Topological analysis of contemporary morphologies under conflict: The urban transformation of Dobrinja in Sarajevo and the Central District of Beirut

Abstract

[EN] A topological analysis of urban systems under conflict have been carried out for developing new methodology in order to record and intervene in urban areas affected by uncertainty. In the present article the tested method is presented through the analysis of changes in a specific neighborhood in Sarajevo. This method analyses the transformation of urban areas in five consecutive phases: urban form [1], increase of uncertainty [2], application of the apparatus [3], change in urban form [4], information flows [5]. These five phases were applied to different empirical studies, analyzed through specific morphological and topological models. In the light of this method, a selected urban morphology (Dobrinja, a suburb in Sarajevo) has been examined. The urban morphology of the area was dramatically transformed as a consequence of the interethnic conflict. Dobrinja suffered severe modifications, first provoked by the violence of the siege during the Bosnian War (1992-1995), and then by the Inter-Entity Boundary Line as a result of the Dayton Peace Agreement (December 1995), which divided the neighborhood and caused serious alterations in its ethno-demographic and spatial structure. The morphological and topological analyses enabled us to determine the initial causes of these alterations and their spatial consequences in this urban area, during conflict and post-conflict stages.