Historic cities such as Old Najaf are challenged with balancing the preservation of their cultural and architectural heritage against the pressures of modern urban development. Being one of the major religious centers for Shia Islam, Old Najaf receives annual millions of pilgrims and tourists, pressuring its infrastructure and threatening its historic façade. The aim of this study was to explore the viability of integrated approaches that balance heritage conservation with sustainable urban development, and lessons learned from international best practices, as well as stakeholder perspectives on this issue in the face of these challenges. This prompted the study to identify the challenges and opportunities for the heritage preservation and sustainable development in Old Najaf. It aims to comprehend the way residents and experts understand the dynamics of these layers through a mixed methods approach as well as derive actionable lessons learned after comparative analyses with case studies in Fes, Morocco and Kyoto, Japan. The study also explores the role that emerging technologies, regulation, and citizen engagement can play in addressing this trade-off education about Artificial Intelligence. The study shows that the major impediments for Old Najaf heritage are unplanned urban growth, inadequate infrastructure and mass tourism. Survey responses show that both residents and experts prioritize stricter zoning laws at the city's level, improved infrastructure for those corridors and sustainable tourism practices. In Fes, a city already leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as digital twins in urban planning, and building on advances made by Kyoto in GIS, comparative insights from both cities show the need to embed advanced technologies within strong policy frameworks supported by community-led initiatives. The findings underscore the need for holistic and context-sensitive strategies to protect the cultural heritage of Old Najaf, in line with sustainable development. ©2025 The authors.
Urban growth of cities is connected with three related problems, the first one, is the deterioration of the center, which is a mark for historical origin. The second is the emergence of city edge, which contradicts by the center. The third one is the rapid semi urbanism of the edge. Literature review showed that Baghdad historical center (Old Rusafa and Karkh) had grown in four morphological stages, during which main paths had been changed from those which were perpendicular to the river front to those parallel to it. Research problem is that “there is a knowledge gap about the direction and origin of paths within Baghdad old center, after its growth”. The first research hypothesis is, “the direction of paths within old Baghdad cen
... Show MoreBackground: Antimicrobial prescribing patterns have an important role in the emergence of resistance, and community pharmacists have a substantial influence on this issue. Objective: To assess community pharmacists' behaviors and attitudes toward antimicrobial dispensing, determine their proportions and categories, and examine the underlying rationales for this practice. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in Iraq was conducted from June to August 2023, using a self-administered validated questionnaire. The attitudes, practices, and motivations driving the distribution of antimicrobials without a prescription (AWP) were explored in three areas. Results: A sizable proportion (61.6%) of respondents rejected
... Show MoreThe dubbing process for the Foreign Dramas by the Kurdish language became a serious phenomenon in the Kurdish satellite TV, especially in the past few years. It attracted a wide audience, especially young adolescents. And prepared by some breakthrough hostile to Kurdish culture and value coordinated by others remedy for the structural gaps and lapses have, as a result of climate which is brought into existence globalization and secretions variety dimensional, saturated value and cognitive effects bearing a strong identity of its elements. From here, the problem of this research is the ambiguity of their role in a series of developmental processes Kurdish awareness of young people and the extent of the impact that caused it.
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... Show MoreThe current study aimed to ascertain the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP-12) and Lysyl oxidase (LOX) in osteoporosis patients and their correlation with alkaline phosphatase (ALP), magnesium (Mg), vitamin D (Vit D), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and T-score %. 110 participants recruited from Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Iraq, were enrolled in this study from November 2019 to March 2020). The participants were divided into two groups: Group 1 comprised 60 osteoporotic women and group 2 consisted of 50 healthy women. (MMP and LOX) were estimated using a quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA. The results showed significant differences in serum LOX, age, ALP, Mg, and T-score %, while no significant differences i
... Show MoreThe research examines the extent to which government spending decisions can affect the level of the financial performance of the directorate. The research problem was based on the financial reality of the Directorate of Sewerage of Diyala province. Spending on the Directorate of the research area. To achieve a set of objectives: indicate the impact of government spending decisions on financial performance, the use of financial analysis to assess the performance of the Directorate. The research adopted financial analysis tools, a set of financial ratios, through which the spending decisions taken by the Directorate of the field of research will be evaluated, and during the period (2014-2018). The research also adopted statistical
... Show MoreThe topic of urban transformations has attracted the attention of researchers as it is one of the basic issues through which cities can be transformed towards sustainability. A specific level of transformation levels according to a philosophical concept known as a crossing. This article has relied on a specific methodology that aims to find a new approach for urban transformation based on the crossing concept. This concept derives from philosophical entrances based on the concepts of (being, process, becoming, and integration). Four levels have been for the crossing are (normal, ascending, leap, and descending). Each of these levels includes specific characteristics that distinguish it. The results showed that there is no descending
... Show MoreThe achievement of world peace is a humanitarian demand that humanity has sought since its existence. Despite the international and regional efforts to achieve this demand, it is still reaching its desired ambitions if conflicts, contradictions, and internal and external wars continue to justify us clearly in terms of ethnic, religious and sectarian conflict. The revolution of informatics and the impact of globalization opened a new era of communication and openness and the negative and positive impact of others, which re-published and distributed values, ideas and new cultures Some of them carries extremist ideas urging violence and destruction and other abolition, it became necessary to follow policies and reward The culture of peace,
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