Is Gaza Strip resilient enough? Architecture of absence and community survival under siege

Residential districts and their expansions are what create liveable cities. Urban fabric and the social component of cities interlink where survival become the most important activity for citizens. During conflicts and tension times, the inability of cities and towns to function increases till the infrastructure and urban system be completely malfunctional where the daily life is ruled by individuals’ behaviours and new livening conditions. Gaza is a strategic place for violence and conflict and the urban arena is the battlefield. The strip is one of the highly populated urban areas in the world that holds 1.33% of the historic area of Palestine. With an unprecedent un-settling status, Gaza strip is entirely besieged. In 2015, the UN anticipated that by 2020, Gaza strip won’t be fit for human life, and this was before October 2023 escalations. Gaza has been and is a as conflict zone where limitations are imposed and major destructions that weep entire residential districts and families. Civilians are taking positive to deal with the current situation where the spatial distribution of the damage in several aspects is quite distinct and clear. This paper takes Gaza Strip as a case study shedding light on the major damages that affected the infrastructure, urban fabric, and the built environment which has been dramatically affecting the living community. As well as interrogating the coping mechanisms that Gazans have been and are taking to survive consider all these threats being faced by the community.