Civil Society Participation in Urban Development in Syria (original) (raw)
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Participatory Urban Planning Approaches in the Arab Region
2020
I am greatly honored, thankful, and deeply grateful to Prof. Karina Pallagst for her continuous support and guidance through my work on the dissertation, as well as her encouragement and patience with the challenges that faced me in the process. Moreover, I thank her very much for the wonderful opportunity of working in her IPS team for six years. I thank her for her kindness and for providing me with great chances for learning. My deep gratitude goes to my second supervisor Prof. Astrid Ley for her valuable advice and recommendations on the theoretical and analytical approaches of the dissertation. My great appreciation for her feedback and expertise, her guidance with literature and contacts, and her encouragement. I am thankful for all the persons and interview partners who took the time and shared their insights on the practices of participatory planning in the case studies and supported me through my field research with information and knowledge. From Alexandria, I thank especially Prof. Mohsen Bayad, who offered me a wide range of literature and materials from his library and facilitated my communication with further actors. Special thanks to Dr. Dina Taha from Alexandria University and Mirhan Damir, who helped me in reaching out to different interview partners and networks. Besides, I thank Mohammad Zakaria from the GOPP for providing me with further material and documents as well as facilitating the communication with the planning authorities and city administration. My appreciation goes to all the planners and NGOs' representatives, who shared their views and local knowledge on participation. Likewise, I want to express my gratitude to the efforts of the interview partners, who, despite the challenging political situation in Syria and the risks of expressing their views at that time, have helped me a lot with their information and knowledge. Many thanks to the planners and experts, who worked on the case Aleppo and did not hesitate to help me with the data and insights. My deep gratitude to my friends and colleagues from whom I learned a lot, Dima, Beate, Rene, and Anne-Christin. My warmest thanks for their feedback, time, support, and patience. Finally, I want to thank my family, who helped me to endure throughout the writing process, especially my sister Salam, who also provided me with her knowledge and expertise on Syria and the Arab region, as well as my brother Saeed. My very deep gratitude and love go to my family in Germany and Syria, for their patience and consistent support to complete this work.
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