Middle East

Isfahan is one of Iran's fastest growing cities. But it also has a distinct history -- one that is being threatened by the rapid pace of growth. Now, locals are trying to preserve the city's heritage.

The mayor of Jerusalem is seeking to cancel plans for expanding the city's light rail system in favor of buses, which he is calling a less expensive and more flexible alternative.

Possibly coming soon to freshwater-poor Dubai is a self-sustaining vertical farm that uses seawater for irrigation, cooling, and humidifying.

A region known more for carbon emissions strives to create a carbon-neutral city powered by renewable energy and designed to reduce overall energy demand.

This piece from Next American City looks at the human toll major building projects are taking on construction workers in China, Dubai and other rapidly developing places.

This piece from Construction Week looks at the environmentally-conscious Xeritown proposed in Dubai and the methods it will take to conserve and create energy.

Ninevah, one of the world's most endangered heritage sites, is deteriorating due to recent development and urban sprawl, say officials.

Masdar City, the elaborate and ambitious planned green development in Abu Dhabi, is slowing coming into shape. This piece from Technology Review looks at how the city's development could inform the future of citybuilding.

Street furniture is a critical part of the urban makeup in cities. New developments in the Middle East are beginning to recognize its importance.

Bicycle activists in Tel Aviv call for better infrastructure for bicyclists, skaters and pedestrians. "The central question is: Who is the city for - for the car or for the people?" says one.

Rats choose Manhattan because if its logical street grid, according to new research by a team of zoologists and geographers at Tel Aviv University, who are using rats to test wayfinding in cities.

Officials in Baghdad are instituting a new program to sweep beggars off the city's streets -- a number that has risen sharply since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

While the economic downturn is slowing many construction projects in Dubai, the city's 47-station light rail system is moving forward on schedule.

The new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad embodies all of the negative connotations of the American presence in Iraq and provides an example of how not to build an embassy, according to Jonathan Glancey.

Suisman Urban Design was hired to design a theoretical Palestinian State, in the hopes that the plan might encourage the peace process. The plan was released in 2005, and has been gaining traction and admiration ever since.

The eccentric megaprojects keep coming in Dubai, leaving some to question the environmental wisdom of so much development in a notoriously water-poor desert.

In Abu Dhabi, medians and 'leftover spaces' are attracting unanticipated users playing soccer, exercising or just hanging out. Planners are grappling with why people use these spaces and the public parks they've designed are less successful.

Big-name architects -- including Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid -- have reportedly been tapped to be part of a team of designers tasked with redesigning the Islamic holy city of Mecca and its mosque.

For about a month, commuter rail has been rolling in Baghdad. Where once there was danger, now there are commuters.

Native of the bustling United Arab Emirates are cheering the global economic slowdown, crediting it for curbing development in its cities that had been blamed for destroying much of their local heritage.