Syrbanism was founded in 2017 by Syrian planners in exile to document the spatial consequences of Syria’s civil war. Between 2011 and 2024, roughly one third of all buildings in Syrian cities were destroyed. Informal settlements and neighborhoods associated with the opposition were particularly affected, often subjected to targeted bombardment. Alongside military violence, new laws and planning instruments enabled expropriation and demolition in the name of reconstruction. Violence is thus inscribed into urban space not only through weapons, but also through legislation and planning.
Models by Syrbanism examine how reconstruction projects such as Marota City become instruments of political reordering by using urban planning to facilitate dispossession, displacement, and the restructuring of property relations. / Photo: Syrbanism
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