Towards a strategy to activate the role of human factors to revive the spaces of heritage markets (the markets of the old city of Sana'a as a case study)

Abstract

The Sana'a market in the old city is considered one of the oldest markets in the Arabian Peninsula and reached its peak of prosperity in the ancient pre-Islamic era between the fifth and sixth centuries AD, when the city of Sana'a was an active center for caravan trade between the markets of southern and northern Arabia. The function of the market space reflected many of the human factors of the population, including the social, cultural and economic dimensions, as the diversity and momentum of cultural and commercial activities created the need for a place that could accommodate these activities, which is the Sana'a market space, which represents a commercial, cultural and administrative center for the economy of the city of Sana'a, as it served the majority of the population of Sana'a in the past and before the revolution, in addition to residents of neighboring areas and those coming to Sana'a from other cities. Therefore, the market space with its various components and specializations helped in achieving the main requirements and needs of the population, as the market space constituted an integrated urban system that contained within it several different human activities that met the requirements of local residents and visitors. The research problem is represented in the lack of vitality of the market spaces in the old city of Sana'a within the urban fabric of the city, due to the disappearance of the original human role within them that was tangible in the past. These markets were not only formed through the presence of material elements "shops", but the surrounding community also played a prominent and effective role in shaping these markets, as they were always full of life and vitality due to the economic, social and cultural activities that were held within them. Currently, most of the markets have been abandoned and neglected, their functions have changed and they no longer constitute any importance to the population as they were in the past. The research aims to develop a mechanism to revitalize the human role in order to revive the market spaces in the old city of Sana'a. In order to achieve the research objective, the inductive and analytical approach was adopted.