Urban Deterioration in the Districts of Karrada Al-Sharqiya and Al-Zafaraniya

Abstract

        The issue of urban deterioration is one of the important topics that must receive wide attention from decision-makers and those interested in the development of urban communities in order to overcome obstacles and solve problems that stand in the way of improving a better life, achieving social well-being, and promoting a sustainable future. Identifying deteriorating urban places, their levels of deterioration, and the causes  Behind this deterioration is a database that helps specialists formulate treatment policies.  Therefore, the research topic focuses on studying the spatial variation of urban deterioration in the Karrada and Zafaraniyah districts.  Which is considered one of the important cities in the capital, Baghdad, which suffers from the phenomenon of urban deterioration in a wide and varying manner between cities in recent times, and the research relied on revealing this difference by relying on relative weights.  The research found that the districts of Karrada al-Sharqiya and al-Zafaraniya both had a similar relative weight for the level of urban deterioration, amounting to (11.5%, 11.4%) out of a total of (28%). This indicates the presence of a rate of deterioration with an average rating for this criterion.  At the level of the neighborhoods of the study area, it is clear that there is a difference in the level of urban deterioration, which has been classified into three levels.  The first level was represented by neighborhoods with low deterioration, namely the University District and Babel District, after they acquired a relative weight of (7.5% and 7.8%), respectively.  The second level was the average level of deterioration in each of the Sinbad neighborhood, Al-Wahda neighborhood, Al-Zafaraniya neighborhood, and Al-Riyadh neighborhood, after the weighted relative weight in them reached a percentage ranging between (10.9% and 11.5%), respectively.  As for the third level, a noticeable increase in the level of deterioration was recorded, represented by the Karrada neighborhood and the Diyala neighborhood, after the relative weight of the level of deterioration reached ((15.2%, 13.2%), respectively.