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Planning and Design of Environmental
Settlements:
A Case Study of Kuwait
Dr. Elsayed Amer and Dr. Adel Almumen
Department of Architecture
Faculty of Engineering and Petroleum - Kuwait
University
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Keywords
Identity, environment, traditional values, settlement, layout pattern, design
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Abstract
Despite diversity in the planning and
design of settlements, they have
nevertheless something in common. All
of them have marked regional
characteristics, as strong statements to
their
respective
environmental
demands. Environmental challenges
are one of the factors, which may
positively or negatively affect the
quality of the built environment,
especially, if we are planning and
building in areas and regions of
significant environmental conditions
and nature such as the desert of
Kuwait.
Introduction
Kuwait has gone through international
political changes and after the Iraqi
invasion; the configuration and
dimensions of urban planning policy
have experienced some modifications.
Expanding the urbanized areas by
spreading out the development of
settlements in the desert regions is one
of the national objectives (Colin,1983).
The new settlements planning and
design parameters in the desert of
Kuwait must be adapted to the
environmental conditions such as
climatic effects and land nature as well
as social and cultural needs. In
addition, each environment has areas of
attractions that can be exploited or
problems that have to be avoided or
modified, depending on the way
settlements are planned and designed.
The aim of the research is to arrive at
layout pattern and design criteria for
the physical form of settlements, which
could help in creating a comfortable
environment for the resident’s social
and cultural needs and identity. These
criteria are mainly concerned with the
development of settlements in Kuwait
and environments of similar conditions.
The research method is designed to
examine the settlement / environment
interaction in literature to identify the
most important issues that can
positively or negatively affect the
quality of the settlement development.
The identified issues are examined in
Kuwait as a case study of the research
and for which criteria of layout pattern
and design are reached.
To arrive at the above aim; the research
has to go through the following
objectives:
1-
To identify the national
development policy in Kuwait for
developing settlements and regions
required for development.
2To provide an analysis of the
physical environmental conditions
of the new regions, which are
being prepared to absorb the new
settlements. Such analysis will
provide planning and controlling
principles to be presented for
settlement locations and layout
pattern and building forms.
3To examine the existing and
contemporary
architectural
development to identify positive or
negative experience and to
recognize the extent to which
environmental
conditions are
considered in the development
process.
Following the research aims and
objectives, it may be necessary to
understand the techniques for planning
and development of settlements in
desert regions in the Middle East
countries.
Settlements Development In
The Desert Of Middle East
Countries
In addition to the harsh nature of the
desert regions, they have attractions
and potential resources that can support
the foundation of different types of
developments. Such development can
be found in the form of recreational
and tourist activities, agriculture,
mineral deposits, and space for future
settlement development on large sites
and the availability of land with low
prices. Such attractions could be found
in the form of water bodies or attractive
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landscape of trees and vegetation. The
existing congestion of urban cities
encourages the idea of building new
settlements and developing the existing
communities in those desert regions.
Because of the significant climatic and
environmental
conditions,
such
development has to be carefully
considered otherwise negative results
will take place.
In the Middle East countries, desert
planning and developments have
always been met by many constraints.
Natural and fabricated environmental
effects are one of those constraints and
which can be counted for having a
great effect on the pattern of
development in desert regions. In
addition, human constraints and
contributions, in the form of economic,
administrative, social behavior and
political orientations have their
remarkable effects on the planning and
development. Most of the desert
regions have special nature of climatic
conditions and which have to be highly
considered in the planning and design
of settlements (Golany, 1983). The
climatic problems in the middle East
regions can be summarized as harsh
conditions of little rainfall and greater
evaporation than precipitation, high
temperature, intensive solar radiation
and great temperature fluctuations
between night and day.
The Physical Form of Architecture
in The Professional Opinion
The pioneers of architecture and
planning, such as I.M.P., Norman
Foster, Richard Meier, Frank Lloyd
Wright, Hassan Fathy and others
defined architecture as housing the
people’s needs, answering the site
requirements, expressing the society
values, maintaining the traditional
identity, coping with the changing
needs of modern life using and
developing the new technology and
techniques, (Thiel-siling, 1998 and
Kulterman, 1996). So, the satisfaction
of residents needs and response to
environmental constraints are very
strong determinants of the physical
form of settlements. Following to this
statement, the planning and design of
our current architectural achievements
have to be based on principles, which
help in achieving a comfortable built
environment.
To identify such
principles, Hassan Fathy claimed the
necessity of analyzing the existing
traditional settlements when we are
asked to plan and design in unknown
environment. This will help in
identifying both the nature of the
prevailing environment and gaining
lessons of how to deal with such an
environment.
movements
for
ventilating
settlements open spaces
the
The Traditional Experience of
Settlements Development
The traditional urban and rural
settlements have proved their success
in modifying the prevailing climate and
environmental
conditions.
They
recognized the necessity of having
planning and design parameters to react
and modify the natural climatic
conditions.
They repeated
and
developed ideas and concepts, which
worked out positively with both the
prevailing environmental conditions of
the site and the resident’s social needs
and cultural level and requirements.
But the ideas, which did not answer the
residents needs, were either rejected or
modified to create a comfortable
environment. Middle East countries
extend from east to west and from
north to south, they therefore have
different climatic regions. Despite
those
climatic
differences,
the
traditional builders selected the right
planning and design principles for each
climatic nature. For hot and dry
climates, they used the compact layout
plan with narrow streets and open
spaces to provide shaded environments
and minimize the spaces that could be
exposed to the sun, fig. 1. For warm
and humid climates the dispersed
pattern of buildings have been found
optimum to allow the necessary air
Figure 1. A traditional settlement in the
west desert in Siwa, Egypt
In regions like the south desert of Tunis
the challenge against the external harsh
environment has been pronounced. The
residents of native communities built
their
settlements
underground,
producing a regional identity of
planning and architecture. They
decided to build their settlements under
the ground to avoid the exposure to the
sun heat and hot dusty winds during
summer as well as cold winds during
winter. The main concept of such a
sunken house is the courtyard, which
works as a key figure in all the
settlement’s houses. The entire
houserooms are illuminated and
ventilated through the open court,
which gives the house its identity, as it
is the only space connected to the
external environment. Looking to the
whole settlement, those open courts
work as references to the housing units.
Building underground was not an easy
process, especially for that native
society with simple means of life and
economy base, but the protection
against the external harsh environment
is vital.
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Figure 3. A traditional settlement in Oman
Figure 2. Under ground Architecture in
Tunis
However, in traditional settlements, the
traditional builders have used planning
principles and design parameters,
which could be a reference for future
development of settlements in the
desert regions of the Middle East
countries. They also used architectural
design elements such as, open courts,
domes, vaults, wind catching, thick
walls, etc., which formed the identity
of planning and architecture for the
Arab city. This identity was the out
come
experience
of
following
generations. They were keen to build
their settlement, using the same
building materials and techniques
making the settlement appear as one of
the site components, fig 3. In addition,
all buildings have the same height,
texture, grain and vocabulary, all these
features made the settlement appear as
designed and built by one person. Yes,
the designer, the builder and the owner
are related to one group, and the same
requirements, feeling and reactions
toward their environment. They all
have the intention to protect their
settlement from the prevailing harsh
climatic environment and present it in
one architectural identity.
For the body of this research, the
objective of reviewing the experience
of traditional settlements is to learn
about the principles of dealing with the
prevailing environmental constraints,
natural and fabricated, when planning
and designing human settlements.
The Contemporary
Development of Architecture
in The Desert Regions
Despite those lessons and experiences
available from the past, the actual
planning and design of new settlements
in the desert regions, particularly in the
Middle East countries, reveals that
most of our planners and architects
have not learned from such experience
and their methods did not react
positively towards the nature of the
desert.
This
environmental
dissatisfaction and challenge was
pronounced in some new settlements,
especially those built either by the
governmental foundations or private
agencies. Many settlements of alien
architectural configuration were built,
using a pattern of open spaces and
building form characteristics in no
respect to the nature of the regional
desert climate.
Not all those planned and designed
settlements have negative experience in
terms their interaction with the
prevailing environmental conditions.
Hassan Fathy was commissioned in
1960 by the minister of housing in
Egypt to plan and design a settlement
for those farmers who migrated to
cultivate the reclaimed land in the
western desert of Egypt. Fathy thought
that the settlement’s adaptation to the
new harsh desert environment and
social requirements is vital. He also
believed that if we want to build in an
environment with unknown climatic
conditions, it is necessary to examine
and analyze one of the traditional
settlements that have been built by the
native residents. Such settlements were
built
without
any professional
intervention, according to the residents
relationship with their environmental
conditions. They built their settlements
through the experience of past
generations that refused ideas and
concepts, which did not work
positively with their social needs. They
also repeated and developed ideas and
concepts, which worked well and
provided them climatically, modified
conditions. Fathy selected one of those
traditional settlements; he lived
between the residents for three months
to understand their needs and reactions
towards their settlement as well as the
significance
of
the
physical
environment. He trained some residents
who volunteered to participate in
building their settlement. He quoted the
same planning and design principles
and vocabularies and applied them in
the village of new Pariz. The final
product was a successful social and
environmental example (Fathy, 1986)
(Fig4).
Figure 4. Pariz Villlage in Egypt, by
Hassan Fathy
On the scale of the major urban city,
many of cities in the Arab countries,
especially in the Gulf regions have
been influenced by many factors such
as economic or cultural changes and
other factors which changed the
identity of the Arab Gulf cities. For
example, Dubai City has changed the
architectural
identity
by
using
international techniques of planning
and design. The city appears as not
found in the Gulf region with its
environmental
characteristics.
Buildings are designed as if to be
exposed to the sun as much as possible,
in an environment where intensive
solar
radiation
and
high
air
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temperature, accompanied with high
humidity, results in an
unlikely
climatic
environment.
Planners,
architects and decision-makers believe
that this is the way to produce the city
buildings in an attractive architectural
perspective. However, the architecture
could be in an attractive image but
climatically protected and adapted to
ease the function and provide an indoor
and outdoor comfortable environment.
In addition, one of the attractive scenes
of the city configuration is to have a
harmonious skyline and related to
traditional and environmental identity,
(Lowance and Bard-Boyy, 1977).
It is very common to see a glass box
high rise forms standing in the middle
of a historical pattern of buildings with
architectural vocabularies, telling the
history and foundation of the city, fig
5. Such a building is illustrating how
much it is unfitted to the environment it
has been planted in and also teach our
contemporary architects how much
they have to be careful and respect the
prevailing character of historical and
traditional cities. In fact, it might be
more logical if we call such techniques
as alien to our local environment
whether western or national architects
design them. On the other hand, there
are some architectural examples of
architects, who are more sensitive to
the environmental dimensions using
building and technology, which
indicate the modern way of life, but
carrying the traditional values in their
texture, grain and design vocabularies
at the same time.
Figure 5. Illustrates the international style
of architecture in Dubai, the Gulf region
However, this misunderstanding calls
settlements. Such sites can be exploited
in a positive way by locating the
settlements to overlook the prevailing
environment and to be subject to the
likely prevailing winds. This could be
pronounced in the sloping hills, such
locations can also be protected from
the unlikely winds and stresses of hot
and solar radiation.
The Natural Environment
Figure 6. Illustrates lack of respect to the
nature of the Gulf climate
for
the
identification
of
the
determinants of physical form of
settlements planning and designs.
The Determinants of Physical Forms of
Settlements
For building new settlements in the
desert environments a number of
determinants were concluded, (Golany,
1983 and Abougad, 1997) such
determinants are,
The Site
The site is a major determinant of the
physical
form
of
settlement,
particularly in desert environments
with their significant natural features
and land configuration. Typically, they
fall into one of two extremes, flat,
featureless sites and dramatic mountain
or hilly locations. The former type
places the burden of creating an
attractive urban environment by natural
man-made features such as lakes or the
pattern and density of building
structures
with
distinguishing
landscape (Abougad, 1997). In some
regions for example, there are natural
lakes surrounded by very impressive
and vast extended land of dates palms
and olives. Such flat land with its
magnificent natural landscape can offer
the opportunity for building new
settlements and relief the harshness of
the surrounding desert landscape. In
contrast, the hilly sites can also act as a
major determinant of the physical
configuration
and
pattern
of
With either type of sites, man-made
features
must
respect
natural
environmental characteristics. The
natural environment is enforced
through required environmental impact
analysis. In desert regions however,
environmental
determinants
and
impacts have crucial developmental
and economic implications, as well as
administrative ones. The environmental
analysis helps to justify a complete
reshaping of the physical form of
settlements.
However,
providing
planning and design themes in a larger
site, the environmental analysis is far
more effective in helping to integrate a
new project into an existing area. Also,
the natural environments could be
found in the form of attractions and
have to be exploited, or problems and
have to be avoided or modified in the
settlements planning and design.
The Initial Image
In a large-scale land development, it is
necessary to create some features that
will establish an identified visual image
for the community in its initial years of
development. This image must be
attractive to both the potential market
and the initial residents. Therefore,
some of the physical design constraints
are between an investment that
achieves high early quality at great
expense and a slower investment that
reduces risk and retains resources for
later use and reach the final objected
image. But it would be wise if we
build an early image conserving the
environmental natural components and
representing the final configuration of
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both the built up community and its
natural surrounding features.
The Climate
Climate is one of the most important
factors in shaping the final image and
configuration of the built environment
and it’s vocabularies as well as
surrounding natural features. It has
been evident that planning and design
of communities with no attention to the
characteristics of the prevailing climate
will end up with an alien visual image
and uncomfortable living environment
for the residents. This fact can be
clearly pronounced in a desert climate
with its harsh and stressful nature. In
some desert regions, in the Arab
countries, temperature of 50oC were
recorded, during summer which is
unbearable especially if accompanied
with humid or dry nature (Elmously,
1978).
Extreme
temperature
fluctuations between day and night can
negatively affect the building material.
Solar radiation is a key factor in the
extended desert environment with its
sand and soil nature. All these climatic
factors if carefully considered could
result in an harmonious and
comfortable built environment with a
regional identity, (Etzion, 1989 and
Amer, 2001).
Living Patterns
The final urban configuration of
settlements must respond to what the
community life needs. The social
pattern is different from one society to
another and has to be clearly illustrated
in the hierarchy of settlements open
spaces and building design features.
For example, Bedouin settlements must
be different to tourist ones according to
the different social needs of each
society.
Whatever the type of
settlement, planning and design
principles should preserve the social
requirements and meanings, accept
family extensions and answer the needs
of different ages. In some cases the
new settlements may be required for
building to accommodate people of
different social patterns and needs,
coming from different regions. The
successful settlement is therefore one
that develops the social relationships
between all residents who are going to
be related to their new environment
and home. Present expanding wealth
and greater reliance on the private
automobile must also be considered in
the settlement planning and design to
match the changing needs of society.
Settlements have to be fitted with the
increased accessibility by car to serve
different community-wide needs such
as education, recreation and all other
services in addition to local
convenience and needs, (Lynch, 1981).
Conclusion of urban forms in
desert environment
Based on the proceeding discussions
and findings as derived from literature,
it has been identified that, the
traditional experience of settlement
development in the Arab countries
proved its success, socially and
environmentally. On the other hand,
the contemporary experiences are full
of confusing architectural styles. Many
planners and architects transplant
planning and design methods of urban
forms not related to the local traditions
and the physical environment. In the
desert
environment,
settlements
planning and design need special
criteria and parameters in order to
provide
comfortable
living
environment, (Amer, 2001; Olgyay,
1976; Golany, 1983); Such criteria are
as follows;
1-
For both, hot-dry and warmhumid climates, Settlements should
be positioned to capture the
preferred wind and breezes to
reduce the effect of the undesired
heat and humidity conditions.
2Building in desert climates
imposes special configuration and
pattern to cope with the nature of
the climate. In a hot and dry
climate, the compacted and
huddled pattern of buildings
reduces the amount of surfaces
exposed to the sun. In such
physical forms, narrow streets,
covered
passages,
shaded
walkways and a combination of
wind and shade creates hospitable
areas of private open space. In
addition to climatic adaptation, the
settlements planning and its
development of space must
respond to the new way of life and
the residents needs. For example,
we may be asked to plan and
design for community in which
every family in the society has one
car or more and they are needed to
reach the house unit, probably
because of the harsh nature of
climate or because this is what the
residents desire. In such cases, the
settlement with its compact
planning and design has to fit the
requirements.
3In warm and humid climates,
the dispersed pattern of buildings
has been dominant to develop air
movements and modify relative
humidity and air temperature.
However, traditional values and
social needs have to be maintained
in the settlements planning and
design parameters.
4The natural physical features
of the site have to be exploited in
the planning and design of
settlements in terms of advantages
and disadvantages. Such features
have their effects on the nature of
the climate, creating positive or
negative modifications and which
have to be considered in all the
development levels, planning,
urban design, and building form
characteristics.
5In environments of different
topographical levels and land
conditions, sloping sites are
important
in
orienting
the
settlements to overlook the
prevailing environment, they are
also more important if they slope
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toward the direction of the
prevailing wind.
6Vegetation and water bodies,
in addition to being areas of
attraction, could be used in the
planning and design of settlements
and are important features in
modifying the prevailing climate.
In hot and dry climate, they are
necessary to alleviate the harsh
effect of high temperature and
dryness by working as shading
elements and increasing humidity.
In warm and humid climate, trees
could be used as shading elements
and developing air movement in
open spaces. In addition to the
protection against the climatic
environment, trees can also work
to give scale to the space. They
also may be used together with
buildings to confine pedestrian
networks
and
provide
the
necessary social privacy.
7In desert regions with harsh
climatic conditions, buildings are
not likely to have a vertical
extension greater than three stories
in order to avoid being subject to
sun exposure and dusty winds. In
addition to the lower prices of
desert lands, they are horizontally
extended and
any built-up
communities may be better to
respect this horizontally, because
desert is a very strong physical
determinant.
In the coming section, the above
principles of urban forms will be
examined in Kuwait as a case study of
the research and a typical desert
environment with significant harsh
climatic conditions.
Kuwait -The Case Study of
The Research Location
The state of Kuwait is located to the
northwest of the Arabian Gulf, between
latitudes 28.45 and 30.6 north and
between longitudes 46.30 and 48.30
east. To the north and northwest, it
shares the borders with the Republic of
Iraq, to the south and southwest with
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to
the east with the Arabian Gulf. Due to
the strategic location, it is considered a
natural gateway to the Arabian
Peninsula, which has given it a longstanding commercial importance.
Urban planning policy in Kuwait
The housing and urbanization policy in
Kuwait called for expanding the urban
development and building new
settlements in the desert regions for
two main reasons (Kuwait master plan
1983):
1-
To achieve the strategic
security objectives of establishing
communities near the borders.
2The demands for new housing
communities to accommodate the
exceeding population because of
the lack of land available in the
metropolitan areas of Kuwait. If
there is land available, its
expensive values limits its use for
certain types of development.
There are two main organizations for
the development in Kuwait;
The National Housing Authority
Programme
The National Housing Authority
(NHA) is one of two main
organizations for the development in
Kuwait. It has been an important
provider of housing since its formation
in mid seventies. The authority has
sought to meet the needs of Kuwaiti
families for housing, including new
household formation, re-housing, relief
of overcrowding, and the provision of
houses for Bedouin and shanty
dwellers. Nearly all the NHA’s
construction has been for Kuwaiti
households and within the metropolitan
area; and dwellings have almost
exclusively been single-family house
units. At the present time, the role of
the NHA in the housing sector is
beginning to change. This is seen in
offering houses to government
employees and the construction of
apartments near the city centre and
Sulaibikhat. During the period from
1980 to 2005, it was estimated that
major changes have to take place
because the availability of land within
the metropolitan area for further NHA
housing is progressively reduced and
the balance of housing construction
moves to new growth areas, in the
desert of Kuwait.
The housing capacity in the
Metropolitan area was estimated to be
exhausted between 1995 and 2000 and
spreading out the development in the
desert areas was found essential to
meet the housing demands. The
balance of housing types is currently
including a proportion of flats, which,
unless there is a more rapid move into
apartments by Kuwaitis than is
currently envisaged is likely to be too
high.
However, there is a national intention
to build new settlements in the desert
of Kuwait to meet future extensions
and security objectives. Yet with
regard to building an environment for
living, it is essential to be pragmatic,
and we must understand that we build
our buildings first and then our
buildings build us and will influence
generations to come. The design of
buildings cannot be separated from the
life style of those who live in them and
their needs from the environmental
conditions. Settlements in the desert of
Kuwait with its harsh nature need to be
planned and designed very carefully. In
this research, an attempt is made to set
up principles for the layout pattern of
settlements and design criteria for
building forms. These principles and
criteria are to be considered by urban
designers and architects and all that are
involved in the development process
for the future settlements. To do so, it
is necessary to analyse the climate and
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examine the existing and contemporary
architectural achievements in Kuwait.
Climate
Due to Kuwait’s location in a desert
geographic region, long dry hot
summers and short warm winters
characterize its climate. Occasionally,
winds blow dust storms during summer
months along with an increase in
humidity during the same months.
Frequently, the maximum temperature
recorded reaches 50oC in the shade
during summer. The main climatic
problems can be summarized in the
intensive solar radiation, accompanied
with unbearable high air temperature.
In the areas near to the Gulf water, high
relative humidity is experienced and
increases the harshness of the climate.
Therefore, the nature of the climate of
Kuwait calls for planning and design,
which
provides
the
necessary
protection against those harsh climatic
conditions.
Planning and design of human
settlements in Kuwait must have some
protective measurements to modify the
nature of its climate. Settlement layout
and open spaces have to be based on
providing as much as possible of
shaded spaces and the development of
air movements are necessary to reduce
the effect of sun, using natural or man
made elements. Settlement layout
pattern and configuration need to
reduce the surfaces exposed to the sun
and dusty winds blowing from the
desert.
In addition, the characteristics of
building form and design should be
adapted to the prevailing harsh climate.
The design of buildings may have to
consider design elements, which
modify the climate by alleviating the
effect of the sun and humidity
conditions. The traditional Arab
settlements used design elements such
as domes, vaults, wind catchers, thick
walls of natural building materials and
deep openings, all of which modified
the climate and reduce its negative
effects and harsh nature. In addition to
climatic adaptation, those elements
formed the sense of traditional identity
and
produced
the
well-known
characteristics
of
environmental
architecture in the Arab countries.
Existing
and
contemporary
architecture in Kuwait
The examination of existing and
contemporary
architectural
development in Kuwait was found
necessary to identify positive or
negative experience, which could be
helpful for the study. The findings of
this examination showed current
achievements
of
confusing
architectural patterns and styles. Some
examples are presenting a selfish
manner in the way they have been
architecturally planned and designed.
They illustrate no respect either to
environmental nature and climatic
characteristics
nor
traditional
architecture of Kuwait. In addition,
they deny both the regional identity of
the Gulf region and the local identity of
Kuwait. This misunderstanding is
related to many reasons such as,
change in culture, change in economy,
Political influences and orientations
and other factors which directly or
indirectly contribute to the current
confusing architectural styles. All these
factors together with the personal
contributions of the architect produced
what so called the international style of
architecture (Amer, 2001).
The architect may be an alien
consultant and does not understand the
significance of the physical and social
environment. Alternatively, he may be
a local architect but has the intention to
design buildings, which satisfy him and
reflect his personality, forgetting that
his design should be related to one
harmonious pattern and responding to
the same environmental and social
demands. He may be influenced by the
architecture of other nations, where he
visited or had his education and try to
bring strange ideas and concepts to our
countries. This is a common
occurrence, especially in the absence of
building regulations and codes related
to the traditional and environmental
identity and social values of a
particular region. In addition, urban
designers and architects may lack
information about the design criteria on
which settlements or buildings should
be designed. This situation indicates
the need for work towards a
renaissance for architectural design,
based on a broader level of
understanding of our social, cultural
and aesthetic requirements of today
In many cases, a building tower with
glassy skin is erected in a clear
exposure to as if it is designed to attract
as much sun as possible, in an
environment in which the intensive
solar radiation and air temperature
cause
extremely
uncomfortable
conditions. The presence of such
buildings is not only affecting the
comfort level inside it but also creating
micro climatic problems in the
surrounding environment. Sunrays are
reflected from the glass-walled
building back to the environment,
increasing the temperature level and
producing unlikely glare. On the other
hand, between those out of order
examples, there are those which could
be a reference for design principles to
be followed in the future development
of architecture in Kuwait. In such
examples the architectural identity is
generated through its own unique
socio-cultural synthesis and essential
Figure 8. The traditional identity and
design with climate and new techniques
and building material in one example
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design concepts in which indigenous
materials, vernacular forms, techniques
and technology, tradition and functions
are translated. These examples could
be helpful to arrive at design criteria
for future architecture, which would
satisfy the social and cultural identity
of Kuwait, adapt the significant
features of the prevailing environment
and express the aspirations and hopes
of the future.
General Conclusion
Throughout the study the most
important key issues contributing to the
settlement planning and design in
relation to the local environmental
conditions can be summarized into two
groups;
Settlement / climate interactions
It has been identified that climatic
influences have to be considered when
planning and designing settlements,
otherwise the product will be
climatically
and
socially
ill
environment.
Climatic factors: Climatic factors of an
area have positive or negative effects
on human comfort depending on the
environment and its objective, physical
characteristics and subjective levels of
social and cultural needs. Therefore,
the natural characteristics of the
climate must be considered when
building settlements at the early stages
of planning and design processes.
Local physical conditions: The natural
physical features of topography and
land conditions have a remarkable
effect upon the prevailing climate,
creating micro climatic environment of
different nature. The resultant changes
may be comfortable or uncomfortable
for the residents. Therefore, in site
selection and planning of settlements,
the effects of the available natural
variations must be taken into account
in order to arrive at the built
environment which answers the
residents requirements from their
prevailing climate and avoid possible
problems.
In addition, the local
physical features may contain some
areas of attraction that can be exploited
in terms of settlement location and
design and other problems that have to
be avoided.
The settlement: It has been identified
that the successful interaction between
the settlement and its prevailing
environment is extremely depending
upon the planning parameters of open
spaces and buildings. So, to create a
comfortable
settlement
which
maintains and develops the residents
requirements from their environment,
settlements should be planned and
designed in response to the prevailing
environmental constraints including its
objective and subjective effects.
The development process
It could be realized from the research
discussions
that
there
is
a
misunderstanding between those who
are involved in the settlement
development processes.
Those
involved bodies are the developers,
consultants and residents. This
misunderstanding was found to
influence the quality of the built
environment.
The Governmental Agencies
Figure 7. In Kuwait, this example
illustrates a misunderstanding to climatic
effects of the prevailing environment
has been neglected in most cases. This
neglect was related to a number of
reasons between which is; the lack of
proper
understanding
with
the
necessity of the settlement environment
relationship. The orientation may be
directed to economic aspects or how
many projects are being built whether
they are environmentally adapted or
not. Consultants who plan and design
in our environment may be foreigners
and not familiar to the nature of our
environment. The lack of effective
planning and development control to
organize the architecture development
process and the intervention of those
political or financial bodies who may
impose their opinions may have their
negative influence in the planning and
design of our architecture. In countries
like Lebanon, in some mountain
regions, the government offer 10 years
of free taxes for any one maintaining
the traditional style by using traditional
stone and brick tile roofing. In Kuwait,
this system could be applied to
maintain and encourage the traditional
and environmental style and avoid
those selfish, irrelevant and alien
techniques. This may call for certain
required design criteria in order to get
the license for implementation.
The consultant’s response
The
consultants
(planners
and
designers) have the final say in
determining
the
settlement/
environment relationship. In most cases
the settlement plan and form is left to
the personal attitudes and opinions of
the consultant, which vary from one to
another, depending on how important
each
consultant
regards
this
relationship. Some consultants were
found to be either influenced by
inappropriate techniques or working to
satisfy the developers’ interests
whatever
the
environmental
consequences and the residents needs.
In the contemporary development of
buildings the objective and subjective
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Resident participation
The environmental experience of those
settlements built by the government
indicated that the residents have never
been consulted and they had no part to
play in the settlements planning
processes. Without the governmental
and professional intervention, in the
traditional settlements, the native
residents
showed
a
better
understanding and experience of how
to deal with the natural constraints of
their environment. Therefore, both, the
residents have to be consulted in the
early
stages
of
settlements
development processes to tell their
experience and social and cultural
needs.
Recommendations
The lessons available from the past
showed excellent adaptation to the
surrounding natural environment and
built by those residents who worked
out the successive experience with their
environment and their social needs.
Most of the examples planned and
designed by professionals, shows a
negative form of interaction with the
surrounding environmental conditions
and nature.
The study has also illustrated
misunderstandings between those who
are engaged with the problems of
building development. A suitable
channel of communication between
those groups is needed to develop
appropriate policy guidelines. To create
environmentally
appropriate
settlements the following basic
guidelines should be considered in the
development process: 1-
Taking the environmental
constraints into account as a vital
issue when planning and design of
settlements.
2Effective planning and
development control.
3Effective participation of the
local community, at the early
stages of settlements planning
processes.
4Encouraging the investor
who maintains the traditional and
environmental style when building
settlements to develop and
maintain an architectural identity.
5Providing a development
brief for consultants or basic
guidance on appropriate planning
parameters and forms of building
design.
34-
Criteria for urban forms in the new
desert environment.
The new regions can be classified into
two areas of climate, hot and dry
climate that can be found in the inland
regions. The other areas are warm and
humid climate and found in the coastal
regions, which can be extended up to
40 kms away from the coastal line
(Keonigsberger 1993).
5-
6-
First, for hot and dry desert climates
7The compact pattern of settlements
responds effectively to environmental
problems of very hot, intensive
radiation, diurnal and seasonal
fluctuation in temperature, strong hot
and dusty storms and stagnant wind
conditions during summer.
A compact layout plan with
the necessary open spaces is
required to provide maximum
shadow during the day. Buildings
can be a nest of interconnected
clusters, and minimum walls are
left to sun exposure.
2Trees and vegetation is a
major element that has to be
considered and penetrating the
compact pattern of buildings in
order to maximize the shaded
spaces and increase and modify the
relative humidity. In addition, trees
can be used to direct and orientated
the air movements and provide
protection from undesired winds.
8-
9-
1-
10-
Water elements are also
important to modify humidity and
stressful hot conditions.
The settlement configuration
is better not to be formed of high
rise buildings in order to avoid
being at odds with the surrounding
vast and extended desert land.
Heights
of
buildings
are
recommended not to be more than
two floors to be protected from the
sun exposure and dusty winds. It
could be argued that this policy
could not work where land is
limited, such as Kuwait, as the
country will run out of land for
future extension.
Large and un-shaded open
spaces should be avoided by
locating land uses near each other.
Open spaces should follow the
successful functional hierarchy.
Houses and public buildings
are best to include open central
court to maximize shading and
ventilation.
Buildings and trees can form a
protective
environment
and
confine a pedestrian network.
Covering of any open space
with vegetation and/or paving to
avoid generation of local dust
storms.
Aside
from
climatic
adaptation, settlements should be
planned to answer the social and
cultural needs depending on the
nature of the settlement. The
successful open spaces must differ
for example according to the type
of social configuration and the
function of the project.
The streets and open spaces
should be planned to provide easy
movements for cars and other safe
and protected spaces for pedestrian
movements
and
children’s
playgrounds.
However, the compact layout plan has
many benefits; minimizing heat gain
and heat loss; developing the social
interaction; reducing the infrastructure
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and transportation network; providing
the easy access to facilities; saving land
for other activities and saving the
environmental image.
Second, for
climates
warm
and
humid
1-
A dispersed pattern of
buildings with irregular open
spaces is the most preferred as it
renders all buildings and outdoor
spaces subject to continuous air
movements,
which
can
be
intensified
due
to
patterns
dispersion and irregularity.
2Open spaces should be
directly oriented to the prevailing
summer winds and breezes to catch
whatever air movement there is to
reduce the air and surface
temperatures and high relative
humidity.
3The layout pattern should be
controlled especially in the flat
sites in terms of building heights in
relation to the north from which
the prevailing winds and sea
breezes blow.
4Trees are also a major element
to provide residents with the
necessary shaded areas in open
spaces resulting from the dispersed
layout plan. They are also
important as a green belt protecting
the settlement from the undesired
winds.
Building form and design
For both hot-dry and warm-humid
regions, buildings should be designed
to develop wind and air movements
and provide the protection from solar
radiation to alleviate and modify the
prevailing climate. The architectural
form and design must be generated
through it’s own unique socio-cultural
synthesis and essential design concepts
in which indigenous materials,
vernacular forms, techniques and
technology, tradition and functions
must be translated. Design criteria for
future architecture should satisfy the
social and cultural identity of Kuwait,
adapt the significant features of the
prevailing environment and express the
aspirations and hopes of the future.
Such criteria could be achieved by
considering the following points:
1-
2-
34-
5-
Buildings should be oriented
to the north direction from which
the preferable prevailing winds
blow in order to decrease the effect
of hot conditions and modify
humidity.
Wide openings can be
oriented to the north and small,
deep or shaded openings can be
oriented to south, west, east.
Design elements, which can
take advantage of the prevailing
climate, should be used.
Open courts may be used as a
natural climate modifier and
enhance lighting and ventilation,
for the purpose of both climatic
modification and renovating the
traditional and social values.
Using local building materials
and walls painted with light
colours could be advantageous.
In addition to climate adaptation, all
the above design principles can present
a character of Kuwaiti traditional and
regional architecture.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank and
appreciate the University of Kuwait for
supporting and financing this study.
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