Baghdad at 10 million: fragile dreams of normality as megacity status beckons
After an exhausting journey through Baghdad’s vast and grimy suburbs, the pastel-coloured blocks of Besmaya Dream City rise up above the rushes just beyond one of the modern gates marking the edge of the city. The orderliness of these dozens of towers – some lived in, some unfinished – is a shock in the otherwise […]Peter Beaumont writes for The Guardian:
After an exhausting journey through Baghdad’s vast and grimy suburbs, the pastel-coloured blocks of Besmaya Dream City rise up above the rushes just beyond one of the modern gates marking the edge of the city.
The orderliness of these dozens of towers – some lived in, some unfinished – is a shock in the otherwise chaotic jumble of low-rise cityscape. The residential complex is being built by a South Korean company, Hanwha, and there are ambitious plans to build homes for up to 600,000 residents once its delayed construction is complete.
Dream City – aimed at the beleaguered middle class – offers one potential vision of the future as the population of Iraq’s capital nears 10 million and the city prepares to join the ranks of the world’s megacities. Baghdad is in flux.
