can see the effect of modern school of architecture in the heart of the city , Source : http://www.skyscrapercity.com

Big , Ugly , hi-Tec , functional towers , similar but not identical , and does not carry any specific cultural identity spread all over the major Western European cities , by the beginning of 1960 and the lack of investment and the decrease in demand for new buildings which created a high level of competition , and the increasing protest inside the societies against this kind of architecture and production new schools of thought get out to life like the post modern school and the tradional one , all those schools were demanding an increasing rule for the local cultures in the city and architecture and every kind of products combined with the new and latest technologies .

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Shape (9): Cartoon about the role of increasing competition in world , which forms the need for new strategies to increase profit , source : http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/hsc1146l.jpg

The World Cities:

But the new world cities like London , New York, Paris and Brussels are not any more a theater for a one culture , Many Minorities and Ethnic groups of emigrants as a result of the uneven development reality throw out the globe , were they leave there homes around the world and come to those cities were the investment of capital provides them with Jobs a, Higher wages and a better life as they hope , Carrying their local cultures and social attitudes with them .

Those minorities after a while feel that their Culture is threatened , and they start forming ethnic groups enclosures in side those cities , most of the time benefiting from the Capital theory of seesaw , where the capital leaves an area ( as the heart of Brussels back in the 60s ) and go out for a new area out of the city , they use this process to gain control on those Poor districts ( as the Moroccan & Turkish districts in Brussels ) were they can apply their cultural features in the façade of their houses ,

This process leads to more diverse cultures as some times tow deferent cultures become into a clash ( as you can't decide how is your neighbor )as in Brussels , were the Red District became as an enclave inside a Moroccan Muslim majority District .

Multi –culturalism as some critics described leads to many problems inside the local societies , due to based prefixed images that every Culture group build about the other , creating a real bomb that can explode the whole society at once, But in the eye of the Capital Multi culturalism in this Level forms a gold mine of Profits , as they supply the production units with cheap Labour power , and a wider consumer Market were new Products needed to supply those minorities with their cultural needs , ( Like Moroccan Foods and textiles ).

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Shape (10): The Pre fixed Image of Multicultural society leads to bigger problems , Source : https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_gpQIbfOEyLtxHohcB_hQXGxf3gU3kHV30cFqr-Q6ICnJ8r8tyRCmBLtXnaGYmAxwEeibPJYIC9Zlp8XPHHtKdWSvZZzvDVTZ1n3ZINMJayVPL44xeVSgZWk2AbHFsd4XsrFPejUtQlc/s400/multiculturalism

The Capitalism Even Benefits from the diversity inside the same culture , as the humans how share the same culture have deferent tastes and needs and also Different economic power and different education and ages , most of the Enterprises Like Nokia Mobile Company tries to supply the consumer markets with deferent Sizes, colors & prices from the same technology of mobiles , and the same we can see in every single production company, and this seems to be the main aspect Of Value Creating process in these days were competition between companies in the limited Consumer market of the tiny world era.

Conclusion :

For the first while You Can't Understand whither Globalization is Leading toward A Cultural Homogeneity or Diversity due to the huge number of Critics who have deferent opinions , but if you understand what is globalization the image will come more and more clear.

Globalization is a Dynamic system that uses many tactics , some of them seems to be contradicting with each other , the Capital forms the Major Power In the process , the capital works on deferent levels and layers with deferent tactics , those tactics could be changed or modified to fit the market needs and the majorities of Consumers demands and a high level of competition from other Capital Players , ( Like DHL Green Project That she Implemented in Europe only to satisfy The Green Lobbies formed in European societies but she don’t have plans to spread it to Africa as she don’t face any Public consumers Resistance there) ,

.

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Shape (11) : How The Capital Chang Her Face To Make Consumers Satisfied, Source : WWW. CartoonsTOCK.COM

If you Look At the Tiny world in the third era of Globalization You will notice the most Cultural Homogeneous Level that the Humanity ever reached even it is hiding behind a fake shell of Cultural Diversity ,

this cultural homogeneity based on the technology and Marketing is not any more the Individual choice , its implemented By an elite ( few people who own the keys of technology making , and Specialized engineers and architects ) , The cultural Diversity that Occurs here is the freedom of choice from a predefined set of the same technology and culture , its " The global culture of Shopping" Jane Jacops Argue ,or Price Tagging culture other argue.

The end


[1] Un known author , Globalization, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 3/1/2009, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization#cite_note-5

[2] Nguyễn Vạn Phú, A Review of Globalizaiton Movements: What’s Happening?, Tuoitre Online, 23/9/2006, http://www.fetp.edu.vn/global

[3] United Nations , CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALISATION, A document for reflection on the subtheme of ‘Culture’ from the Millennium Forum of the United Nations, http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/download/tconferencias_identidadecultural_prop_eng.pdf

[4]Tom G. Palmer," Globalization and Culture: Homogeneity, Diversity, Identity, Liberty", Liberals Institute ,Berlin, 2004, page: 4

[5]United Nations , CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALISATION, A document for reflection on the subtheme of ‘Culture’ from the Millennium Forum of the United Nations, http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/download/tconferencias_identidadecultural_prop_eng.pdf

[6] United Nations , CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND GLOBALISATION

[7] Michael Lynton, Globalization and Cultural Diversity, The Wall Street Journal, 12 September 2007, http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9655

[8]International network for Cultural Diversity , How Are we ?, http://www.incd.net/html/english/who/his.htm

[9] Tom G. Palmer," Globalization and Culture: Homogeneity, Diversity, Identity, Liberty", Liberals Institute ,Berlin, 2004, page: 4

[10] Michael Lynton, Globalization and Cultural Diversity, The Wall Street Journal, 12 September 2007, http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9655

[11] S, Walter (2004) "Think Global, Act Local",Luath Press Ltd., Edinburgh, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_globally,_act_locally

[12] Rachel Pillai, Consuming culture, how advertising shapes our world, catalyst magazine, 20/11/2006, http://83.137.212.42/siteArchive/catalystmagazine/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0na.RefLocID-0hg01b00100k.Lang-EN.htm

[13] Lewis Mumford , What is a City? , Architectural Record, 1937

Note : all rights reserved for the other , you can use this material for academic research only , with prober referencing using the author name , research title , website and the date©. shafiq bara

16‏/01‏/2009

لغزة اليوم إيه عيني ادمعي



لغزة اليوم إيه عيني ادمعي

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