Building on this scholarship, this session takes a closer look at the built environment of three municipalities–Istanbul, Jerusalem, and Beersheba–to demonstrate how a multilayered Ottoman modernity was constructed both physically and symbolically. In Istanbul, the Ottoman government sought to create a hybrid healthcare system that combined new medical theories with conventional yet ever-changing financial and administrative structures. In Jerusalem, European architects appropriated existing built heritage to their own means and attached biblical narratives to new buildings. In the the newly formed Beersheba district, the integration of urban planning concepts with existing spatial practices in the desert created a new planned town.

The panel brings together scholars of social and architectural history to explore how microhistories of urban spaces contribute to our understanding of social and political transformations. The papers attend to the concerns and practices of Ottoman officials and European actors in their empire-making measures, while also paying attention to the participation of local actors. Taking into account planning, funding, and labor, the papers highlight how space generates and shapes interactions between state and society. The first paper focuses on a new hospital in the Ottoman capital, Bezm-i Alem Valide Sultan Hospital. By analyzing the conceptualization and making of this hospital, it discusses the medical charity landscape within the larger context of Ottoman modernization. The second paper delves into the erection of the Beersheba mosque during the first decade of the twentieth century. It demonstrates how imperial, regional, and local perceptions and interests intersected in Beersheba, and highlights the involvement of the local inhabitants of the region–the Bedouins–in the planning and construction of the mosque. The third paper focuses on the French complex of Saint Anne in Jerusalem, arguing that the French state utilized placemaking as an instrument of storytelling to bolster its colonial ambitions within Ottoman territory. Through the histories of these three municipalities, the session invites its audience to ask questions about imperial transformations, urban growth, and everyday life.