"Al-Medina al-Qadima" of Damascus: preservation of the cultural heritage, representations of the past, and the production of a valuable space

In this article I discuss some practices of restoration and development of Damascus architectural and cultural heritage, carried out by private actors, local authorities and transnational institutions such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). I maintain that the development of cultural heritage, while creating an imaginary and desirable urban arrière-pays, produces some architectural objects that circulate, as commodities, in the market of cultural amenities. The rising of the exchange value of this space, attracting investors in the market of "Arab houses" restoration, sets all the makings of an exodus from the same locality of those groups left out from the process of development.