Criteria and indicators affecting the most appropriate reuse of heritage buildings in old cities: Mosul old city as a case study

For the protection of historic city identity and providing a sustainable benefit to its buildings,the strategy of conserving heritage buildings in old cities through their reuse is complex and crucial.The most appropriate mechanism for reuse is the most widely used mechanism for preserving and enhancing the values of heritage buildings.To extend the physical and functional life of heritage buildings and avoid the damage that may be caused as a result of wrong decisions,this study assists decision-makers in making the best decision more accurately, quickly,and effectively to reuse heritage buildings.Due to the lack of knowledge of the criteria and indicators that affect the most appropriate reuse process on a large scale and the extent to which they affect the process of selecting the most appropriate use,this paper aims to extract such criteria and indicators and prove their effectiveness in the process of selecting the most appropriate reuse of heritage buildings in old cities.The procedure of the study includes three phases:the 1st phase analyzes previous related studies and international charters,then extracts the most important criteria and indicators;the 2nd phase deals with expert interviews to provide a criteria assessment according to significance;and the 3rd phase applies these criteria and indicators to historic buildings in Mosul's old city to evaluate the possibility of their use.Adecision-making methodology(AHP)is applied using Microsoft Excel.The methodology was applied to Ziyadah House and Suleiman Al-Sayegh House.In the results,the application to arrange the optimal alternatives showed that the Ziadah house got the highest value,while the Al-Sayegh house got the lowest value.