VCU news

By Brian McNeill

A new book by a Virginia Commonwealth University professor examines the gentrification of Damascus, the capital of Syria and one of the world's oldest cities, and provides a glimpse of life in the city before the outbreak of Syria's ongoing civil war.

"Preserving the Old City of Damascus," (Syracuse University Press) by Faedah Totah, Ph.D., an associate professor in the political science program of VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences, is an ethnographic account of the transformation of Damascus' historic neighborhoods.

Totah recently discussed her book, her time spent in Syria, and how the gentrification of Damascus has parallels to urban transformations in cities around the world, including Richmond.

Could you tell me a little about the book? What's its central premise?

“Preserving the Old City of Damascus” is about the social impact of gentrification on one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Although gentrification has become widespread in postindustrial cities in the West, its spread to nonindustrialized and non-Western cities is not well documented. Gentrification is about the social and economic transformation of neighborhoods and cities in ways that makes it easier to market culture and history to a wide audience. It is usually associated with the middle class purchasing rundown houses and restoring them. These days it is not just about restoring houses to live in or sell but converting them into restaurants and hotels. In Damascus, with its old-style courtyard houses, many were converted into restaurants and hotels rather than restored into homes. I argue that gentrification in Damascus was made possible due to economic and political changes initiated by the government and the ways in which the Old City is being transformed illustrates how people understand and interpret these changes. Therefore, what is happening in the Old City becomes a window on the wider social and cultural transformations in the city. What makes Damascus a great case study on gentrification is its complex social and political history. The focus of gentrification in Damascus was the historical preservation of the built environment associated with one particular social group and historical time period to the exclusion of all others. The challenge was to market this heritage so that it could have wide appeal among consumers not only in Syria but around the world.

What sort of research went into it? Did you spend time in Damascus? What was that like?

As an anthropologist by training I conducted ethnographic research where I spent several months living in Damascus so that I could experience the city as much as possible from the Damascene point of view. I was fortunate to have had funding that allowed me to live almost two years in Damascus where one of these years I spent living in the Old City. The fact that I lived in different neighborhoods really made me appreciate the difference between historic and modern neighborhoods. The difference is physical with apartment buildings, wide streets and sidewalks in modern neighborhoods and narrow alleys and courtyard houses in the historic neighborhoods. Where you can drive in modern neighborhoods you can only walk in the Old City and this creates different forms of social interactions especially when you see the same people every day. This urban difference is common in many cities outside the U.S. where you have an old city center surrounded by modern neighborhoods. In addition, by living in the Old City I was in the middle of all the gentrification that was taking place and in that year I saw several restaurants open and many long-term residents move out. This trend continued up until 2008 when I made my last trip to Syria. So I was able to experience what many Damascenes dealt with on a daily basis. It was an incredible time and I had perhaps too much fun during my fieldwork. I went to many restaurants and interviewed their owners. I also got to know many investors and architects so this gave me a more comprehensive overview of gentrification instead of just talking to long-term residents.

You mentioned that Damascus' urban transformation has some parallels to Richmond. How so?

As I mentioned above, gentrification has become a widespread urban policy where local governments not only encourage but facilitate the economic and social transformation of underdeveloped neighborhoods in their cities. Therefore, there is an economic incentive for local governments who can shift the cost of improving derelict neighborhoods to private investors to support gentrification even when long-term residents oppose it. This is most visible in Church Hill where a few years ago no one outside of the neighborhood wanted to live there, much less visit. Now, Church Hill is one of the up-and-coming neighborhoods in Richmond. In the past few years you see not only the social transformation of the neighborhood as many long-term residents move out but also all these new restaurants that attract visitors from all over. It is interesting to see how restaurants are spearheading urban change. The fact that competition among restaurants is high means each new place tries to provide a unique dining experience. In Damascus, competition among restaurants was not an issue, at least not when I was there, so the food and the ambience of many were similar.

How did you become interested in this topic?

I have always been fascinated by cities and how cities are shaped by and shape people who live in them. At an early age I developed an interest in historic cities especially those that survive amidst new and modern construction. Therefore, when it came to deciding on a dissertation topic it was natural that I would choose cities. I decided to do my work in Syria because most of the scholarship dealt with its history and not much was done on the modern period. Anyone who visits Damascus cannot escape the importance of the Old City and what is means to modern-day Damascenes. So it was natural to focus on a neighborhood that held so much importance for the people who live there.

How does this book fit into your larger body of scholarship?

The book contributes in two main ways to the larger body of scholarship. First not much has been written about modern-day Syria. For years it was difficult for researchers interested in the culture or society of the country to get research permits. This made it easier for historians but not social scientists although much work was done by political scientists but then they did not have to visit or spend that much time there. I was fortunate that when I began my research the country was being more receptive to social researchers. Therefore, my book is one of the few out there that actually deals with daily life in Syria and with its modern-day society and culture. The fact it was written before the civil war has made it more significant because it documents life before the ongoing destruction. It was never meant to be a historical document but that is how it turned out. As for the wider body of scholarship that deals with gentrification, urban space and social transformation, not much is written on cities in the Arab world. With more than half the Arab population living in cities it is a glaring gap in urban studies. In many ways "Preserving the Old City of Damascus" contributes to how cities in the developing world are being transformed by people as a result of political and economic changes.

How does the conflict in Syria play into your book, or how does it affect your book's conclusions?

I began writing this book in more optimistic times when it seemed that economic liberalization would lead to some kind of political reform, especially as Syria was seeking to end decades of isolation and reap some of the benefits of globalization. There was a feeling of guarded optimism among Syrian investors who believed the country would remain politically stable for their investments. As a matter of fact the civil war has come as a surprise to many Syrian observers. Now it does not seem that the conflict is going to end anytime soon. Ironically, this means that my conclusions about the gentrification of the Old City are still valid but they are put on hold. The current conflict has slowed the pace of urban change if not stopped it altogether. So far the Old City has escaped any major destruction unlike the Old City of Aleppo in the north which has been destroyed by the war. How it will emerge from this conflict remains to be seen but if it survives destruction, I would not be surprised that gentrification will continue where it leveled off at the start of the civil war.

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