Synergistic adaptation in urban leftover spaces: Baghdad as a model

Abstract

As the negative impacts of climate change have become more complex, there is an urgent need to adopt new synergies to develop urban areas into more livable, interactive communities. Along with rapid urbanization and poor planning, ecosystem degradation and the creation of leftover spaces have become an urban-environmental burden. This study attempts to identify leftover spaces in Baghdad city, and analyze them using SWOT method, in order to revive them as an effective component of the urban-environmental system. The study hypothesizes the possibility of working within socio-ecologically adapted systems that act as a catalyst to identifying urban synergy and exploring a city’s potential to stimulate integrated and sustainable urban resilience in a descriptive qualitative method. The results show that some social, climatic, and urban synergies work as an integrated strategy for urban spaces, which this study terms “synergistic adaptation.” Synergistic adaptation contributes to achieving urban resilience, responding to climate change, and activating social roles.