On Monday, 26 January 2026, the College of Engineering at the University of Baghdad witnessed the public defense of the PhD dissertation submitted by doctoral candidate Dalia Raad Zaidan from the Department of Architectural Engineering, entitled “Ephemerality and Permanence in Public Urban Spaces.” The defense was held in Mohammed Makiya Hall, under the supervision of Assistant Professor Dr. Abdul Hussein Al-Askari.
The research aimed to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework for the model of ephemerality and permanence in public urban spaces at both the design and planning levels. This was achieved by focusing on mechanisms for enhancing permanence in these spaces through a strategy based on two approaches: the PEA approach and its mechanisms (Protect, Enhance, Add), and the lateral pyramid of urbanism, which is based on the intersection of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the sustainability pyramid, with an analytical method relying on strengths, opportunities, aspirations, and outcomes instead of the traditional SWOT analysis.
The study highlighted two main urban scenarios: the first involves transformation from ephemerality to permanence according to specific strategies, while the second involves transformation from permanence to ephemerality as a result of continuous pressure on infrastructure, changes in land use, and increased population density. This may lead to a state of partial permanence, where the model functions as a compass between ephemerality and permanence.
The practical application of the model to case studies in the city of Baghdad demonstrated that ephemerality may be physical or material, resulting from the continuous deterioration of infrastructure, or non-material, resulting from the decline in spatial, social, and functional quality and the loss of a sense of place.
The research concluded that the causes of ephemerality and permanence in public urban spaces stem from excessive development forces, privatization, globalization, securitization, technology, mobility, and intellectual transformations resulting from the emergence of postmodern paradigms (liquidity) according to Zygmunt Bauman, as well as the digital paradigm according to Stéphane Vial. The study also identified four stages of ephemerality: erosion, contraction, weakness, and urban blight, emphasizing that permanence is not an absolute end state but rather a temporary condition that requires conscious management to sustain it.
Following the scientific discussion by the examination committee, its review of the candidate’s defense, and the evaluation of the dissertation, the candidate was awarded the PhD degree in Architectural Engineering.
