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What we lose when we rebuild war-torn cities

Omar Degan has been working to provide infrastructure lost during the war back to Mogadishu, Somalia, like this portable clinic for children.
Omar Degan has been working to provide infrastructure lost during the war back to Mogadishu, Somalia, like this portable clinic for children.

The war in Ukraine is continuing to affect people living in the country’s cities. 

Bombing in Kiev and Mariupol has left homes, schools, and hospitals destroyed. Comparisons are being drawn between these cities and places like Aleppo and Baghdad. But someday the conflict in Ukraine will cease. How will its cities be rebuilt? 

It’s a question that Omar Degan has grappled with time and time again. He’s an architect who’s worked in Mogadishu, Somalia, to rebuild after the country’s civil war — helping to construct everything from restaurants to hospital wings that preserve Somalia’s cultural identity.

We talk to Omar and city planner Shlomo Angel about what gets lost when warfare enters urban areas.

Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5

Arfie Ghedi