Layla Zibar

Layla Zibar is an independent researcher and a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University. Her research explores the spatial aspects of rights violations during crises, focusing on the intricate connections between violence, forced displacement urbanisms, Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) rights violations, humanitarian interventions, post-conflict recovery, and displaced individuals’ experiences. Layla also works as a research consultant and academic trainer, specializing in forced displacements, post-war recovery, reconstruction, and complex legal and gender issues related to HLP rights. Layla’s doctoral dissertation, “Forced Displacement Urbanisms: Territorial Biographies and Contemporary Narratives in the Syrian Refugee Camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq,” examines the complex dynamics of forced displacement urbanisms. Through careful analysis of territorial biographies and contemporary narratives, her research provides insights into how spatial manifestations of rights shifts and violations occur during and after crises. The study focuses on two key areas: Forced Displacement Urbanism in Chronic Conflict Zones, exploring internal and external displacements, disruptions and distortions and their socio-spatial interdependencies in the context of refugeehood; and Ruptures, Dwelling, and Homing concepts in the refugee experience, illuminating the intricate processes of placemaking and identity formation in displaced communities.

Education

• Dual PhD – Dual Degree – in Engineering Sciences: Architecture awarded with Magna Cum Laude by
Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) in Germany and KU Leuven in Belgium (2023)
• M.Sc. in Engineering Sciences: Architectural Engineering. Focus: Urban Design & Community
Development, Cairo University, Egypt (2016).
• Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Engineering, Aleppo University, Syria (2011)

Featured Publications

• Zibar, L. (2025). Shifting Geographies of Presence: Territorial Biographies and Forced Displacements
Entanglements within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In Displacement Urbanism. Politics of Bodies and
Spaces of Abandonment and Endurance. Editors Astolfo, Giovanna & Boano, Camillo. Bristol University
Press. ISBN: 978-1529242324.
• Salahieh, D., Asaaed, S., & Zibar, L. (2024). (Re)calibrating heritage: Al-Jdeideh (post-)conflict
transformations in Aleppo, Syria. Journal of Social Archaeology, 0(0).
https://doi.org/10.1177/14696053231220926
• Zibar, L. (2023). “Forced Displacement Urbanisms: Territorial Biographies and Contemporary Narratives
in the Syrian Refugee Camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.” PhD Manuscript, KU Leuven (BE) BTU (DE).
doi: 10.26127/BTUOpen-6297.
• Zibar L, Abu-Jidi N, De Meulder B (2022). Who/What Is Doing What? Dwelling & homing practices in
Syrian refugee camps – The Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In Making Home(s) in Displacement Critical
Reflections on a Spatial Practice. Editors: Beeckmans L, Gola A, Singh A, Heynen H. Leuven University
Press, Leuven.
• d’Auria, V., Zibar, L., et al. (2022). Practices of Urban Inclusion: Towards a Learning & Teaching Network.
Practices of Urban Inclusion: Towards a Learning & Teaching Network