As the Syrian government, with Russian and Iranian military assistance, consolidates power over territory under its control, questions of urban reconstruction come to the forefront, highlighting a common dilemma: How might reconstruction contribute not only to the securing of state power, but also to the rebuilding of the social fabric and the consolidation of civil society institutions? Drawing upon media reports and letters published by Raqqawi journalists, this paper explores this question through the case of the now devastated city of Raqqa. Raqqa freed itself from the Syrian government with the aid of the Free Syrian Army (ASL) and Salafi groups associated with Jabhat al-Nusra in March 2013. During the subsequent three months, a local council administered the city. It included representatives of civil society organizations and the youth movements Haqquna and Rashid’s Grandchildren. Together they proclaimed Raqqa “Capital of the Revolution.” These citizen groups cleaned the streets, distributed bread in the poorest areas of the city, and cared for the internally displaced. But this period of autonomy and empowerment was short lived. By April 2013, members of ISIS were infiltrating the city. Despite opposition from local civil society organizations and the council (which called upon the FSA to intervene on their behalf) ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra consolidated control of the city through a campaign of intimidation and assassination. Today, three quarters of the city are destroyed, and 450,000 inhabitants now live in camps, their return hindered, not least, by tens of thousands of landmines. Challenges of internal governance obstruct any steps toward effective reconstruction since two rival civilian councils now claim authority over the city. The first formed in May 2016 by members of the teachers’ union and supporters of the ASL in Gazientep, Turkey, where the Syrian transitional government is based. The other was created in April 2017 in the Ain Issa camp by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, and is supported by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which includes Kurds. The latter council lacks popular support, as it endorses a plan to integrate Raqqa into "Rojava," a Kurdish region that extends north east of Syria. Municipal elections will be held in Raqqa and the camps in May 2018. USAID has started supporting the reconstruction efforts led by the Kurds, and this before Salafist forces can regain control of Raqqa.