Author(s)

H. Khalil, E. Bileha, H. Mortada

Abstract

Jugol is an ancient African Islamic city. Due to its distinguished architectural and urban character that constitutes a unique blend of Islamic culture and African traditions, it was recently enlisted in the world heritage list. Currently, the city is suffering from a number of problems including poverty, congestion, isolation, weak accessibility, and environmental degradation. The current study is an attempt to mitigate the isolation and lack of accessibility problems utilizing space syntax as an analytical technique and design support tool. Isolation and lack of accessibility were found related to the changes in city’s structure, recent expansion of the city outside the fence towards west, resulting in a shift of the city’s integration core towards the west, thus weakening city’s accessibility. A number of alternatives were tested and the alternative that improves the city’s accessibility and alleviates its isolation was identified.

Keywords

Harar, Jugol, Ethiopia, Islamic heritage, space syntax, urban conservation, accessibility, connectivity, isolation