Recent Developments in Kabul's Shar-e-Naw and Central Bazaar Districts

Abstract

This paper focuses on recent infrastructural and functional changes in two central areas of Kabul, namely, Shar-e-Naw and the bazaar area. While the latter got the impetus for its reconstruction from the fact that it was one of Kabul's most severely destroyed areas, the opposite holds true for Shar-e-Naw which recently suffered from a more functional change due to the fact that there was hardly any destruction in this area. As a result of a growing urban economy and population in combination with a multitude of international activities connected with the so-called reconstruction of Afghanistan, Kabul is characterized by quite important functional changes in certain areas. The recent reconstruction of Kabul is dominated by challenges and opportunities, among which we can identify two major processes as changing the face of Kabul significantly. One is the growing influence of international organizations as a dominant factor in reshaping the city in certain parts and the second focus is the changing functions of Kabul's central bazaar as a result of it becoming more and more a playfield of local forces struggling for influence and power in Kabul.