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The countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have only recently discovered their modern industrial heritage as an object of conservation and future development. Through an in-depth analysis of four industrial sites in Egypt and Iran, testifying to a designated modern era, this article documents the complex historical process of industrialization and its political and economic background. Building on fieldwork, archive studies, workshops, and interviews, the article explores how built structures of modern industrial sites signify the multi-facetted, symbiotic, and exploitative international exchange behind the modernization of economies in the region. In the face of many obstacles to the conservation of this heritage, ranging from incomplete listings and ineffectual policies to high development pressures on urban land, this article aims to transcend the current Eurocentrism in industrial heritage research and practice, and encourage regional claims on this significant heritage.

In the context of increasing social mobility, extensive global migration flows and the growing importance of understanding the diverse circumstances of urban life, ideas of a homogeneous, and stable social mainstream are decreasingly in line with social reality. Post-migrant studies understand migration as not only a force that shapes society but also as a factor in place-making. This article aims to discuss a different integration paradigm, focusing on the spatial integration dimension from the perspective of the refugees and their experiences of everyday practices. It aims to reflect on the role of the articulation between these practices with local actors that can intermediate and influence the quality of life of the incomers, either positively or negatively. The main research question we address is: Can spatial transformation in the public space foster the integration of and a feeling of belonging by refugees through collaborative processes? This analysis is developed through a critical reflection on the role of institutional actors as potential mediators between everyday practices and long-term solutions and, at the same time, as reproducers of hegemonic power relations. The proposed debate is based on collaborative teaching and research activities conducted in 2021 and 2022 in Berlin, Germany, and Irbid, Jordan, involving different groups of actors—researchers, students, and local and national institutions, as well as refugees and local residents.

In Egypt, the relocation of residents of informal areas of housing into “proper” living environments is presented as a major political achievement offering citizens a much-improved quality of life. Therefore, it is not surprising that, following the Arab Uprisings, the current regime is widely publicizing relocation projects as success stories on TV and social media. As a way of garnering legitimization and securing stability, this official representation is reshaping the residents’ urban life and evoking narratives of slum dwellers’ transformation into respected citizens. Tackling a new area of interdisciplinary research between urban studies and media and communication studies, this article investigates the portrayal in mainstream media channels and social media platforms of two relocation projects (Al-Asmarat in Cairo and Al-Max in Alexandria), contrasting them with the residents’ perceptions of their new homes and their efforts to produce counter-imagery. The authors argue that both the state-dominated representation of the Al-Asmarat resettlement as an ideal solution to the crisis of informal settlements, as well as the more bottom-up construction of the Al-Max community as a picturesque fishing community, do not reflect the material experience of the inhabitants—despite it being presented as such in nationwide reporting. The effective centering of the public debate around the mediatized images has thus deflected criticism and enabled urban development projects to be positioned to legitimize the current rule despite the shortcomings of their implementation.