a new dawn rising on the citadel | a tale of two cities Dar Al-Handasah’s Master Plan commissioned by the Ministry of Municipalities for Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) capital Erbil is essentially a strategic document that will guide its economic growth and future development up to 2030. The Council of Ministers, the office of the Governorate, Erbil Governorate and the Ministry of Municipalities are laying the ground for a system that will ensure the implementation of an urban growth and development program to the region and its people with sound planning practices and good governance. Dar’s Master Plan seeks to provide the necessary platform that will answer the governmental and administrative aspirations by providing the right framework for a broad vision and future integrated growth schemes. Erbil is ready to open up to the world; this is visibly a goal local authorities are working hard to achieve. Clearly observed in the increasing number of projects mushrooming around the city, the authorities’ intention is to manage the progress and reach their long term vision for a prosperous and modern region in the next 20 years. Iraq’s prospects are looking brighter than they have ever been. At a time when other neighboring countries are pulling the plug on one development after another, the country is reexperiencing the surge of interest it briefly felt in 2003. Northern Iraq has had a head-start over the rest of Iraq having enjoyed stability for quite some time now, and it looks like the rest is following suit with big plans lined up for KRG and Baghdad. But the complexities of implementing an urban master plan for the capital of a newly formed, autonomous, political and administrative entity meant that there was no framework to work with and very little to build on. In the case of the city of Erbil, Dar planners knew that their MP (Master Plan) is effectively an urban blueprint for the city running the gamut from establishing zoning laws and density guidelines to setting the city’s growth direction for years to come. Having to contend with a devastated agricultural sector - long considered the region’s economic backbone -, no credit rating to raise funds or receive insurance coverage to encourage investors, a non-existent banking system, frequent power shortages, poor telecommunication and internet networks, an incomplete water supply network, and an insufficient road network meant that Erbil’s MP was both a top-down and a bottom-up plan. The oil sector, now the region’s main source of income, still lacks major foreign involvement, kept away by the lack of a well connected fuel distribution network due to a land-locked geography, and poor transport links to regional seaports. Venture capitalists have for the most part stayed away, still convinced that with the current infrastructure their hedge wouldn’t be worth the risk. Extensive surveying Over a period of one year, surveyors spanned the city gathering the necessary data to arrive at a thorough understanding of the city’s economic, socio-demographic and vital needs. A previous master plan presented in 1995 was re-evaluated against extensive door-to-door surveys, an assessment of all available public records, studies and published documents about the city, and structured interviews with officials and residents. Dar Erbil resident staffers in coordination with design office town planners, engineers and economists combed the city until they developed a high degree of confidence to design a plan that will answer the authorities’ short and long-term objectives within flexible margins for adaptability and adjustment. Connectivity The Transport Master Plan is known as an “expendable freeway road grid transport concept” based on the historical ring-way (and radial roads system) that wraps around the citadel and so distinctively defines the city’s character. The expendable concentric road grid can stretch beyond the MP’s time and scope limits. It follows a custom-built road network based on anticipated traffic volumes and incorporates potential expansion requirements achieved by relating the primary grid transport layout to secondary district road networks, public transport and greenways. The right-of-way reservations are sufficient to allow for all likely future configurations, serving adjoining districts and linking to radial corridors. The regional road network design connects the landlocked city to northern Iraq’s oil-producing regions and to the major regional seaports: Umm Qasr (700 km away, serving the Middle East and Asia), Iskenderun and Mersin (750 and 900 km away respectively, in Turkey, serving Europe, the Americas and others through the Suez Canal), Latakia (750 km in Syria) and Beirut (900 km in Lebanon). A fast and efficient rail transport provision is envisaged for a future phase and will be part of the extensive national rail network being developed for Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria. 23