The “Contemporary Arab City” Open Online Arabic Language Course

The “Contemporary Arab City” online course was taught by a Team at CSBE under the Edraak platform. This Arabic-language course was first offered in October and November 2014, and was offered again in May and June 2015.

The course, which extends over a period of seven weeks, is the first open online Arabic-language course on architecture and urban planning to ever be offered. It presents the evolution of cities in the Arab world over the past three decades, and identifies factors that have formed them today. It also discusses urban management systems and decision-making mechanisms, and addresses and assesses the public services and facilities that cities offer to their residents. Moreover, the course presents the challenges that cities in the Arab world are facing and suggests solutions that may be adopted to address these challenges.

The course was given by architect and architecture historian as well as CSBE's Founding Director Mohammad al-Asad, who was assisted by CSBE Research and Coordination Officers Farah Tell and Tooma Zaghloul.

Watch a two-minute trailer that provides an overview of the course.

During the second run of the course, participants were asked to submit an interactive project that reflects their perception of and interaction with their cities. Links to a selection of them are provided in the Arabic description below.

Detailed information on Edraak is available at their website.

"مساق "المدينة العربية المعاصرة