Urban upgrading of slums: Baghdad and London slums as study models for urban rehabilitation

AbstractThis phenomenon of slums represents one of the most serious problems that Iraqi cities suffer from, especially the city of Baghdad, which has become teeming with a lot of slum buildings that have distorted most of its areas and neighborhoods. Most of the slums are in the form of scattered construction and chaotic gatherings that do not follow any planning standards. This paper aims to present and analyze the mechanisms of urban upgrading of two models of slums in the city of Baghdad and London. The treatment was through the urban development of these slums and the provision and improvement of services to reduce the phenomenon of total removal. The GIS program was used to calculate the urban variables and requirements, the optimal locations for services, and the total and partial removal percentages. The research achieved the lowest percentage of total and partial removal of the actual areas, which amounted to 7.31% in the first model and 14.26% in the second model. The slum area was also provided with all the necessary services in accordance with the urban housing standards specific to each city, to turn it into a residential neighborhood instead of calling it a slum region.