Pockets of survival and alleys of livelihood: tracking local practices to sustain urban vitality in cities during and post-conflict in the city of Homs / Syria

Armed conflict desolates the built environment and contributes to extremely complex political and economic conditions, which makes it difficult to envision revival strategies. This is a clear situation in sensitive conflict contexts such as in Syria. Creative solutions, built on local contributions as a response to crises, are inspiring references that can support envisioning post-war revitalisation strategies for affected cities. This paper focuses on the City of Homs in Syria and attempts to map the development of an open public space network in the City during and after the war (2011–2022). Informed by the concept of urban vitality, the article aims to depict the transformation of the open public spaces network in the city, which took place mainly by initiatives of residents in response to the conflict.