-Wars and armed conflicts have heavy tolls on the built environment when they take place in cities. It is not only restricted to the actually fighting which destroys or damages buildings and infrastructure, but the damage and destruction inflicts its impacts way beyond the cessation of military actions. They can even have another impact through physical segregation of city quarters through walls and checkpoints that complicates, or even terminates, mobility of citizens, goods, and services in the post-war scenario. The accumulation of debris in the streets often impedes the processes of rescue, distribution of aid and services, and other forms of city life as well. Also, the amount of effort and energy needed to remove those residual materials to their final dumping sites divert a lot of urgently needed resources. In this paper, the components of construction and demolition waste found in post-war cities are to be discussed, relating each one to its origins and potential reuses. Then the issues related to the management of construction waste and demolition debris resulting from military actions are to be discussed. First, an outlook is to be given on the historical example of Berlin and how the city was severely damaged during World War II, and how the reconstruction of the city was aided in part by the reuse of demolition debris. Then two more recent examples will be given, the cities of Baghdad in Iraq, and Horns in Syria. In Baghdad, though major military actions have ceased but not all rubble is cleared out, some security structures in the form of concrete walls separate the cities into quarters and impede city life and lie around as poorly allocated resource needed for reconstruction. While in the case of Horns, and the wider Syrian context, major military operations are still raging, making more pressure on the resources needed for reconstruction. This recycling of demolition debris can bring economic and social stability through the conservation of resources, creation of jobs, and -eventually -the stabilization of the society in the midst of an atrocious war. Suggestions for relevant solutions will be given in both cities.
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