مؤسسة الشرق الأوسط للنشر العلمي
عادةً ما يتم الرد في غضون خمس دقائق
In a world witnessing rapid transformations and accelerated urban growth, Iraqi cities face significant challenges stemming from uncontrolled urbanization, forced displacement, and escalating political conflicts. These factors have led to the spread of informal settlements, which have been self-constructed by their residents without formal planning. In the face of these challenges, slum tourism has emerged as a new opportunity to rethink traditional development concepts, offering a fresh perspective that highlights the human and social dimensions within this complex context. It has shifted from merely reflecting extreme poverty and spontaneous migration to serving as a means of revitalizing informal settlements by investing in the residents' values and creative potential. This shift has transformed slum tourism from a unique tourism experience to a symbol of sustainable urban renewal. It aims not only at material development but also at creating social change, integrating residents into the global economy, and enhancing quality of life. This research attempts to address the knowledge gap concerning the potential for activating slum tourism in Iraq, with the aim of enhancing these areas and transforming them into urban zones that integrate with the city fabric, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of informal settlements. The importance of the research lies in exploring the prospects of slum tourism in Iraq as an emerging sector filled with both challenges and opportunities. It requires a comprehensive analysis to leverage this type of tourism as a tool to break the cycle of poverty and uplift informal settlements by developing them and incorporating them into the urban landscape, drawing on successful global experiences to improve their appearance and enhance quality of life sustainably. To achieve these goals, a socio-inductive methodology was used, including the identification of key strategies to activate and develop slum tourism. This methodology was applied in two stages. The first stage involved constructing a comprehensive theoretical framework of strategies and implementation mechanisms based on studies and experiences from both Arab and international contexts. The second stage focused on selecting local samples and conducting field surveys, including questionnaires targeting local community members (as tourists) and interviews with slum residents themselves (as beneficiaries). The potential values of the theoretical framework were then presented to experts from relevant fields for evaluation and weighting