Post-war urban projects in Syria, A toponymic insight

Abstract

How will Syria’s post-conflict toponymy be? Since the civil war (2011-), toponymic reconfiguration has been used to consolidate the state’s control and showing continuity of its Baathist ideology (1963-), but also to mark its qualitative changes. During the war, names of “heroes” and “friends of the Syrian people” were added to the map. Two new urban project names, Marota and Basilia Cities, reveal new trends not in line with the official pan-Arab and “socialist” past toponymic scape, but an aspiration to integrate global economy, to “be like Dubai”, as to appear as “minority-protector” or nuance the official narratives of the country’s history. The inventory of the Syrian new toponyms since 2011shall inform us about the new political and ideological alignments of the Syrian state.