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Public spaces are central to social interactions and cohesion, overall urban life, and therewith sustainable urban development. They can play key roles in increasing social interactions and women's empowerment. The literature lacks empirical research on the state of women's use of public spaces and these spaces' effects on women's social interactions and empowerment in Middle Eastern cities in the Kurdistan Region, where women historically enjoyed greater freedom. This paper addresses this gap by presenting insights from a comparative cross-border study with women in two Kurdish cities, Sanandaj and Sulaimani. In doing so, the paper contributes an empirically based theorization of urban public place-making, and debates its effects on the empowerment of women in the context of Kurdish urbanisms. The study developed a survey instrument to measure women's interactions with and in public spaces and their related empowerment in these two cities across five main factors. Despite the local women's limited interaction with and in the public spaces of these two Kurdish cities, the findings show a strong positive relationship between women's interactions in public spaces and their empowerment. The results also suggest that socio-political and related socio-spatial changes have contributed to a decreased relevance of traditional meeting and leisure spaces but have increased the use of malls as commodified spaces, particularly in Sulaimani. The study debates the specificities of urban public spaces in Kurdish cities, and commonalities as well as differences compared with developments elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic buildings are surviving links to our past. They materialize and provide evidence for societies' past lifestyle, traditions, and values that inform present and future transformations. In addition to their architectural, historic, cultural, and/or symbolic values, preserved historic buildings often create educational and socioeconomic opportunities. Despite wide popularity and attention to preservation in many parts of the world, historic building preservation and reuse projects in Mesopotamia, the cradle of human civilization, is very limited, in poor conditions, and under-researched. The restored historic Sarai building located in the city center of Sulaimani in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (as a representing case study for many others in the country) testifies to the poor condition (or even failure) of historic preservation and restoration attempts in Iraq. Since its expensive structural restoration to host a museum, the building has become a ghost house in the vibrant old city center. This paper examines historic preservation and restoration practices in challenging such as those of Iraq through a case study, Sarai building revitalization project. The project makes an important and representing case study because of the architectural, historic, cultural, and symbolic values of the building to a city that is recognized as the cultural capital of Kurdistan Region of Iraq and (most recently) a UNESCO creative city in literature. This paper contributes to the under-researched area of historic restoration practices and processes (planning and management) in the context of the Middle East (in particularly, Iraq). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Walkability within urban design and planning context refers to urban environments that are friendly and supportive for the pedestrian. Walkable environments offer many economic, social, health, and environmental benefits and contribute to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In public places, including city centers, walkability is a major asset for making them vibrant by attracting and maintaining pedestrians, including tourists. It is no coincidence that the top tourist destinations and livable cities as well as popular city centers and streets all share walkability character. Walkability quality in city center streets and any urban environment require planning. Good planning needs to be informed by measuring and assessing the state of walkability in existing streets and environments. While the literature presents systematic walkability assessment studies from different city centers of developed and developing countries, such studies are rare in the context of many other developing regions and countries like the Kurdistan Region and the rest of Iraq. Since walkability character can be contextual and affected by different socio-economic and environmental factors and dynamics, systematic and comprehensive assessment of under-researched environments and city centers are essential. To address this gap in the literature, this study systematically assesses the state of walkability in the city center of Sulaimani, the cultural capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and a UNESCO creative city in literature. This paper report results from assessing and comparing the physical characters of the six major interconnecting streets (Mawlawy, Kawa, Sabunkaran, Peramerd, Goran, and Bekas streets) in the center of Sulaimani city. The assessment considers the five main walkability factors of function, safety, destination, aesthetic, and comfort identified from the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]