The Struggle for the City—Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus

walk through the old city of Mosul, Iraq, reveals an urban landscape still scarred by the violence of war and transfigured by ongoing reconstruction. Rubble-lined narrow streets give way to half-rebuilt homes and scaffolded storefronts, as merchants return and daily life resumes amid the heavy hum of generators and construction.The destructive reign of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from 2014 to 2017 and the city’s bloody liberation by Iraqi and allied forces left around 1 million inhabitants displaced and 130,000 homes damaged and destroyed. Mosul’s rebuilding process has been slow and imbalanced, imperiled by corruption scandals, militia control, property ownership forgery and a recovery focused on elite-driven commercial projects and internationally funded cultural heritage projects.[1] Many displaced Moslawis still remain uncertain about returning to rebuild homes, reclaim land or resurrect former lives.