|
|
Najaf, Irag and Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. On
map, and in culture, they could seemingly be no more different.
Najaf, founded in 791, is the burial ground to a prophet, and
Milton Keynes is a modern city designed upon the mantra “New
City for the 21st Century.” Yet the same firm that designed
and built Milton Keynes in the 1970’s has just been commissioned
to re-design the Iraq city. Llewellyn Davies Yeang, a London-based
firm, recently signed a $1.6m contract to re-design the center
of ancient Najaf - a city which, after Medina and Mecca, draws
3 million pilgrims to it each year.
Tale of Two Cities
On outset, it seems like two worlds colliding. Najaf is famous
for holding the shrine of the 1st Imam of Shia Islam; Milton
Keynes is famous for its concrete cow statues.
Najaf is a city in central Iraq, developed along the western
ridge of the Euphrates River, and - by a 2005 estimate - has
a population of roughly 560,000. Milton Keynes was designated
by British Parliament in 1967, with the intention that it would
become a major regional centre in its own right. The new city
initially drew 60,000 to the area upon first development. By
the 2001 census, the population had reached 177,500, and it
is projected to exceed 300,000 by 2030. According to The Guardian,
less than 2% of the workforce in Milton Keynes is unemployed,
compared with up to 70% in Najaf.
Throughout its long history, Najaf has been subject to Ottoman
rule and revolt under British and American control. It has been
destroyed and built up again, continually, yet has maintained
a character of low-level sprawl, boulevards lined by trees, arched
brick buildings and streets filled with
bearded clerics. Najaf is well-known for being an Islamic center
for scientific, literary and theological studies, drawing people
from all over the world to study in its centers.
For the past 12 months, the city has remained, as the BBC reports, “relatively
calm,” although it is still so unsafe that the London firm
cannot work directly in Najaf. The directors of the firm must
do their work by corresponding with their Iraqi partners – mainly
former exiles who returned to the country after the fall of Saddam
Hussein.
Staked by Bush as a potential model for re-development, the
US has been spending money to stimulate regeneration in Najaf,
including an $8m refurbishment of a maternity hospital. Coalition
money is also funding the construction of a football stadium
(something that planners for Milton Keynes considered a fundamental
part of building community back in the seventies).
Milton Keynes
Much has changed since Richard Llewellyn Davies - founder of
Llewellyn Davies Yeang - laid out his plans for a new settlement
to house a swelling London population in the 1960’s.
Davies designed Milton Keynes around the car, and modeled the
layout of the city on a Los Angeles-style grid system. While
the city does have its defendants, it is also regarded by critics
as being an “American-influenced mistake” (The Guardian)
Most of the architecture was built with concrete, parking lots
were favored over sidewalks, and pedestrians were given thoroughfares
to walk through under the roads. Yet planners also designed Milton
Keynes with 40% of the land given to open space - 300 km of cycle
and walkways cutting through the grid of the town.
As Jonathon Duffy of the BBC writes, “By the 1980s Milton
Keynes had become a byword for both the pros and cons of postwar
British urban planning. It was to some a spacious, modern,
landscaped town, and to others a dystopic, soulless home to
shopping centres and skateboard parks.”
Being a new city, Milton Keynes is perpetually in development. “It
seems like the city is constantly changing and growing,” says
Leeds-based photographer, Mike Pinches. “I like the images
that show this: fields that have been marked out for development
that the bulldozers haven’t got to yet, areas that have
had access roads built but are blocked off until there’s
a housing estate for them to lead to.”
Urban Renewal
It is a different world in the policies and aesthetics of Urban
Planning since the development of Milton Keynes. Richard
Llewelyn Davies died in 1981, and the firm is very much a design
company of the times, with current directors having very different
ideas about urban planning than their founder.
The directors are talking about redesigning the city centre
of Najaf to give preference to pedestrians, bicycles and public
transport rather than the car. And it’s not just talk,
it’s the new orthodoxy. According to the modern principles
of the UK government’s Urban Design Compendium, it is essential
that places are easy to get to and integrated physically with
their surroundings. As the principles state: “This requires
attention to how to get around on foot, by bicycle, public transport
and the car – in that order.”
In what could the city’s first “park and ride” program,
city planners are discussing the possibility of bussing pilgrims
to the shrine from a main terminal upon their annual arrival
in the city. An international airport and hotels are also being
considered.
Working With Community
The new orthodoxy also states that town planning needs to be
about creating vibrant, sustainable communities. “Collaborative
planning ensures attention to local concerns and reduces possible
antagonism from local communities to change,” is one
of the key principles of the Urban Design Compendium. How this
relates to Najaf is unclear, considering that the “arms
length” approach is unorthodox to planners, who generally
need to live in the centre of wherever they are working to
absorb the atmosphere and decipher how people use the place.
Martin Crookston, of Llewellyn Davies Yeang, states that Najaf
is one of the most challenging jobs he’s every been
involved in. Currently, the city has a host of immediate concerns
to deal with, such as security issues, water and electricity
shortages. But Crookston said that his firm’s experience
in Belfast was that it should not plan as if for a conflict zone.
It’s too early to say what the new Najaf might look like,
reports the BBC. The plans will come towards the end of the year – but,
given the sensitivities, Crookston foresees “a lot of long
slow conversations over coffee” with municipal elders.
|
|
|
|
|
Do you have a comment or feedback on this article?
Email us and let
us know what you think. |
