[LifeStyle] The “European City” in Tunisia is a neglected heritage that is threatened with extinction

[-CosmiNNe]

Architects and civil society organizations are sounding the alarm, warning of the devastation of the “European City” in Tunisia, which is a rich and diverse heritage bearing witness to the colonial past, with its buildings turning into rubble and eroding its walls due to neglect, according to Agence France-Presse.

Civil society activists call the “European City” the neighborhoods that were built outside the walls of the Arab city during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with the beginning of the period under Tunisia’s French protection.

The buildings in these neighborhoods are characterized by architectural arts such as “classic”, “art deco” or “new art”, which spread in Europe during the 1820s and 1930s, and were mostly built by Italians and French.

65 years after independence, a large part of these buildings is threatened with collapse due to the absence of a clear strategy from the state, which seized part of these buildings, while others are managed by real estate agents on behalf of their owners.

And the Tunisian authorities acknowledged that 160 buildings were threatened with collapse, according to the last inventory they conducted in October 2019.

Some residents carried out restoration operations without taking into account the architectural character, obliterating the identity of the building, and removing inscriptions, while abandoned buildings turned into household waste dumps or spaces for selling drugs.

"Today we are shouting panic and sounding the alarm in order to save the European city, which is part of our heritage and a unique model of architecture," said Amal Meddeb, head of the Association for the Protection of the City of Tunis, to Agence France-Presse. .

The Europeans made up half of the po[CENSORED]tion of Tunisia, and the constitution of the “Covenant of Safety” in 1857 allowed them, regardless of their religions, to own land and build homes. Jules Ferry», which later became Habib Bourguiba Street, Abi Istiklal, Tunisia.

However, many of its original owners, including Jews, left the country for Europe in the wake of the declaration of independence, and in light of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The houses were rented to Tunisian families.

The buildings are characterized by arches, marble floors, and porcelain in the cladding of some walls and alabaster on the spiral staircases, as well as vast areas and high ceilings.

Some time ago, civil society activists began posting on social media, pictures of the bad condition these buildings have become, calling on those concerned to maintain them to save them from ruin.

On the other hand, the ancient city, which has been included in the list of the World Heritage of Humanity since 1979, has been witnessing continuous restoration and maintenance operations since the nineties of the last century, according to Al-Moudab, who criticizes those who describe the “European city” as “colonial heritage.”

Architect Duha Jelassi, in turn, asks: “Is it possible to talk about the Arab city in isolation from the European city?”

Bashir Al-Riahi, a member of the Buildings and Memories Association, which is a non-governmental body, says, “We are a voice and a lifeboat” for this city, whose problem was difficult to address before the 2011 revolution as a “sensitive” issue.

"The main obstacle to preserving heritage is a legal, real estate and inheritance issue," explains Pauline Lecointe, coordinator of "Expertise France" programs in Tunisia, due to "the difficulty of identifying the original owner, as well as complex administrative procedures."

The “dilapidating buildings” bill that the government submitted for discussion in Parliament in 2018 further complicated matters, knowing that consideration of it was postponed after pressure from civil society.

The project provides for evictions and demolitions that include about 5,000 dilapidated buildings in a number of Tunisian cities, including 2,500 in the capital, Tunis.

The “Buildings and Memories” association launched a petition calling for a review of the project because it “provides for the accelerated and comprehensive destruction of an architectural and urban heritage that Tunisia abounds in and dates back to the past two centuries.”

The director of the Agency for the Revival of Heritage and Cultural Development, a governmental body, Amal Al-Zraibi, expressed concerns about the project, which she described as "a crime if it does not take into account places loaded with collective memory."

On the other hand, construction projects for commercial and residential complexes pose another threat to the region.

Imad Al-Tahanti, in his sixties, a resident of Amara in the “European City,” sees himself as a “victim of speculation.” "I have been resisting pressures I have been exposed to for a long time to vacate the apartment that my family has lived in since before 1965, according to an old lease agreement with a Jew about whom no news has been heard for a long time," he told AFP.

Al-Tahanti pays 100 dinars (30 euros) per month to a real estate agent who said that he “sold the building without prior notice,” expressing his fear of demolishing it.

Real estate promoters are investing attractive sums in order to replace modern residential buildings with old buildings.

The Association for the Defense of the Rights of Occupants of Foreign Property calls for a “real estate evacuation,” similar to the agricultural evacuation, which in 1964 made it possible to nationalize all agricultural lands that were under the control of the colonizers.

The “Buildings and Memories” association calls for the involvement of “all actors in order to think seriously about developing a constructive and sustainable strategy to address the damage caused by urban expansion and to preserve the historical architectural landscape.”

Bertrand Vesini, assistant director of the French Development Agency in Tunisia, says, "In view of the relatively weak funds that we have obtained in recent years, it appears that the preservation of heritage, especially European heritage, is not a priority for our partners."

However, the French Agency pledged at the end of 2020 to allocate 12 million euros for a project aimed at renovating and rejuvenating old cities, including the European city's neighborhoods.

https://www.i3lam-al3arab.com/المدينة-الأوروبية-في-تونس-تراث-مهمل/