Abstract
FORUM
Map of Urban Growth in Alexandria,
Egypt Using Remote Sensing and GIS
By: Lotfy Kamal Abdou Azaz
Supervisors: Dr. A. G. Tipple
& Dr. D. Fairbairn
Keywords
Urban Growth, Remote Sensing, change detection, GIS, Developing Countries, Alexandria,
Egypt, Integration
In most societies in recent decades there have been rapid urban growth. Alexandria in Egypt has
a population of about 4 million inhabitants and 2.3 per cent annual growth rate. Many factors,
which attract rural migration, because of that, the population is growing continuously form 315,844
in 1897 to about 4 million in 1997. Because of this rapid urban growth; Alexandria is suffering
from a great quantity of problems. This study will investigate the urban growth phenomena in
Alexandria-Egypt by using Hi Tech (Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems), this
type of technology depends on satellite images of the study area, digital maps and a set of software.
The main objective of this study is to draw a clear picture for urban growth in Alexandria. It is
expected to find new methods to study urban growth and urban problems by using Remote Sensing
and GIS.
The other objectives are:
* To study the size and trend of urban change.
* To investigate the structure and patterns of land use.
* To define the most important problems of urban change.
* To prepare a plan for city development.
There are many types of evidence which will be used in this study:
1- Satellite images,
2- Maps and digital maps
3- Census and statistical data.
4- Interviews using questionnaires.
All these types of evidences will be used to define the overall shape of the phenomena, it will be
processed by different methods to give a new kind of tools which might help to know the factors
and the nature of phenomena.
The observation will be implemented by different methods:-The satellite images will be observed to know what has happened and what size and trend of urban
change in Alexandria.
-The questionnaire will be used to find out the changes, which had happened, in the urban texture.
-The statistical data will be analysed to help in completing the picture.
Map of Urban Growth
4
Abstract
FORUM
Traditional Housing Environments
Changes and Processes of Cultural
Change
Case studies of Madurese traditional dwelling
By: Muhammad Faqih
Supervisor: Dr. P. Kellett
Keywords
Traditional housing, vernacular architecture, human settlement, built environment, culture
change.
It is widely known that culture change issue are very common in developing countries due to
development and modernisation processes. Interaction between the local traditional and modern
culture result in various new culture forms. A new environment form, particularly housing
environment, satisfying its community is always desired from a such acculturation processes.
Planning and designing housing environments in the context of acculturation need a lot of basic
knowledge contributed by Environment Behaviour Research (EBR), housing, and traditional or
vernacular architecture studies. Until the present, numerous EBR studies have not been
cumulative, hence the theory and conceptual frame work in the field are quite rare. Housing
studies tend to stress heavily on economical rather than cultural aspects. Whereas studies on
vernacular architecture need more serious theoretical thinking and painstaking empirical fieldwork
instead of romantic analysis that have been carried out by architects.
The research aims to contribute to these fields of studies. Hence the objectives of the research are:
1. To investigate the relationship between people and their traditional housing environment within
the process of culture change.
2. To explore a particular link and propose a conceptual framework to explain such relationships.
3. To investigate how the role of the culture core maintains the characteristics of traditional
housing environments.
4. To conduct a case study to illustrate the change of traditional housing environment within the
process of culture change.
The setting of the research is Indonesia, which is facing a culture change process. Moreover, the
majority of traditional housing environments that are facing the process of culture change have
not been investigated properly. The exiting one is Madurese traditional housing, which has clear
distinct characteristics. About 13 million Madurese occupy a rural area around Madura strait, in
the East Java Province. Several towns are situated over the region but Surabaya, the second
biggest city in Indonesia, applies the strongest influences. The interaction between Surabaya and
the city’s hinterland, within the development processes result in environmental changes over the
region. Moreover, the globlalisation that embraces the area since the eighties accelerates these
processes
This research is based on a comparative case study of three Madurese settlements, representing
different urbanisation levels. The first is a remote village within an agriculture economic context,
the second is a settlement at the edge of a small town in a mixed economic context, and the third is
an urban settlement within a central city. The research applies qualitative methods. Participant
observation by living with several households, in-depth interviews, and measured drawing and
photograph are the prime methods of data collection. These are complemented by structured
interviews and a questionnaire survey.
Traditional Housing Environment Changes
5
Abstract
FORUM
Refurbishment of Office Building to
enhance Façade Thermal Performance
in Hot Arid Areas.
By: N. A. Hamza
Supervisors: Dr. S. M. Dudek & Dr. H. Elkadi
Keywords
Refurbishment, Façade design, Thermal Performance, Office buildings, Hot arid zones
Cairo is a major economic and business centre in the Mediterranean, and Middle East regions.
The demand for office space is continuously increasing. The existing office buildings could be
divided into two distinguished types, office buildings constructed with heavy or medium building
mass and, light to medium mass structures with large glazed areas. The first type is designed to
use natural ventilation while the later is completely sealed and air-conditioned.
Increasing awareness of quality and higher demands for comfort levels, coupled with higher
levels of noise and air pollution led to more reliance on technology and mechanical means to
improve comfort levels in office buildings. The deterioration of facades of old office buildings
reduces their effectiveness in attaining occupants’ comfort. The previous fact with limited budget
for building maintenance and renovation accelerated the deterioration of the existing building
stock.
The aim of the study is to establish guidelines for refurbishment of office buildings in Cairo to
achieve an energy efficient façades. The research argues that facades have a longer life cycle
than mechanical equipment, thus refurbishment with thermal and environmental control strategies,
would provide a chance for reducing energy consumption in office buildings, while attaining a
comfortable office space. Refurbishment of office building envelopes to incorporate active
climatic control is a difficult and constrained job. It is not only limited to the original structural
capabilities and financial limits. Refurbishment has also to work within new environmental
legislations and environmental controls as well as public acceptance and participation. The role of
facades in hot arid regions as a manipulator of energy flow in buildings will be examined. The
study will also investigate alternative environmentally sustainable strategies of refurbishment
taking into account socio-economic landscape and conservation measures.
Simulation modelling will test the performance of different refurbishment scenarios for existing
office building facades. A time dependent model (APACHI) will be used to provide an
understanding of the existing thermal performance of facades. Simulation of existing buildings
will help to identify the relevant indicators that affect facades thermal performance. Different
scenarios will be developed using such indicators to examine alternative strategies for
refurbishment of facades.
Office building refurbishment
6
Abstract
FORUM
A Comparative Study in the Life-Space
and Place-Landscapes of Multiple
Ethnic Groups:
Three Case Studies in Ping-Dong County,
Taiwan.
By: Chun-Nan Lin.
Supervisor: H.J. Louw
Keywords
Life-space, place-landscape, ethnic group, Ping-Dong County, Taiwan.
This research coincides with the recent development of spatial science. It not only recognises
modern interdisciplinary trends but also contributes a new research approaches. In Taiwanese
society interdependent relationships between regions are becoming closer. Under these
circumstances, the relationships between human beings and the natural environment becomes
more complicated and, therefore, worthy of closer study. The case studies are located in three
villages all providing a combination of three different ethnic groups- Paiwan, Fu-Ken, and Hakka.
The Paiwan are a tribal and subsistence society. In a rapidly changing world, a greater need is
emerging for the diverse role of spatial and/or ethnic consciousness and social action in the
transformation of every day life conditions. The study offers a good way for re-examining the
social relations, ethnicity and the legitimacy of the current spatial order under capitalisation and
colonisation in Taiwan This study avoids the assumptions of a closed system and consider an open
system from an international aspect. An example would be the pervasiveness of globalisation and
capitalisation, which has, by increasing the importance of capitalism in the colony, broadened the
field of potential conflict thereby complicating the relationships between individuals, groups and
the activities of everyday life.
Under these circumstances, the life-space and place-landscapes of multiple ethnic groups
revolve around the possibility of identifying multiple and competing subject-positions, subjectivity
is thus constituted at the intersection of different discourses and all issues, therefore, are dependent
upon complex articulations between different ethnic group of social orders in time and space.
This research aims to establish how distinct ethnic groups affect one another and remodel the
common life style on life-space and place-landscape. Also referred to will be the question of how
the communities were localised, and how conflicts and adjustment happened in the societies.
There are three parts to the study: introduction, field studies, and theoretical conclusion. The
research firstly concerns itself with the description and analysis of the historical context, global
view, natural view, and interpersonal view of the three groups in the three villages in Ping-Dong
County. This is achieved by reviewing the relative literature as well as fieldwork. Information will
also be derived from studying the background of the formation of the multiple-ethnic-group lifespace and the archetype of multiple-ethnic-group life-space in the three villages. Secondly, the
research is focused on a contemporary phenomenon, within real-life contexts, by the use records,
questionnaires, interviews, and observations of the three case studies. The analysis of the process
of lifestyles is mainly focused in the daily activities on the life-space and place-landscapes of the
different ethnic groups.
The research in Ping-Dong County, aims to investigate a new dynamic mode or principles for
the common life-space and place-landscapes of multiple ethnic groups. It will help establish how
differing ethnic groups, especially indigenous people, encountered and then solved the problems
of living together for a period of time in rural Taiwan.
A Study in Life-space and Place-Landscapes
7
Abstract
FORUM
An MOT Test for Houses.
By: George Peter Macdonald.
Supervisor: Dr A. G. Tipple
Keywords
Ecology, health and safety, fire safety, housing, existing housing, disabled access, lifetime
homes, EAP (Ecological Assessment Programme)
Research has indicated that houses are society's biggest polluters and consumers of energy, and
that regulations for 'greener' new houses have little effect because new houses form only a small
percentage of the total.
My hypothesis is that society and the environment would benefit from the imposition of
regularly renewable certification for housing, extending the principle of the MOT test in use for
vehicles. (For puzzled foreigners: the Ministry of Transport test requires that all vehicles over a set
age must pass an annual examination. The contents of this test change to keep up with technology
etc., and penalties exist for failure to comply with the law.
The imposition of the MOT test was judged to be tolerable because it saved lives; society is
learning that a housing test would save lives too, not at the scene of the 'accident' but globally,
since pollutions travel in the weather system.
Until recently, a housing test would have been impractical, because the range of houses is so
much greater than that of vehicles, but the development of interactive software has changed that.
This shrinks the time each test takes by taking cues from the user's preceding answers, so that it
chooses what to ask next, skips parts which couldn't apply and so on. It finds each householder's
shortest route through the test, without once letting them see the size or complexity of the full
questionnaire.
To create such a model I need to define its contents and the inter-relationships of its parts,
having regard not only to the legal and physical constraints, but also to the social side. For
example, tenants at Baggesensgade (in Copenhagen) recorded 34% savings on fuel after they were
given a course in the 'use' of conservatories, blinds and doors: it is not enough merely to provide
improvements - the occupants must know how to use them. I am designing the model to be as
loose as possible, so that modules can be added or subtracted easily, and the limits for these
adjusted to suit local needs/laws; ideally the final product should be usable in any country, just
like the word-processor this was typed into.
I plan to field-test the initial working model on selected homes locally and, because Germany
has a particular lead in housing ecology, somewhere there. For these purposes I am learning C++,
to code the program, and German.
An MOT for Housing
8
Abstract
FORUM
Site and Settlement:
Land and Settlement Structures in Rural
Northumberland.
By: Jim Martin
Supervisor: Dr. Peter Kellett
Keywords
Phenomenology, Figure-ground forms, Landscape, Buildings, Homology, Individuality,
Conservation.
There is a growing awareness of concerns expressed by people who live in the countryside as
arguments for and against new housing developments on farmland receive widespread and regular
publicity. The debate follows several different perspectives from participant and non-participant
parties with a focus of contention on erosion of traditional values. A persuasive argument in this
debate is found in traditionalists’ opposition to physical and social changes to existing hamlets,
villages and small towns. The argument draws on evidence of the effects of C20 housing
accretions, and recognition of the threat to the nature of earlier settlements posed by urban
standards of development.
The aim of the study is to investigate ways to preserve and enhance qualities of settlements in
rural locations. This raises fundamental questions about interpretations of rurality in the context
of settlement growth, and what and how to explore data in a debate that is contentious in nature.
The study addresses these issues by examining literature from a wide range of disciplines to
develop a concept for meaningful analysis of settlements and sites. The approach is distinctive in
that it explores characteristics from a science perspective, by pinpointing formative elements in
settlement development from investigation of linkages between building configurations and
particular properties of location and place in a chronology of events and processes.
Hamlets, villages and small towns are frequently regarded as attractive places, combining variety
and interaction of different qualities of forms and spaces in single buildings and groups of
buildings. Part of this complexity is a combination of physical and socio-cultural elements which
are reflected in particular uses and arrangements of buildings and spaces. The study argues that
settlements are social constructs in which landscape is a unique element and central to the
formation of their distinctive configurations.
The study is composed of empirically based research of settlements in Northumberland.
Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to explore the prevalence of relationships
between building configurations and topographical and geological divisions, and to investigate the
phenomena of socio-cultural relationships with site. The analysis identifies key elements of
landscape which are negotiated by groups of buildings to give distinctive qualities to
configurations. The research helps interpret site/settlement relationships, by acknowledging the
processes and differences which occur over different locations and uses at different times. The
research develops new methodologies in tracing site/settlement relationships, and promotes an
analytic approach, as an instrument in development processes. Investigations contextualise
settlement formations by providing a rich insight into some of their distinctive characteristics.
The inquiry concludes that site offers opportunities for and sets limits on physical and sociocultural processes of development, and provides a cohesion between physical and socio-cultural
identities in complex processes of change.
The study is topical in the present climate of new housing need. It informs the rural
development debate in theoretical and practical areas of discussion and defines an approach for
preservation and enhancement of distinctive characteristics of settlements in rural areas.
Site and Settlement
9
Abstract
FORUM
The Incremental Growth of Core
Housing Through Resident
Participation:
A Post Occupancy Investigation of Two Core
Housing Projects (Inanda Newtown in Durban
and Khayelitsha in Cape Town)
By: Mark Napier
Supervisor: Dr. A.G. Tipple
Keywords
Post-Occupancy, Housing settlements, Core housing, Cape Town.
Core housing is defined as any formally built house that is incomplete at the time of initial
occupation. It is normally designed so that it can be completed by the inhabitant. The initial core
house can be built by residents themselves but is most often built by contractors.
The aim of research is to establish what factors influence people’s investment in and extension
of core houses once they move in. Behind this aim is an assessment of whether the current
government housing policies which are leading inevitably to small core houses have a chance to
create living environments of reasonable quality (and I am measuring quality both in terms of
concepts such as overcrowding and structural stability, as well as peoples feelings about living in
this type of housing). The methodology depends on selection of two large core-housing
neighbourhoods according to a range of criteria including:
§Age of settlement (ie at least a decade since occupation),
§Size of settlement (representing delivery of housing at scale )
§Research accessibility and availability of project histories
§Comparability (representing different delivery options, institutional frameworks, etc.)
Inanda Newtown self-help project north of Durban was occupied from 1981 onwards and
Khayelitsha mass built core houses were occupied from 1985 onwards. These seemed to be the
only projects of their kind and size in the country.
The steps in the data collection went as follows:
1. An aerial photography survey of all houses in both settlements
2. 3557 houses were identified in Inanda Newtown and 4961 in Khayelitsha
3. Classification of houses according to types of extension
4. Stratification of the frame and the selection of a random sample
5. The composition of a socioeconomic survey addressed to residents in the settlements (about a
quarter of the questions were open ended, particularly those that were asking about the opinions of
residents);
6. The formulation of a physical site survey of the house and surrounds (including a simple plan of
the house. Room data was tabulated and captured);
7. The implementation of the surveys for a 5% sample (we contracted out the actual interviewing
to a number of academic and market research bodies);
8. Interviewing of key actors, including original project agents and contemporary community
Leaders;
9. The statistical analysis of the collected data;
10. The interpretation of the data and report of key findings.
Most of my analysis to date has been aimed at understanding the housing extension process that
the questionnaire data has revealed, and at drawing correlations between types of extensions and
other factors such as household income, level of building skills, household size and structure etc.
There are very clear correlations in Khayelitsha between income and extension type. The same
correlation is not true for Inanda Newtown where household structure (age of children) seems to
be more of a factor to be considered and further investigated.
Core Housing Growth
10
Abstract
FORUM
Extensions in 'Right To Buy' Housing
on North Tyneside
By: Ray Rutherford
Supervisor: Dr. A. G. Tipple
Keywords
Right to buy, housing, North Tyneside, Building regulations
This piece of research is intended as a pilot study for a national project into the effects of
'Right to Buy' legislation on the housing supply for the early part of the next century. 'Right to
Buy' was a pivotal element of the 1980 UK Housing Act. It provided tenants of local authority
property with the 'right' to purchase their rented accommodation. Those wishing to do so were
aided in their venture with an ascending scale of purchase price discounts dependent on how long
they had been a local authority tenant. Those who had paid rent for twenty years, for example,
could expect a discount of up to 70% off the current market value of their home. Many regarded
this piece of Conservative government legislation as nothing more than a sophisticated form of
gerrymandering whose sole aim was to increase the conservative vote. Whether this was the case
or not is irrelevant as far as this project is concerned. The fact is that the legislation is in situ and
the effects of extensions in housing that was never intended for such ad-hoc extension activity will
be examined.
The main area of investigation will be a series of approximately 40 interviews with occupants
of extended housing in the Benton area of Newcastle upon Tyne. In addition, there will be an
extensive study of North Tyneside Council records. It is hoped that the project will contribute to
the understanding of the role of extensions in housing supply nation-wide as part of a portfolio of
solutions to the upcoming shortfall of 4 million homes by the year 2016.
It is intended to do the following with respect to 'Right to Buy' properties:
§ Describe the characteristics of extension activity and the process by which it occurs.
§examine the efficiency of extensions as housing supply.
§test the hypothesis that the extension and transformation of living space has extended the useful
life span, not only of the house, but also the surrounding neighbourhood.
To achieve this it will be necessary to examine the following areas:
§North Tyneside Council Annual Housing Reports since 1980.
§Addresses of housing bought under RTB legislation.
§Building Regulations/Planning Applications for extensions of RTB housing. Preferably sight of
the actual plans but at least a record that applications and completions of work have occurred at
specific addresses.
§Details of sales not included in Annual Housing Reports, e.g.: how the RTB
transaction was
handled and copies of documents involved in the convincing; size and variety of discount
allowances; any defaults and re-possessions.
§Determination of the main types of housing being extended.
§Reasons behind extensions.
§Types and levels of funding used.
§Perceived levels of satisfaction.
§Any 'knock-on' effects, including: impact, if any, on other houses in the vicinity; neighbourhood
improvements; reduction/increase in levels of vandalism and crime; economic improvements such
as the provision and/or creation of new businesses,
home based enterprises, shops and
amenities etc.
Housing on North Tyneside
11
Abstract
FORUM
The Impacts of Skin Technologies on the
Performance of Daylighting in Office
Buildings: The Case of Beirut, Lebanon
By: Sawsan Saridar
Supervisor: Dr. H. ElKadi
Keywords
Daylighting, Office buildings, energy saving, GIS, building regulations
Energy resources are limited in Lebanon. After the war and with large investment to rebuild
the infrastructure, a distinctive energy shortage has surfaced in the country. Large amount of
energy is consumed in the building sector. As daylighting is one of the most effective means of
reducing energy in buildings, appropriate use of daylighting in Lebanese buildings can contribute
positively to the energy shortage. Lebanon is also one of the countries that have approximately
twelve hours of daylight. This free energy resource is not fully taken into consideration in the
design of buildings. Daylighting design considerations can have considerable impacts especially
in office buildings. After the civil war, with the large reconstruction projects, there is even more
need for rationalization of the use of energy in the building sector. In the lack of any regulations
regarding the use of materials on skin systems, there is an immediate need to improve policies
regarding all different variables that are related to the construction of building skins and their
impact on the use of daylighting. The aim of an efficient daylighting design is not only to provide
illuminance levels for good visual performance but also to maintain a comfortable and pleasing
atmosphere that is appropriate to its purpose. The recent use of reflective building materials at the
new reconstruction schemes, particularly in the CBD of Beirut, might result in creating
uncomfortable environment inside and between buildings.
This study aims to examine the impacts of different skin technologies and materials on the
daylighting levels and flow patterns in buildings in Beirut. It is hoped that the study will shed
more light on the importance of using daylighting in buildings in conserving energy. This study
will also provide guidelines for new regulations regarding different variables related to the
construction of building skins in Beirut.
The physical characteristics of daylighting and the methods of transmission through building
materials will be studied. The historical development of skin technologies and their impacts on
daylighting will be reviewed. This review will lead to a good knowledge of the effects of building
constructive techniques and details on daylighting. The impacts of different skin technologies on
the comfort of building users and the users of the surrounding environment will be investigated.
The literature review will be followed by a comparative survey of a number of building
clusters in Beirut. The amount of energy savings that can be realized through daylighting, will be
affected by factors such as building orientation, building shape, the orientation of work area in
relation with windows and the skin technologies and materials. Careful examination of all these
factors in a cluster of buildings will permit a more holistic investigation of daylighting levels and
flow patterns in the case studies.
A proposed questionnaire will be used to study the impacts of different skin technologies in
the comfort of building users and the surrounding environment of the buildings.
The use of information technologies i.e. (GIS) will help to link different variables of the use of
daylighting and building skins. The aim is to map the daylighting levels and flow patterns in side
and outside the buildings. Simulation techniques will also be needed to estimate daylighting
behaviour in the studied clusters of buildings.
Regional (i.e. the Middle East) and European building regulations will be also reviewed. This will
help to develop lighting consideration guidelines for building regulations in Beirut.
Daylighting in office buildings
12
Abstract
FORUM
Visual Approaches to Information
Retrieval of Building Products for
Architects
By: Sameh Shaaban
Supervisors: Dr. H. Elkadi &
Prof. S. Lockley
Keywords
Visualisation, Information retrieval, Building products, Architectural design
Information is a critical element for architects to accomplish their tasks. With the overwhelming
increase and complexity of on-line information, a new approach for handling information that
fosters innovation and truly integrates the design process is needed. Design process forms a task
that is ‘‘information intensive’’. Information gathering plays a different role depending on design
phase, and both exploration and finding information are important sub-processes of the design
process. Several types of data are being exchanged between different players in the building
industry. These data include letters, schedules, documents, design instructions, and drawings.
With the increase of the digital information it is obvious that further research will be required to
develop an understanding of the mechanism and processes that support complex and semantically
rich information exchanges.
Online building product information is considered to be the major driver for switching to
electronic media. However, it is often only presented to architects as static electronic copies of the
manufacturer’s catalogues that could be useful for sourcing manufacturers and completing
technical details. Whereas, interactive facilities and tools that help them to explore, select and
truly integrate with the design problem solving processes are required.
The success of an information system highly depends on the way in which the information is
stored, structured, and, or, the interface exchanged. Current technology allows the development of
information systems that offer flexibility in terms of routes through subject content and a rich set
of navigational tools enabling varying levels of user and program control. However, research into
individual differences suggests that adapting robust user models that convey their individual
different needs and capabilities may enhance system efficiency and effectiveness.
The study aims to evaluate the significance of applying visually oriented interfaces for
improving information exploration and assimilation in architectural practices. The study will
develop a model of this process using visualization and Internet technology for access to online
building product information.
The study will adopt a user-centric approach in order to understand the user requirements and
capabilities in different cultures. Guidelines will be developed for identifying both information
seeking and access requirements throughout the design process together with a prototype visual
oriented retrieval system model for building product data.
The impact of applying such model on architects and other disciplines in the building industry
(e.g. specifiers of architectural building products) will be compared. This disparate user sample
will test the model employing different information retrieval methods such as search query,
navigation, and visual oriented techniques in order to analyse the visualisation usability and
retrieval performance.
Information Visualisation
13
Abstract
FORUM
Information
Technology
Construction Industry:
and
The application of 'Specification Manager'
(Specman), its contribution and implications in
the building delivery process in Pakistan.
By: Bhai Khan Shar
Supervisors: S. Guy, N. C. Harper, &
Dr. A. G. Tipple
Keywords
Information Technology, benefits, barriers, job, training, developing countries, Pakistan
The advent of computer technology has helped in fast, efficient development and management
of building deliveries in the built environment. The computer has made it possible to reasonably
organise the complicated process of large and intricate projects in the construction industry. There
are numerous software packages available to complement the working process of the United
Kingdom construction industry in varied fields including Architectural Design, Civil Engineering
Design and Specifications, Financial Management, Marketing, Contracts, Project Management,
Procurement, Quantity Surveying, Site Management, and Valuation etc. Information technology
(IT) has had a positive impact on the overall process and performance of the industry, and had
some implications especially in regard to employment and capital investment. Developing
countries in general and Pakistan in particular have been slow to take advantage of IT available to
the construction industry. In this context, the research is being carried out to look into the
benefits and barriers that the incorporation of software technology will have in the construction
industry of Pakistan.
Given that technology can be instrumental in the betterment of overall performance,
developing countries urgently need to exploit current technological resources in order to improve
the processes of their building industry, especially as future growth will depend largely on an
improvement of human resource, literacy, and, perhaps most important of all, technology. In most
developing countries a rapid increase in population coupled with an existing backlog in housing
units, industrial space and institutional buildings etc. requires comprehensive planning and
strategies to cope with the problems. Information technology, if considered carefully, can bring an
improvement in the building delivery process of developing countries. This study is based on this
principle and its intention is to search into the real need, potential impact, and implications of
computer technology in the building industry in the context of a developing country like Pakistan.
The assessment will be based on the application of a software package such as "Specification
Manager".
The software package 'Specman' has been in use in Britain's construction industry since 1994
and has provided valuable assistance in organising the process of preparing specifications. This
study will evaluate the contribution of 'Specman' in UK building delivery issues with particular
reference to the social and economic implications of the software on several organisations. These
findings will be used as a guideline to assess the implications of the same package in the
construction industry in Pakistan. The process will be analysed by theoretically applying
'Specman' in a school building agency and in some private practising construction consulting firms
in the country.
Computer Technology and Construction Industry
14
Abstract
FORUM
Architecture and Thermal Insulation
for Energy Efficient Air-conditioned
Dwelling
By: Ciptadi Trimarianto
Supervisor: Dr. S. M. Dudek
Keywords
Thermal Building, Environment, Sustainable, Energy, Tropical, Air Conditioning, Housing,
Bali, Indonesia
The challenge to industry and the engineering professions is to satisfy the growing demand for
material, processing and manufacturing by using fewer environmental resources. A recent
important issue in the habitat development in Indonesia is a sustainable environment and energy
efficient environment, for the next generation as well as the world beyond.
With its distinctive landscape, culture, and competing development pressures, Bali, Indonesia
offers a microcosm to test the concept of sustainable development. Bali is encountering
significant challenges in the promotion of policies to encourage vigorous economic development,
while simultaneously enhancing traditional culture and protecting the integrity of the natural
environment.
However, in the recent modern development, this natural pattern has been lost and housing is
being compressed into smaller and ill suited sites.
Another consideration, the comfort of the rooms of a house, has been recognised as the most vital
part of the housing arrangement.
With architecturally well-designed housing, indoor climate configuration based on the right
space arrangement, building insulation and activity pattern of the occupants can achieve a high
standard of convenience of the building. It has also a positive impact on the environment and the
efficient use of energy within the building as well as supporting to a sustainable development.
Incorporating tropical climate environment and energy usage patterns, integrated design
architecture and air conditioning in the housing industry have to be especially considered. Within
the design, the high standard of human thermal comfort and indoor air quality of a dwelling can be
achieved by well-configured architectural features, thermal insulation, and the occupancy schedule
of the dwelling.
In relation to energy saving features, this report is a step towards meeting this challenge and is
focused on research of the thermal comfort indoor environment in association with the energy
efficient consumption for the combined ventilated and air conditioned housing.
Energy Efficient Dwelling
15
Research Paper
FORUM
The Diminishing Role of Windows
from Traditional to Modern
The Case of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Sameer Akbar
Keywords
Windows, Courtyards, Rowshans, Climate
INTRODUCTION
ABSTRACT
Many architects blame Western design
ideas for the absence of the local
identity in the built environment.
Though this argument has been widely
and intensively discussed, there has been
no consideration of the inevitable
influence of technological changes, such
as air-conditioning, and people’s
expression of their identity in the built
environment.
It is argued in this paper that the primary
reason for the diminishing role of
rowshans, which were important
architectural pieces in traditional houses
of Jeddah, has been what suits people in
terms of utility and meaning. The
convenience of air-conditioning in
controlling the microclimate (utility) of
the home interior in a hot and humid
climate abolished the need for large
openings.
Furthermore,
people
expressed their social status by
emulating Western lifestyle.
What architects consider a cause of
identity disruption is considered by
people as a means of expressing a high
social status. It is concluded that the
technological
control
of
the
microclimate and people’s expression of
their social status by emulating the
Western life style diminish the
traditional identity of the built
environment. Because these social
changes are inevitable, architects do not
have much control of the dilemma of the
built environment identity.
‘A window with a “window place” helps
a person come to life. But a room which
has no window place, in which the
windows are just “holes,” sets up a
hopeless inner conflict in me which I
can’t resolve’ (Alexander, 1979: 111).
Windows are not only holes to let light
and air get into the room; they are also
places
through
which
people
communicate with nature, maintain their
relationship with neighbours and resolve
their stress. It is where the inside
stretches to the outside while
maintaining its privacy.
Even though windows are at the edge of
the room, they could be the focal point
especially in summer; in cold climates
they allow access to some sun and in hot
climates to some air. Windows play an
important role in determining the quality
of space.
However, what if the outdoor
environment becomes insignificant, ugly
and unbearable to people? What if the
home environment becomes confined to
the home interior? Will windows enjoy
the same significance? The emphasis of
this paper will be on the use, meaning,
and morphology of windows in relation
to the improving quality of the home
interior and the deteriorating quality of
streets in Jeddah.
The main source to cool home interiors
was large openings that consisted of two
types. The first was the wooden
casement window called shubbak
(Figure 1).
The function of the shubbak was the
same as the function of the conventional
window, to let air and light come
through.
In addition, the large width of the wall
provided a reasonable space for sitting
beside the shubbak. On the ground floor
they had steel bars for security reasons.
They were simple and, if decorated, they
were modestly so.
When the shubbak projects to the
outside, it is called a rowshan (Figure 2).
WINDOWS DURING THE
TRADITIONAL PERIOD
Even though the climate was hot and
humid, the system of courtyards did not
exist in Jeddah’s traditional buildings.
Role of windows in Saudi Arabia
16
Research Paper
FORUM
The rowshans were the most
sophisticated objects in the traditional
houses of Jeddah.1 Rich families made
their rowshans from Indian or Java
teakwood imported from the Far East.
As such, they were the most expensive
elements in the building (Jomah, 1992).
The low-income families used local
wood. Some rowshans, which were
close to neighbours’ rowshans, were
fixed with a wooden mesh, called
sheesh, to maintain privacy if the
rowshan was open.
The karaweet (an interior sitting bench)
was positioned around the majlis (the
guest reception room) (Figure 3) to
make a continuous peripheral seating
with the rowshans.
The rowshans were extended out from
the home interior to catch as much
moving air as possible. The air travels
across the house through the large
openings in the walls. Sweeping rooms
with a broom and dusting the furniture,
thus, consumed a lot of time and effort.
The considerable depth of the rowshan
made the narrow alleys even narrower at
the higher levels. In fact some alleys
could be so narrow that their width was
determined by the doors and windows
swing open freely. This enabled women
neighbours to have group discussions
during the day while sitting in their airy
home rowshans (Figure 4) without
leaving their homes (Jomah, 1992).
also used by women to look down at the
walkways (Figure 6).
If there were no holes, the sharbat could
stand on timbers which covered the gap
between the rowshan and the mesh.
Women in this case could look through
the little gaps between the timbers.
The rowshan was also used for sleeping,
usually by the housemaster and his wife.
When the karaweet is put beside the
rowshan on the same level, which is a
common arrangement, the width of the
rowshan, the thick wall, and the
karaweet combined is the same as a
modern king size bed (Figure 7).
The karaweet was covered with the
same covers as the rowshans, making a
large sitting area. Back support
cushions, called masanid, and side
support cushions, called madafii, were
put on the karaweet and rowshans. They
were covered with thick red floralpatterned2
cloth
called
damask3
(Maghribi, 1982).
1
Their beauty was reflected in the traveller’s’
writings. Russel, cited by Pesce, said “There is
nothing more pretty, more aerial than the
sculptured wood balconies that adorn the facades
of rich mansions” (Pesce, 1977: 51).
2
People of old Jeddah liked the colour red and
used it for their clothes and Karaweet. The reason
for this is not precisely known. However, AlAnsari (1982) cited another writer’s opinion, who
attributed the preference for red to the prevailing
red coral stone on Jeddah’s sea shores.
3
This name is used as well in English for rich
patterned fabric of cotton, linen, silk, or wool (The
The sharbat (earthenware drinking pot)
was put between the wooden mesh and
the rowshan to be exposed to maximum
ventilation4 (Figure 5).
If they have guests, this place is given
over to the most honoured person, for
sleeping as well as sitting.
Circular holes were cut out of the wood
to hold the sharbat. These holes were
American Heritage Dictionary, 1994). Maghribi
pointed out that it was named as such because this
cloth was first made in Damascus. The researcher
noted that the same type of cloth was used in
Morocco and Turkey for the same purpose.
4
For this reason the term rowshan does not exist
in Egypt, and instead the term mashrabiyyah
(which literally means a place for drinking) is used
instead (Jomah, 1992).
Duncan (1981) argued people in
traditional cultures express their identity
and social status through social
occasions. Marriage was an important
social occasion, through which the
families of married couples in Jeddah
expressed themselves to the community.
There were many ceremonies involved
in completing a wedding. One of these
ceremonies, dabash, will be explored
Role of windows in Saudi Arabia
17
Research Paper
FORUM
below due to its relationship to the
subject.
After finishing the formal public notary
procedures, the groom’s family prepares
a room in their house to be the new
couple’s home. This preparation could
involve painting the walls, doors and
windows. The only furniture that the
groom’s family were responsible for
providing, if they could afford to, was
the structure of the sitting bench,
karaweet. The bride’s family meanwhile
was responsible for providing all the
remaining furniture. The furniture which
is provided by the bride’s family is
called dabash. Usually the whole dowry
is spent in paying the expenses of the
dabash.
It could take several months for the
room to be prepared. Before sending the
dabash, the bride’s family go to the
house and check whether they need to
add more furniture to what they have
already planned for. Once it is ready, the
dabash is sent in a celebratory manner.
Carriers and men from the groom’s
family carry on their heads rugs,
blankets, cushions, paraffin lamps,
earthenware vessels, little boxes for the
bride’s personal belongings and so on.
When they walk through the narrow
paths, everyone cheers and congratulates
them; children run around, and women
watch from the rowshans.
This occasion, the dabash, was one of
the many social occasions through
which families expressed their identity
and social status. A good way to express
identity and social status to as many
people as possible was through
displaying furniture whilst moving it
from house to house. Jomah (1992)
attributed this display of furniture to
letting people know what is missing so
that they would provide them as gifts.
The rowshan, thus, played an important
role in facilitating communication
between residents, especially women,
and in the social occasions in the street.
The rowshan played an important
symbolic role in the home interior.
Chairs and sitting benches throughout
history in many cultures were symbolic
and thus highly decorated. The chair has
been used as a means to express or
indicate the identity of the person sitting
on it. However, even though the
karaweet was the most common sitting
furniture in Jeddah, it did not have as
strong a symbolic meaning as was the
case with chairs in many cultures. The
continuity of the karaweet around the
room and the sameness of decoration did
not emphasise any part of it over other
parts. The most symbolic location was
in the centre of the rowshan, due to its
climatical advantage and centrality in
the room. It was devoted to the most
important guest.
The projections were also used for
exterior symbolic purposes. The most
frequently seen object is the best to
convey meaning because of the
communication
advantage of its
location. When people are regularly out
of doors, objects attached to buildings
become an important means to convey
the identity of occupiers to neighbours
and passers by. Thus rowshans were
beautifully engraved.
The projection of rowshans allowed air
to enter the home interiors, women to
maintain their relationships, family
members to watch outside activities and
sit and sleep comfortably. With the
projection, the rowshan became a unique
element. It is “a window on the outside
world, a screen against Jeddah’s harsh
sunlight, an integral part of the
ventilating system, and a piece of
furniture, sometimes even an extension
of a room over the adjoining street.”
(Khan, 1981: 11) In addition, it was
used to cool water and express the
identity of the occupier.
THE FIRST
TRANSFORMATION LATE
FORTIES AND EARLY
FIFTIES
Due to the increasing world demand for
oil at the end of forties, Saudi Arabia
witnessed an increasing economic
development. As a result, the per capita
income increased, people immigrated
from rural areas to cities, the
government introduced the gridiron
system to control the random expansion
of the cities, concrete became the main
construction
material, villas and
apartments became the typical prototype
of houses and cheap electricity became
available to all citizens.
After the introduction of electricity and
the increase of per capita income,
households began to depend on airconditioners in controlling the microclimate of the house. However, airconditioners were still considered
expensive and, thus, one or two per
household was the average. In 1951 the
number of imported air-conditioners was
576. Two years later, in 1953, the
number increased to 50815 (The General
Department of Customs).
The rowshan was abandoned. The
reason for this could have been both
symbolic and utilitarian. It was symbolic
because the image of villas and
apartments was modern and thus, if the
rowshan was fixed on a villa or
apartment, the modern image which
people were keen to express would be
distorted.
Abandoning the rowshan was also
utilitarian because air-conditioners had
now begun to be used, though only
occasionally, which reduced the need to
have large openings to control the
microclimate of the house. One to two
air-conditioners are now available in the
average household.
The introduction of the gridiron system
has also diminished the role of the
rowshan. The gridiron system has
greatly changed the social context of the
outdoor
environment.
The
slow
evolutionary
system
involving
traditional urban fabric, climate and
5
The number of air-conditioners imported this
year was not available. The researcher found out
the cost of an air-conditioner (1035 SR) in 1951 by
dividing the total cost by the number imported;
then he divided the total cost of air-conditioners
imported in the year 1953 by the cost per single
air-conditioner to conclude that the number of
imported air-conditioners in 1953 was around
5081.
Role of windows in Saudi Arabia
18
Research Paper
FORUM
cultural values was disrupted by
completely changing the pattern of the
urban fabric. After being around 3 m
wide in old Jeddah, streets in residential
areas are now at least 12 m wide. The
hierarchy of transitional spaces between
public and private disappeared. Setting
buildings further apart and making new
street widths increased the open areas
between buildings. Streets are paved
with asphalt and exposed most of the
day to the radiation of the sun. Thus the
outdoors has become unbearable not
only to sit in but also to walk through
during day. Therefore it was useless to
fix rowshans in apartment buildings
since the significance of the outdoor
activities diminished. As for villas, the
rowshan was more useless because it
would overlook either the front garden
or the two meter set-back of the villa.
With the end of the visual interaction
between the household members and
outdoor activities, a new type of window
(Figure 8) replaced the rowshan.
This was introduced simultaneously
with the new residential types and the
introduction of air-conditioning. The
new window was a hole rather than a
place. On the inside there were frosted
panes of glass with wooden frames. On
the outside there were wooden shutters
with slats. The frosted glass was to
maintain privacy while letting the
daylight in. It would be kept closed
during hot weather only if the airconditioning was on. If the weather was
suitable, it would be left open while the
external shutters were closed to maintain
privacy. Thus this type of window was
suitable in combination with
occasional use of air-conditioning.
the
During the first transformation, the role
of windows was reduced. They were not
a representation of the households’
identities and were not needed to
facilitate the visual relationship between
the household members and outdoors.
However, they were still important in
controlling the microclimate of the
house.
This prosperity made it easy for
householders to furnish every room with
at least one air-conditioner. Chart 1
shows a significant increase in the
import of air-conditioners.
1000000
500000
THE SECOND
TRANSFORMATION: LATE
SEVENTIES
0
1963 69
75
81
87
Years
After the first transformation and during
the sixties and early seventies, changes
in the home environment were slow
until the early eighties, when the impact
of the sharp increase in national income
took effect due to the sharp increase in
world oil prices in the mid-seventies.
Many social changes occurred in Saudi
society due to governmental projects
and the significant increase of per capita
income. The standard of living of most
Saudis improved significantly. Better
education, medical care, transportation,
electricity, water pipes, sewage systems
and telephone lines became available to
all the population in cities.
The image of the Western lifestyle in
people’s minds was very strong.
Television had a great impact on
people’s lifestyle. Black and white
television broadcasting started in 1965
and was replaced by coloured in 1976.
The influence of foreign programmes,
mainly American, had a great impact on
people’s values (Merdad, 1993). The
scenes of American homes shown in
films
also
influenced
people’s
perception of the home environment.
More people could afford to travel
abroad on vacation and were influenced
by the Western lifestyle. Many saw
different home environments, by which
they were impressed, and which they
consequently emulated when they
returned (Al-Lyaly, 1990).
Chart 1. Total number of imported airconditioners to Saudi Arabia
Source: Based on data collected from the Annual
Statistical Reports of the Department of Statistics,
Ministry of Commerce, Saudi Arabia.
In addition to their control of the room
climate, another great advantage of airconditioners is the reduction of dust
getting into the house because the
windows are kept shut all of the time.
As such, the role of windows has
diminished greatly. Their role now is
confined to letting in the daylight.
The dust reduction and the availability
of electric vacuum cleaners could be a
strong reason for the introduction of
carpets into houses. Whereas the floors
of corridors, stairs, kitchens, and
bathrooms were not covered with rugs
before the second transformation, now
the floors of the whole house, including
kitchens and sometimes bathrooms, are
furnished with carpets. It became easy
for housewives to sweep and dust the
entire
house.
Most
importantly,
windows should be kept shut to keep the
dust out and the cool air in.
Prosperity and the absence of dust made
it possible for householders to fill their
home interiors with a variety of
imported decorated items. This has
enriched the appearance of the home
interior. The tendency to express the
identity of a household through modern
Role of windows in Saudi Arabia
19
Research Paper
FORUM
furniture and decorated
increased significantly.
Error! Not a valid link.
Chart 2 .
showpieces
Source: Based on data collected from the Annual
Statistical Reports of the Department of Statistics,
Ministry of Commerce, Saudi Arabia.
With the diminishing role of windows in
letting the air in, the practical window
type which was made of framed frosted
glass and slats was replaced by a
cheaper
and
impractical
sliding
aluminium window type. The new type
was made of two aluminium frames
holding clear sheets of glass. Frosted
glass, which is good at maintaining
privacy, is used rarely. Curtains began to
have a more important role in
maintaining privacy. Even though it is
easy to slide one side to open the
window, lack of use and maintenance
led to the rails of the window filling
with dust. Thus it is common to find
many houses in which the windows are
difficult to open.
The new window type did not have any
sort of light control like the rowshan or
the wooden shutters type. The role of
windows diminished greatly. The
relationship between people and
outdoors did not exist anymore. Airconditioners provided the desired
microclimate. As such, windows were
kept shut all year round. This has
increased the role of curtains to maintain
privacy and control the amount of day
lighting.
Curtain designs also developed and
diversified to cover the ugly
appearance of the aluminium. Since
the window is the main source of
daylight, it attracts the eye.
Therefore to beautify the room and
to control the amount of daylight
curtains were introduced in many
forms.
DISCUSSION AND
CONCLUSION
In the traditional houses of Jeddah,
windows played an important social,
symbolic and climatic role. The rowshan
was a great interior and exterior element.
It was a window to let air and light get
in, a piece of furniture to let people sit
and sleep, a communication means for
women with neighbours and alleys, and
a representative of the household’s
identity.
Some architects who complain about the
loss of the beautiful features of
traditional architecture, such as the
rowshan, put the blame on modern
architectural designs, as if architects can
regain this lost identity if they consider
traditional forms in their designs.
It has been argued in this paper that even
though the gridiron street system
diminished the role of windows, the
primary cause of the diminishing
significance of windows has been airconditioning, which is a necessity for
people. People will not abandon their
air-conditioners just to regain the
symbolic role of windows. Climatic
function
was
fulfilled
by airconditioning with more efficiency,
communication with neighbours could
be performed through the telephone
while maintaining privacy, and symbolic
function is fulfilled by modern building
facades, fancy cars and home furniture.
People do not value things as architects
do. Architects in Saudi Arabia consider
Western designs as the source of identity
disruption while people express their
social status by emulating Western
lifestyles. The constructed image of
home in people’s minds is the primary
force in shaping the home environment.
People from the time of the first
transformation until now still express
their social status through possessing
Western goods, which they see in
Western television programmes and
abroad. The disappearance of local
identity is a direct result of this new
cultural expression of households’ social
status.
What is important for people is to
express themselves the way they
perceive high social status and not the
way architects perceive a local cultural
identity. Thus as long as people are
culturally dominated by Western
culture, the identity of the built
environment will continue to be
distorted.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AL-ANSARI, A. (1982) Tareekh
Madinat Jeddah (History of Jeddah),
Jeddah: Asfahan Press (Arabic Text).
ALEXANDER, C. (1979) The Timeless
Way of Building, New York: Oxford
University Press.
AL-LYALY, S. (1990). The Traditional
House of Jeddah: a Study of the
Interaction between Climate, Form and
Living
Patterns,
Ph.D.
Thesis,
Department of Architecture, University
of Edinburgh.
DUNCAN, J. S. (Ed.) (1981) Housing
and Identity, London: Croom Helm.
JOMAH, H.A. (1992) The Traditional
Process of Producing a House in Arabia
During the 18th and 19th Centuries, a
Case study of Hedjaz, Ph.D. Thesis,
University of Edinburgh.
KHAN, S. M. (1981) Jeddah Old
Houses,
Riyadh:
Department
of
Scientific Research, King Abdulaziz
City for Science and Technology, Saudi
Arabia.
MAGHRIBI, M. (1982)
Alhayah Alijtimaiyyah fi
(Features of Social Life of
Jeddah: Tihama Publishers
text).
Malam
AlHijaz
Hijaz),
(Arabic
MERDAD, A. S. (1993) Foreign
Television Programs and Their Sources:
An Empirical Analysis of Media Usage
and Perceptions of its Effects by Young
Viewers in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, Ph.D. Thesis, Wayne State
University.
PESCE, A. (1977) Jiddah, Portrait of an
Arabian city, Oasis Publishing.
Role of windows in Saudi Arabia
20
Research Paper
FORUM
The American Heritage Dictionary Of
The English Language, Third Edition,
(1994) London: Softkey Multimedia
Role of windows in Saudi Arabia
21
Research Paper
FORUM
Energy Management and Façade
Design in Prison Buildings in Hot
Climates:
The Case Of Abu Dhabi
Nawal Al-Hosany
Keywords
Abu Dhabi, prison building, energy consumption and building envelope
INTRODUCTION
K W /H
P e r C a pita E le c trical C o ns umption in AD
14 0 00
13 0 00
12 0 00
11 0 00
10 0 00
9 0 00
8000
7000
600
500
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
400
300
200
100
1000
0
0
Year
Energy Consumption
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
19
86
8 0 00
Y ea r
Figure 2. Per Capita Annual Electrical
Consumption
Increase inBuilt-upAreaandEnrgyConsumptioninAD
00
20 6
9
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
86
19
84
19
82
19
80
19
78
19
76
19
70
19
ar
ye
The aim of this paper is to investigate
the impacts of the building envelope
design on energy performance in prison
buildings. Abu Dhabi has witnessed a
sudden and complete transformation in
many tracks.
The construction and
building sectors experienced the most
noticeable changes in the accelerated
development in UAE. The traditional
Architecture has disappeared under the
stream of the new technologies and
sophisticated building systems.
The recently developed version of
building codes and regulations was
released in 1994 to be implemented in
May 1998. Unfortunately, energy issues
and climatic factors were not properly
addressed.
No serious guidelines for the envelope
design and the façade elements have
been suggested. No codes for skin
material or glass specification (one
exception the use of reflected glass have
been indicated).
Figure 1 shows the rapid expansion in
the use of the electric consumption and
Km2
This paper aims to investigate the
impacts of the building envelope design
on energy consumption in prison
buildings in Abu Dhabi. Unlike other
buildings, prison buildings require
constant use of their spaces.
The
configuration of the prison building has
also specific characteristic. The study
will investigate the particularities of use
of prison buildings envelope in relation
to energy performance.
As a result of the fast development
without
considering
the
energy
consumption, the electric consumption
has increased from 540 GW/H in 1975
to 7000 in 1997 (Water and Electricity
Department, 1997).
G WH
ABSTRACT
Power (Built up area KM2)
Figure 1. The increase in Built-up Area and
the energy consumption in AD
the increase in built-up area.
The
population of AD has increased from
335,600 in 1987 to 510,300 in 1997.
Figure 2 shows that the per capita
annual consumption as well increased
from 10,156 KWH in 1987 to 13,162 in
1997.
The analysis of the peak energy demand
and the electric loads during the years
1975 - 1997 shows a strong correlation
between the increase in enthalpy and the
increase in electric consumption.
Previous
studies
for
buildings in Abu Dhabi have proved that
an average of 44% of the electric
consumption is used for air conditioning
(El Kadi et al, 1999). Also Numan
(1998) claimed that the disproportionate
demand for electrical energy by
residential buildings in the gulf region is
due to high reliance on A/C systems for
control of internal built environment.
Different case studies to investigate the
facade influence on the thermal load in
many different cities with similar
climatic conditions (Abu Dhabi, Texas,
Hong Kong), shows that the facade can
contribute up to 40% from the total
thermal load. (El Kadi et al, 1999).
THERMAL PERFORMANCE
OF FACADES IN PRISON
BUILDINGS
Historical Review of Prison Design
A historical review of the development
of the building environment of prisons
revealed the strong relationship between
the types of design and concerns of
comfort and environmental awareness.
Earlier prison buildings were not
Energy Management and Façade Design
22
Research Paper
FORUM
concerned with comfort conditions. It
did not regard the ventilation and
hygiene issues.
The effective
measurements for a good prison design
at that time meant two things only:
maximum security and brutal treatment
(e.g. The Bastille, Paris). Improved
prisons date from the 18 th century. It
was not until 1773 that adequate light
and air were introduced in prison
buildings design (Ghent prison)
(UNSDRI, 1975). The concern for
prison conditions and the prisoner’s
health along with the changing trends in
penal philosophy in the 19th century led
to consideration of the design of the
envelope (e.g. Millbank prison, London
1821).
Design of modern prisons
emphasises comfort accommodation for
the inmates.
The advanced building techniques and
skills are deployed toward treatment and
reintegration of the offender into society
(Home Office, 1985). In UAE the
introduction of A/C in Prison emphasise
further the importance of the building
envelope.
Prison Buildings Design in Abu
Dhabi:
This paper investigates the relationship
between the overall size of the prison
and the area per inmate. 33 cases were
examined.
Table 2 shows the three existing prisons
in Abu Dhabi and the proposed Central
prison project.
Country
Small <500
Medi um 500Large >10000
1000
USA & Canada
54. 73
29. 57
40. 61
Europe
71. 31
56. 25
35. 5
UK
56. 75
-
-
Average
60. 93
42. 91
38. 055
Table 1. Average Floor Area m2/ inmate
Prison Name
Floor Area
Design
Floor Area m2
per inmate m2
Capacity
Al Wathba /1988
570
26,078
Al Sader
520
28,393
45.75
54.6
Al Ain/ 1984
Central Prison/
Proposed
270
16,966
62.83
1200
166,368
138.64
Table 2. Analysis of Prisons in Abu Dhabi
Al Ain is considerably smaller than Al
Wathba and Al Sadar; consequently its
floor area per inmate is higher.
The number of inmates has increased
markedly in the last 15 years.
As Figure 4 shows, in 1995 the actual
inmate population in Al-Wathba prison
was more than 400% of the design
capacity.
Al-Ain prison population
increased
382%
and
Al-Sadar
population reached 200% of the actual
design capacity. (Murray Ward &
Partners and Ministry of P. W, 1995)
The design is meant to be a prototype to
be replicated in different Emirates.
Analysis of floor area per inmate
showed that there is a large difference
between the international standards and
the proposed design. In Table 2 the
different areas per inmate for the
different prisons in UAE is illustrated.
The figure shows the large difference
between the floor area per inmate in
existing prisons and the proposed airconditioned one.
Heating at night as well as cooling load
during the day are considered and
calculated in the new proposal. This
leads to the conclusion that there was no
or little attempt to use passive energy
means such as the use of thermal mass,
or night cooling.
The cooling loads for the proposed
central prison are assumed to be 4MW
with 2 MW for heating load. This will
add up to a total of 230 KWH/m2. The
estimated prison population for the
Emirates of Abu Dhabi is approximately
5000 prisoners. Table 1 shows that the
international standard for average floor
F loo r are a m 2 p er in ma te
2M
16 0
14 0
12 0
10 0
80
60
40
20
0
A l W a thb a
A l Sade r
Pr ios n
A l A in
C entra l
Priso n/
Propos ed
Figure 4. AD Prisons Floor area m 2 per
imate
Analysis of AD prisons
2500
In theory, the prison building size is
inversely related to the area per inmate.
The larger the prison area is, the smaller
the area per inmate would be. This is
due to the presence of common facilities
at all prisons. It appears in Table 1 that
this theory didn’t apply accurately in
USA and Canada.
Variations in
standards between the respective
geographical regions should be therefore
taken under consideration.
The design and planning of Abu Dhabi
prisons was based on United Kingdom
standards, suitably adapted to local
conditions.
Po 2000
pu
lat 1500
io
n 1000
Design limit
Actual
500
0
Al Wathba
Al- Ain
Al Sader
Prison Name
Figure 3. Actual
increase
population in AD prisons
in
inmates’
CASE STUDY:
The feasibility study that was made for
the project of the Central Prison
indicates that the building was designed
for 1200 inmate.
area per inmate is 38m2. According to
the proposed design the total energy
required to provide air-conditioning to
all prisoners in the Emirates of Abu
Dhabi should therefore be 43.7 GWH,
an approximately 0.6% of the total
energy consumption in the Emirates of
Abu Dhabi. As previously indicated, a
building envelope in hot climate region
can be responsible for 40% of such
energy consumption (Figure 5). For
prisons, this could be as much as 0.24%
of the total electric consumption in Abu
Dhabi.
Energy Management and Façade Design
23
Research Paper
FORUM
Ventilation
load S+L
10%
Total Solar
15%
Indoor Loads
60%
Total glass
8%
Total Fabric
7%
Figure 5. Skin role in Electric Consumption
CONCLUSION
The building industry is a major sector
for energy consumption in the Emirates
of Abu Dhabi. The energy consumption
is not only limited to the direct cost of
air conditioning but also to the indirect
cost and infrastructure required. In the
developed
world,
buildings
are
responsible to as much as 50% of the
total energy consumption (Harris,
Elkadi, and Wigginton 1998). In the
Emirates, this ratio can be much higher.
This paper shows that 44% of the total
electric consumption is a direct result of
air-conditioning and other direct uses in
buildings (e.g. lighting and water
heating). As a result of the hostile
climatic conditions in the Gulf area, the
building envelope has a major
contribution to the energy requirement
for air conditioning. Elkadi et al (1999)
showed that the building’s envelope
contributes to as much as 40% of the
energy required in buildings. In the
light of the new policy to increase
comfort among prison population, the
role of the skin can be crucial for the
total energy consumption.
Prison
façades
have
specific
design
characteristics. This paper reviewed the
development of prisons’ façade design
and the relation to environmental
conditions. The paper also reviewed the
development of prison design in UAE.
Using expected energy consumption per
inmate, and the expected increase in
floor areas in relation to increasing
prison population and increase in
comfort conditions, the paper calculated
the expected total energy requirements
for air conditioning. An amount of 43.7
GWH is expected if the policy of
providing air-conditioning to all prison
buildings to be implemented. This
constitutes a 0.6 percent of the total
annual electric consumption in Abu
Dhabi.
The role of the prison’s
envelope can therefore be as much as
0.24%. (Yik et al, 1998) show that
appropriate design of the façade can
reduce this amount by as much as 30%.
An approximate figure between 1.75 and
5.24 GWH can be saved if the thermal
efficiency of the façade is increased by
10 – 30% respectively. Such reduction
can have tangible advantages not only
on the Ministry of Interior’s budget for
implementing this policy but also on the
total Abu Dhabi electric production and
electric infrastructure. The savings can
also positively contribute to substantial
reduction in CO2 emissions.
Numan, M.Y., F. A. Al-Maziad (1998)
The impact of Architectural design
parameters on energy performance of
residential buildings in the Gulf region.
In world renewable energy congress,
Vol. 3 Elsevier Science Ltd (Pergamon),
Florance, Italy, pp. 1386 - 1390.
REFERENCES:
Elkadi, H., T. J. Wiltshire & S. Al
Nahyan. (1999) Importance of peak
hour building energy data on energy
conservation Africa
energy and
environment, conference proceeding,
Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Fletcher’s, S. B. (1987) A History of
Architecture, Butterworths, London.
Harris,
J,
H.
Elkadi,
and
M.Wigginton,
(1998, Renewable
Energy, Special edition, vol.15, pp. 1336
- 1341, Elsevier science Limited,
London.
Home Office, G. B. (1985) New
Directions in Prison Design, H.M.S.O.,
London.
Murray Ward & Partners and
Ministry of Public Works (1995)
Preliminary Study for UAE Central
Prison
Energy Management and Façade Design
24
Research Paper
FORUM
Government Low-Cost Housing
Provision in the United Arab
Emirates.
Implications of standards of construction
and conditions of tenure
Muhammed Jakkah Al Mansoori
Keywords
Low cost housing, delivery, Tenure
INTRODUCTION
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was
for a long time one of the poorest
countries in the world. By the 1960s the
oil discovery had totally changed the
economic and social patterns of the
country. Oil revenue has given the UAE
one of the highest incomes per capita in
the world; according to World Bank
(1995) indicators, the UAE ranked 11 th
in income per capita in 1994 at $ 21,430.
The wealth generated from oil has
produced an economic explosion and
changed the landscape of the country
dramatically. With the huge oil wealth,
the government embraced different
welfare programmes aimed to improve
the living conditions of the UAE citizens
and overcome the traditional state of
poverty and deprivation that had for a
long time characterised the country.
With the aim of improving the housing
conditions of UAE citizens, the
government established the low-cost
housing programmes in early 1970s.
With the availability of huge oil
revenue, the government, through the
Federal Ministry of Public Works and
Housing (PW&H), embarked on
building finished housing units which it
allocated free to citizens. The enormous
wealth and small population of the
country, which did not exceed 200,000,
combined with a desire for rapid
development, resulted in the building of
huge numbers of low-cost houses and
allocating them free to citizens.
Officially, these houses are distributed
to applicants who do not own adequate
houses and whose income does not
enable them to build their own houses.
Beneficiaries of low-cost houses have
the right to use the house but not to sell
or rent it (Federal Law No. 9 for 1973).
In the early 1970s, the low-cost house
consisted of two bedrooms, a majles
(men’s reception room), hall (for houses
built in the Coastal area), bath/toilet and
kitchen. The built-up area ranged from
90 to 120 square metres and the plot size
was 400 square metres. Reinforced
concrete was used in foundations,
columns, beams and roof slabs. The
construction cost of one unit was Dh
40,000 ($ 10,800). In the 1980s, the
built-up area of the low-cost house was
increased to 224 square metres. Such
improvement in low-cost house standard
was purposed to meet the increasing
demand for space. However, in the
1990s, the built -up area of the low-cost
houses was further increased to 340
square metres. Such change, according
to government documents, reflects the
existing civil, cultural and living
standard of the UAE (Ministry of
PW&H, 1988). The improved low-cost
house was also said to meet the current
housing needs of the UAE households
(Al-Ittihad, 9.2.1991). The current lowcost house comprises 4 bedrooms, one
hall, a majles, dining room, 5 bath/toilet
rooms, kitchen, servant room and store.
The built-up area is 340 square metres
and the plot area ranges between 1,089
to 1,650 square metres. The cost of the
low-cost house, in 1994, was Dh450,
900 ($121,800) (Al-Mansoori, 1997).
The built-up area increased four times
between 1973 and 1992. The plot area
multiplied by 2.8 while the construction
cost during this period multiplied by 10.
By the time of writing this thesis, the
Ministry of PW&H had announced its
intention of building 400 low-cost
houses. The built-up area of the new
low-cost housing, according to the
deputy Minister of Public Works and
Housing, will increase to 380 square
metres. Such improvement is done in
accordance to the findings of a survey
conducted on low-cost houses built in
early the 1990s where users of houses
desired more space and bedrooms (AlKhaleej,
31.5.1997;
Al-Khallej,
2.6.1997).
AIMS
This paper attempts to examine the
implications of the using of the above
standards of construction and the tenure
conditions on the users housing
conditions, with stress placed on the
physical condition of the house.
Low cost housing in the United Arab Emirates
25
Research Paper
FORUM
Maintain
Reinforced
70%
36.4%
concrete
Not maintain 30%
Do
you
plan
to
maintain?
Block work
30.7%
Water Proof
30.6%
Yes =
13.3%
Painting
49.5%
No=
86.7%
Table 1 Did you maintain your low cost house?
It also extends to a discussion about the
relationship between tenure conditions
and standard of construction on one side
and low-cost housing maintenance on
the other.
145 of the old low-cost houses users in
Ras Al Khaimah Emirates were asked to
spell out whether they have maintained
their houses or not1.
Table 1 shows that 70 per cent of the old
low-cost users maintained their houses,
while 30 per cent did not. More than
half of those who maintained their
houses repaired the reinforced concrete
structure such as roof slab, column, and
beam. One third repaired the block
works, cement plaster and roof
waterproofing. This indicates that these
parts have most faults in the low-cost
houses. Out of those who did not
maintain their low-cost house, 86.7 per
cent did not have any plan in the
foreseeable future to do so.
FACTORS INFLUENCING
MAINTENANCE OF THE
LOW-COST HOUSES
A logit regression is used to find out
variables affecting low-cost house
maintenance. This test is used to
discover which variables (independents)
influence the maintenance of low-cost
houses and which do not.
This type of regression is applied when
the dependent variable has two values, 1
and 0 (those who maintained the house
and those who did not) (see Willis
(1991). A set of variables are selected to
be used as independent variables such as
age, income, area (Coastal or Inland),
number of persons in the house, number
of bedrooms, time spent in the house,
physical quality assessment, and cost of
extension.
.
Variable
Beta
P
Income
.0004
.0196
Time in the house
.2406
.0250
Age
.0129
.5546
Area
-.4320
.3987
Physical quality
-.0654
.5109
Total bedrooms
Cost of extension
-.1673
.00001
.2845
.7451
Number of persons
-.0523
.3727
Constant
-3.6233
.1874
Number of observations=145
Number of rejected case because of missing value=12
Number of cases included in the analysis=133
Table 2 logit regression outcome
WHY NOT MAINTAIN LOWCOST HOUSES?
Table 1 shows that one third of users did
not maintain their low-cost house and
the great majority of them have no plans
to do so. Why are users not keen to
maintain their house? In addition, what
is the effect of free housing provision
and the tenure condition on the
maintenance process and therefore on
the housing condition of users.
1
Field work survey conducted between December
1994 and April 1995, For more information see
Al-Mansoori, 1997.
The outcome of logit regression shows
that the income and the time spent in the
house (house age) are the two significant
variables determining the decision of
maintaining the house, as the P-value of
the two variables are 0.019 and 0.025
respectively (i.e. both are less than the
0.05). The remaining variables did not
prove to be statistically significant in
determining the decision to maintain the
house.
By applying the same test using only
two significant variables, Table 3 shows
that the time spent in the house (house
age) and user income are the most
significant variables determining the
decision to maintain the low-cost house.
Variable
Beta
P
Time inthe house
.2889
.0010
Income
.0003
.0121
Constant
-5.5305 .0012
Number of observations=145
Number of rejectedcases because of missingvalue=10
Number of cases includedintheanalysis=135
Table 3 Logit regression outcome
AGE OF THE HOUSE
Maintenance and house age
Col %
15 years and
below
Maintain
51
Not maintain 49
Chi-squre=17.27
P.value < 0.00018
16 to 19
years
64
36
20 years and
above
90
10
Table 4 Maintenance and house agE
Table 4 shows that the lower the age of
the house the lower is the percentage of
the houses being maintained. This
finding may suggest that users of lowcost house do not begin to look after
their houses until they have deteriorated
and reached a low physical quality.
Studies by Nutt et al (1976) showed that
physical
condition
of
buildings
deteriorate with age and, as can be seen
from Figure 6.2, failures starts to occur
in the building eventually if there are no
preventive and minor repairs taking
place. The start of major failures
requires major repairs at high cost.
Deterioration of low-cost houses is
likely to be of the type shown in Fig. 1
Fig 1 Type of failures, repairs and repair costs.
Users generally ignore preventive
maintenance and minor repairs until the
appearance of major failures in house
structure. The presence of cracks in the
columns, beams and roof slab, after a
long time, may force the user to start
maintenance work. Such maintenance
may not improve the physical quality of
Low cost housing in the United Arab Emirates
26
Research Paper
FORUM
the house since the reinforced concrete
began to deteriorate a long time ago.
INCOME
Col %
Low
income
Middle
income
High
income
Maintain
57
76
91
Not maintain
43
24
9
Chi -sq
7.36455
P. Value <
0.02517
Table 5 Maintenance and income group
Table 5 shows a positive relationship
between user income and the
maintenance of low-cost houses. The
lower the income of the user, the lower
is the percentage of houses being
maintained. Low-income affects the
users affordability to maintain their lowcost houses.
BUILDING OR REPAIRING:
THE ISSUE OF
CONSTRUCTION
STANDARD
Old low-cost
New Low-
housing
cost
94%
45%
housing
Built extensions
Done
Mean
cost
70%
-
of
Dh 75,000
83,148
of
Dh 20,000
existing low-cost
reinforced concrete.
Percent
Popular construction
Reinforced concrete
construction
Asbestos
house
Old low-cost
h81 i
New low-cost
h77 i
9
4
10
19
built
of
Table 7 Type of construction used for extensions.
Table 7 shows that overwhelming
majority of users from different income
groups have built extensions to their
low-cost houses. No great difference is
found between the percentage of
extensions among the three income
groups. However, findings indicate that
users from different income group built
high proportion of bedrooms, kitchens
and bath/toilet rooms
The preference for spending on
extensions rather than repairing the
existing house can be linked partly to
the type of construction used in
extensions. The popular construction is a
common type of construction in the
Northern Emirates. As the discussion in
Paper 5 showed, a great majority of
users who were owner-occupiers were
staying in Arabic houses built of popular
construction. The discussion also
showed that this type of house
represents a high proportion of the
housing stock in the Northern Emirates.
extensions
Fig. 2 shows the number of building
permissions granted for private houses
by Ras al Khaimah Municipality
between 1981 to 1992. During this
period building permissions granted for
popular construction were 2.4 times
greater than those for reinforced
construction.
Plate 1 Popular construction details.
Plate 2 The use of reinforced construction.
Source: Field work, Dec. 1994- April 1995.
1800
1600
Mean
cost
maintenance
concrete tie beams, columns, beams
were used to strengthen this type of
construction as can be seen in Plates 1
and 2.
1400
1200
1000
Numbe
800
600
400
200
0
78
Table 6 Percentage of users who built extensions
and done maintenance.
As seen in Table 6, 70 per cent of lowcost users maintained their houses while
on the other hand the great majority of
users built extensions to their houses.
The mean cost of maintenance was Dh
20,000 ($ 5,400) while the mean cost of
extensions was Dh 75,000 ($ 20,200).
Table 6.9 shows that the great majority
of extensions were built of popular
construction.
The users spent more than three times as
much on building popular construction
extensions as on maintaining the
79
80
81
82
83
Year
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
Fig 2 Popular reinforced.
Source: Ministry of Planning, 1981b; Ras al
Khaimah Municiplity, 1993.
Popular construction involves simply
load bearing walls of cement-sand
block, a roof of wooden joist (2’’x3’’)
covered with plywood, water proofing
and cement-sand mortar (see Plates 6.9
and 6.10). The wide spread of reinforced
concrete in the country resulted in using
such building materials in popular
construction by early 1970s. Reinforced
Such widespread use of popular
construction in building private houses
and building extensions may be
attributed to its low cost compared to the
reinforced construction. The cost of
reinforced concrete per square metre is
1.5 times of the popular structure
(Jakkah, 1992). In addition, such
construction does not need skilled
labour, workshop drawings or qualified
engineers to supervise the construction
work. The local municipality generally
provide ready made designs for those
who wish to build using such methods.
People generally hire local construction
firms or labour gangs for the building
process and they supervise the
construction work themselves since
most
individuals
have
enough
Low cost housing in the United Arab Emirates
27
Research Paper
FORUM
knowledge to supervise popular
construction. Local regulations do not
impose any conditions on contracts
working in popular construction which
reduce the overhead costs of such
contracts and thus reduces the total cost
of the building.
maintenance was done until the end of
the 1980s. Only in 1988 did the Federal
government establish a maintenance
department to take the responsibility of
repair and rehabilitation of Federal
government public building (Al-Khaleej,
1.8.1992; Sultan, 1993a).
In contrast, the reinforced structure
requires workshop drawings, produced
by private engineering consultants, and
qualified engineers to supervise the
construction work. Private engineering
consultants usually charge clients 2 per
cent of the total construction cost for
preparing designs and workshop
drawing and 2 per cent for construction
supervision. Contractors working in
reinforced construction have also to
comply with certain conditions such as
employing qualified civil engineers or
architects, having a bank guarantee and
the use of certain construction
equipment
(Ras
al
Khaimah
Government, 1981). Such conditions on
contracts contribute to increasing the
overhead cost of those firms and,
therefore, increase the price of the
building.
The tendency to concentrate on new
constructions is reflected in the private
sector and the availability of specialised
maintenance firms. The majority of
construction firms in the country have
concentrated on new construction
projects and only a few are involved in
maintenance and repair projects.
The preference for spending on building
rather than on repairs can also be linked
to the availability of large numbers of
construction firms for new building and
scarcity of building
firms for
maintenance particularly for reinforced
concrete repair. In the Gulf area there is
a general tendency, as in many other
developing countries, towards building
new construction and neglecting the
maintenance of existing buildings. In
Saudi Arabia, for example, the Real
Estate Development Fund provides
interest free housing loans for new
construction and gives no consideration
for rehabilitation of the existing housing
stock (Alghamdi, 1993; Alrahman,
1994). In Kuwait, according to Abu al
Hassan (1986) the government did not
regularly repair government buildings.
The Federal government in the UAE,
since the 1971, has built more than Dh
9.5 billion worth of government
buildings,
however
no
regular
According to Al-Khaleej (11.9.1992),
the building industry in the UAE lacks
specialised maintenance firms although
there is growing demand for them. Local
expertise in the diagnosis and repair of
reinforced concrete building is scarce
(Sabouni, 1994). As can be seen from
Table 8, out of 609 constructions firms
in Northern Emirates only 26 (0.04%)
are qualified by the Ministry of PW&H
to carry out maintenance work,
particularly on reinforced concrete. Thus
the general environment of the
construction industry encourages people
to prefer new construction projects
rather than to repair existing buildings.
Ras al Khaimah Ajman Fujairah
Um al Qaiwain
Con struction firms
39 4
59
93
63
Maintenance firms
19
3
3
1
Table 8 Construction firms and maintenance firms
approved by the Ministry of PW&H in the
Northern Emirates.
Source: Ras al Khaiman commercial directory
1996-1997; commercial directory of Um al
Qaiwan 1994-1995; Fujairah commercial directory
1995; Ajman commercial directory 1991-1992;
Ministry of PW&H 1996.
In conclusion, users spent more on
building extra rooms through popular
construction. From the users point of
view, it could be assumed that building
rooms of popular construction which
will last for a long time is not considered
a waste of money compared to repairing
the reinforced concrete. Spending an
amount to maintain parts of reinforced
structure for some users can not be
compared with spending the same
amount or more and producing an extra
room or rooms through popular
construction. The users spent an average
of Dh 20,000 ($5,400) to maintain the
existing house built of reinforced
concrete of 2 bedrooms, 1 majles, 1
kitchen, and 2 bath/toilet rooms. On the
other hand, they spent an average of Dh
75,000 ($20,200) on building extensions
in popular construction and asbestos,
which produced 2.6 bedrooms, 0.3
majles, 0.9 kitchen, 1.3 bath/toilet
rooms, and 0.38 servants room per
house. So the cost of maintenance of a
high standard construction can be
similar to the cost of building new
rooms of a lower standard. The trade off
between the two options means the user
will definitely go for extra rooms, as the
above findings show.
Dh 75,000
Bedroo
m
Kitchen
2.6
0.9
Majles
0.3
Servant room
0.4
Bath/toilet room 1.3
Dh 150,000
5.2
1.8
0.6
0.8
2.6
Table 9 Number of rooms and cost in popular
construction.
Table 9 shows the mean number of
bedrooms, kitchens, majles, servant
rooms, and bath/toilet rooms per lowcost house built of popular construction
and produced with a mean cost of Dh
75,000. Doubling this value, which is
equal to
the estimated urgent
maintenance cost for a low-cost house
(according the Ministry estimation the
maintenance of one low-cost house is
Dh 150,000) could presumably produce
5.2 bedrooms, 0.6 majles, 1.8 kitchen,
2.6 bath/toilet rooms, 0.8 servant rooms
if the house is built of popular
construction. Therefore, more funds
have been directed to building in
popular construction than towards
maintaining existing reinforced concrete
structures.
Low cost housing in the United Arab Emirates
28
Research Paper
FORUM
USER-OCCUPIER OR
OWNER-OCCUPIER: THE
ISSUE OF TENURE
has no resale value for them. This
situation raises the issue of whether
maintenance responsibility belongs to
the Ministry of PW&H or the user.
Federal law No.9 for 1973 coordinates
the relationship between the individuals
allocated low-cost houses and the
Ministry of PW&H which build such
houses. Article 13 states that a user or a
’’beneficiary’’ of a low-cost house has no
authority or power to sell, let out,
exchange or grant the house and the user
should make every effort to use the
house in a proper way and should take
good care of it. Article 17 states that the
user is forbidden to carry out any major
alterations which may change the
interior or exterior design of the house
without the permission of both the
Housing Minister and the Low-cost
Housing Beneficiary Committee. When
the low-cost house users have spent 10
years as beneficiaries, they can apply for
ownership (Ministry of PW&H, 1987).
The new draft housing law may reduce
the required time as a beneficiary from
10 to 5 years ( Al-Khaleej, 13.3.1995).
The preceding discussions show that the
standard of construction and the tenure
conditions of the low-cost housing
seriously affect the users’ housing
conditions. The government provides
low-cost housing for the target group
with a right of use only. The low-cost
house user is a tenant free of charge and
for an unlimited time. The rationale of
enforced tenure conditions, according to
the Minister of PW&H, is to ensure that
the houses will only be used for
residence and not misused to gain
benefit by selling or renting out (AlKhaleej, 15.6.1994). The user, therefore,
does not feel responsible for the
maintenance of his low-cost house,
considering it to be the government’s
responsibility
since
it
is
the
government’s property.
The law gives households the right to
use and benefit from the low-cost house
but they have no right of ownership.
They are tenants for an unlimited time
and free of charge. They do, however,
have the right to build extensions.
Article 15 states that the Ministry has a
right to repossess the low-cost house in
the case of misuse and the Ministry
should pay compensation for any
extensions built in the low-cost house by
the user.
In 1980 the government granted
ownership rights for the first time to the
low-cost users. This ownership is
conditional; the user has no right to sell
or let out the house. The title of
ownership is only related to the house
and not to the land which remains
government property (Ministry of
PW&H, 1980d).
Those who were given ownership still
only have the right to use the house and
not the right to sell or rent it out. Thus, it
The tenure condition hinders some users
from investing in improvement to the
low-cost house, although they have right
of use of the house for ever. The
discussion in Paper 2 showed that
security of tenure leads to higher rates of
investment in housing improvements,
whereas users of low-cost housing
invest more in building extensions than
in repairs to the original government
provision. Insecure tenure, as is
currently the case with low-cost
housing, leads to reduction of housing
quality since people do not invest in
improving
the
original
housing
provision.
The issue is that the government
allocates low-cost houses to those who
are supposedly from a low-income
group (although findings shows that
other income groups also gain access)
and then requires them to take on the
maintenance responsibility, although
such maintenance requires specialised
construction firms and a subsequently
high cost. This appears to be an unfair
and illogical stance to take considering
reinforced concrete deteriorates faster in
the UAE environment, needs specialised
construction firms and qualified labour
to undertake the maintenance correctly
and there is a scarcity of such
specialised maintenance firms in the
UAE. The Ministry thus provides a
house of high standard on the condition
of use only for low-income households
(who are considered unable to afford to
build their own house) and then expects
them to bear the maintenance
responsibility which the Ministry itself
cannot afford!
Reinforced
concrete
construction
requires certain expertise and skill in
design, supervision and construction.
The repair of such construction requires
also particular technology and a
specialised labour force. Thus, in order
to ensure the physical quality of the
reinforced construction is maintained,
more funds must be allocated to meet
these requirements. However, the
government is currently withdrawing
itself from maintenance responsibility,
while users, mainly from the lowincome group, cannot afford to maintain
such construction. This situation,
consequently, contributes to more
deterioration in the physical quality of
the low-cost housing. According to
Turner (1990) a technology that makes
people dependent on large organizations
is not appropriate for housing.
Therefore, it can be argued that the use
of reinforced concrete is not appropriate
for those from a low-income group,
since its repair requires advanced
technology and thus a high cost.
However, there is nothing to prevent the
government from using reinforced
concrete in building low-cost housing if
it provides sufficient and regular funds
for maintenance requirements.
SUMMARY
This paper has examined the implication
of the standard of construction and
tenure conditions on the housing
conditions of low-cost housing users. It
has been found that the great majority of
Low cost housing in the United Arab Emirates
29
Research Paper
FORUM
low-cost houses built prior to 1990 are
in low-physical quality and are no
longer appropriate to live in unless
massive maintenance at a cost of Dh1.73
billion ($0.467 billion) takes place. The
deterioration of low-cost houses can be
largely attributed to maintenance
ignorance. Users, mainly those of Dh
4,000 income and below, gave no
attention to the maintenance. The
government, on the other side, due to
lack of funds, requires users to take on
the responsibility.
It was also found that users spend three
times as much on building extensions
using popular construction than on
repairing existing low-cost housing built
of reinforced concrete. Such high
spending on building rather than on
repairing can be attributed to the type of
construction used in extensions and the
availability of large numbers of
construction firms for new building and
scarcity of maintenance firms with
expertise regarding reinforced concrete
repair. In addition, the repair of
reinforced concrete structure required
high expenditure and specialized labour
which neither users nor the government
can afford.
This paper has also found that tenure
condition has affected the physical
quality of the low-cost houses since
users do not invest in repairing such
houses due to perceived insecurity of
tenure. The free low-cost houses, of high
construction of standard and the tenure
condition of use only, become
deteriorated by time and thus become
unsafe to live in. Consequently a high
percentage of users have the intention to
move out the low-cost house once they
have the financial ability to build their
own house.
REFERENCES
Abu al Hassan, J.J. (1986)
’Importance of building maintenance in
Kuwait’, Al-Mosandison, No. 16,
January-March 1986, published by
Kuwait
Arabic)
Engineering
Society.
(in
houses in Um al Qaiwain Emirate,
16.11.1980. (in Arabic) (unpublished)
Ajman Commercial Directory 19911992, published by Ajman Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
Ministry of PW&H. (1987) A report
submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers
of amendment article in Federal law
No.9 for 1973, 18.3.1987. (in Arabic)
(unpublished)
Al-Ittihad, 9.2.1991
Al-Khaleej,
1.8.1992,11.9.1992,
13.3.1995, 15.6.1994
Al-Mansoori,
M.A.J
(1997)
Government
Low-Cost
Housing
Provision In The United Arab Emirates.
LOW-COST HOUSING, unpublished
Ph.D, University of Newcastleupon
Tyne.
Alghamdi, A.M. (1993) ’The Need for
State Intervention to Rehabilitate
Deteriorating Buildings in Saudi
Arabia: Theoretical and Practical
Considerations’,
Open
house
International, Vol. 18, pp33-40.
Ministry of PW&H. (1988) The Role
of the Ministry of PW & H in the
Development 1988, Department of
Researches and Studies, Dubai: AlAsrayaah Printing Press. (in Arabic)
Ministry of PW&H. (1996) Record of
constructions firms qualified for
maintenance
projects,
Building
Departments. (in Arabic) (unpublished)
Nutt, B.; Walker, B.; Holliday, S.
and Sears, D. (1976) Obsolescence in
Housing, Farnborough: Saxon House.
Alrahman,
H.A.
(1994)
’Reconsidering Housing Finance Policy
In Saudi Arabia’, Al-Beit Al-Maftuh,
Vol.1, No. 1, pp 18-30. (in Arabic)
Ras al Khaimah Commercial
Directory
1996-1997.
(1996)
Published by Ras al Khaimah Chamber
of
Commerce,
Industry
and
Agriculture, Ras al Khaimah Emirate.
Commercial Directory of Umm al
Quwain 1994-1995. published by
Umm al Quwain Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
Ras al Khaimah Municipality. (1993)
Building permissions, 1981 -1992,
Department of Engineering. (in Arabic)
(unpublished)
Federal Law No.9 for 1973
Sabouni,
A. (1994)
Proposed
Operation of an Experts System for
Daignosis and Repair of Cracking in
Reinforced Concrete Building in Hot
Climate, in Proceedings of the First
International Conference, 24-27 April
1994, Al-Ain, UAE, UAE University
and American Concrete Institute.
Fujairah Commercial Directory
1995. published by Fujairah Chamber
of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture
Jakkah,
M.
(1992)
Towards
Alternative Housing Provision of
Federal State Low-Cost Housing In
Northern Emirates: United Arab
Emirates, unpublished paper submitted
to Department of Architecture for the
requirements of the degree of M.A in
Architecture, University of Newscast
upon Tyne.
Ministry of Planning. (1981b) Ras al
Khaimah Statistical Book 1975-1980,
Central Statistical Department. (in
Arabic)
Sultan, N. (1993a) ’Government
Building Maintenance Obstacles, AlKhaleej, 19, 1, 1993.
Turner,
J.F. (1990)
’Barriers,
Channels and Community Control’, in
Cadman, D. and Payne, G. (ed) The
Living Cities. Towards a Sustainable
Future, London: Routledge.
Ministry of PW&H. (1980d) A report
of granting owner-ship title of low-cost
Low cost housing in the United Arab Emirates
30
Research Paper
FORUM
The Use of GIS to Support
Conservation Area Appraisal in
Urban Centres
Rima El Hassan
Keywords
GIS, Conservation, Tripoli
INTRODUCTION
The
identification
criteria
of
monuments, buildings and sites whose
national importance and conservation
need justify some form of statutory
protection are still based on personal
preferences rather than an identified
methodology (e.g. Sarkis 1999, Walker
1995). This applies to countries that
have
enjoyed
long
history of
conservation policies, such as England,
as well as those with very modest
experience such as Lebanon. One of the
reasons is the technique devised to relate
all buildings and sites information of
different levels and different resolutions
in order to integrate the conservation
policies within the framework of urban
management policies (Elkadi and Amin,
1996)
Lebanon is a very specific and
interesting case that can demonstrate
this lack of integration in decisionmaking. At the end of the civil war,
plans were proposed to preserve and
restore the cultural built heritage as part
of an overall urban regeneration
strategy. These plans are facing different
and contradictory criticisms (Chalk and
Rowe, 1990). The difficulties are mainly
related to the lack of specific criteria to
appraise the intervention strategies in
conservation areas. This paper proceeds
to suggest an information model using a
combination of relational database and
Geographical Information System.
The paper starts by identifying the
different variables that affect the
evaluation of conservation areas. The
variables are organised in different
horizontal and vertical scales and in
relation to the required resolution levels.
The paper then moves to examine the
needs to develop a knowledge based
conservation information model. The
structure of the model is then explained.
IDENTIFICATION AND
SELECTION OF
CONSERVATION
VARIABLES
This paper attempts to develop a
conceptual and theoretical investigation
for the selection of variables that
identify the built heritage. Analysis is
based on a comparative study of the
Lebanese and English criteria1 to
appraise conservation areas. The paper
divides the built heritage analysis into
three scales: value scale, physical scale
and historical scale.
VALUE SCALE
Fielden and Jokiletho (1993) argued
that: “a single heritage resource may
posses conflicting values that make
management
decision
especially
difficult...” The paper attempts to review
and categorise these values in the aim to
facilitate the recording and the analysis
of their features. Two categories are
identified within the Value scale:
1. Section 69 (1)(a) of the act 1967, PPG15 of
1995 and English heritage guidance for
conservation areas appraisal
cultural variables and contemporary
socio-economic ones.
Cultural variables include identity value,
rarity value and relative artistic or
technical value.
Contemporary socio-economic variables
include use value, economic value,
functional value, educational value,
social value and political value. (Fielden
and Jokiletho 1993)
Decisions regarding the regional and
national features of each variable have
been developed from different studies
prepared
to
review
architecture,
archaeology, economy, sociology and
planning. Regional criteria have been
drawn to address the features of valuebased analysis. The criteria have
received support from different conflict
management studies to consider the load
of each value for decision-making. The
criteria are flexible enough to be
developed for more detailed analysis
advised by experts in these fields and for
different
national
and
regional
considerations.
PHYSICAL SCALE
The physical scale includes data related
to the general urban context and its
architectural details. This level is
organised in the following sub levels:
q
q
q
q
Environment level
Urban level
Architectural and construction
level
Details level
GIS in Conservation
31
Research Paper
FORUM
The physical scale will be used not only
to address the geography of the elements
but as well to produce spatial
dimensions for heritage inventory based
on topological and network analysis.
Table1 shows how physical elements
were defined from the variables
recommended by conservation theories
and programmes.
9 D U LD E OHV U HF R PH PGH G E \
historical research is rarely required.
However, it is important not to go to the
other extreme and rely on anecdote and
legend (Walker 1995).
The study developed temporal tables to
record important historic events.
The tables have been organised
according their physical identity (AlNouri mosque, Abu-Ali river, AlAttarine
sokak),
reference
of
3 UR SR V HG $ QD O\VLV
chronological
and
morphological
analysis (Mageean, 1998).
3 K\V LF DO' D WD
F RQ VH U YD WLRQ WK HR ULH V SU RJ UD PPH V (+ 3 3* * UD QDG D& RQY H QWLRQ (QWLWLHV
U
X
R
W
Q
X
R
F
\
J
OR
R
H
J
%
%
H
S
D
F
V
G
Q
D
/
H
S
D
F
V
G
Q
OD
% /
/
H
U
X
W
L
Q
U
X
I
V
LH
W
L
&
H
H
U
W
/
\
J
R
O
R
H
D
K
F
U
$
/
/%
V
W
LF
U
W
V
L
G
%
V
W
H
V
W
R
/
%
H
U
X
W
L
Q
U
X
I
W
H
H
U
W
V
H
U
W
V
1
/
V
H
F
D
S
6
Q
H
S
2
V
J
Q
L
G
OL
X
%
%
V
H
F
D
S
V
W
Q
,
O
D
Q
LR
W
F
X
U
W
V
Q
R
&
V
H
G
D
F
D
I
%
%
$
/*
%
V
W
Q
H
P
H
O
H
%
O
D
U
X
W
F
H
W
L
K
F
"
D
V
W
Q
H
P
H
O
H
H
LY
W
D
U
R
F
H
'
WV
Q
H
P
H
O
(
/
$ WWULEXWH' DWD
/ R FD WLRQJHR JUDSK\
7
$ VV HV VP HQWRIWKH * H ROR J\
/
( QY LUR QPH QWD QG
& R QWR XU
OD QGVF DSH JUH H QVSDF HV WUH H 9 LVXDOF RQWULEXWLR QRI) D
DGH
OD QGVF DSH FKD UDF WHULVWLFV
7
7
7
&
&
$ VV HV VP HQWRI9 LV XD O
V WUH HWD QGODQGVFD SH' HV LJQ
& KD UDF WH ULV WLFV
& R QGLWLR QIXUQLWXUH V
D SSH D UDQFH &
&
&
GLVWULFWV]R QH VOR WV EXLOGLQJV $
/ LQH R IWUD QV SR UWD WLR Q6WUHH W
$ VV HV VP HQWRIXUED Q
% XLOGLQJV/ LVWHG 8 QOLVWHG
SODQQLQJFKD UDF WHULVWLFV
6 SDF HV EH WZ H HQ% XLOGLQJV
7 R SR JUD SK\
$
$
/*
8
8
/
:
LQIUD VWUXF WXUH
$ UFKDH R OR J\PR QXP HQW
$ UFKLWHF WXUDOV W\OH D QGIR UP
/ R FD O' HWDLO
0 D WH ULDOF RQVWDUF KR UQD P
GH VLJQ
8
7
7
6
7
$ UFKDH R OR J\
'
)
$ VV HV VP HQWRI
)
$ UFKLWH FWXUDO
)
)
)
)
0
& RQVWUXFWLR QDO' H WD LOV ) RUP V& KD UDF WH ULV WLFV
GH FR UDWLR Q
$
8
+
6
H [ F DY D WLR Q
&
7
0
4
0
0
7
7
0
7
4
& UD IWVP D QV KLS
%/
%/
%/
7 H FKQLTXH V
%/
7
. H \3 HULR GLQWKH D UHD V+ LVWR U\
$ VV HV VP HQWRIWKH ' D WH R IFR QVWUXFWLR Q
+ LV WR ULF DOF RQWULEXWLR Q
D JHSHULRG, PSR UWDQWSH UVR Q
Y DOXH V
3
'
3
'
3
3
&1
&1
3
3 '
'
'
&1
&1
&1
P R USKROR J\D QD O\V LV
H FR QRP LF
(
IXQF WLRQD O
(
8
H GXF DWLR QDO
$ VV HV VP HQWRIFXOWXUDO V RF LD O
V RF LRH FR QR P LF SR OLWLF DO
F KD UD FWH ULVWLFV
(
(
(
(
8
8
(
8
8
(
)6
3 R SXODWLR Q
'(
'(
'(
$ FWLY LWLH V XVH V PH OODQGVR XQG
& KD UDF WH U
D WP R VSKH UH
KLGGH QHOH PH QWV
% R XQGD U\%/R FD WLR Q/ 1 HWZR UN 1 W\SH7 /H Y H O/& RQGLWLR Q& $ UH DD /H QJWK/ : LGWK: + H LJKW+ 8 V H8 6 HUY LFH V6 ' DWH' 3 HULRG3 ) RUP ) 0 D WH ULD O0 % XLOGH U% /& R PP LVVLR QH G%\& 1 (P SOR \H H((GXF DWHG3 HUV R
Table 1 Physical elements definition
information, and quality of the event
(such as industrial, political, social,
natural disaster etc).
HISTORICAL SCALE
Historical
historical
development
Scale analyses
association
in
the
the
Interaction of these tables with the
physical level will facilitate the
of the area. Original
GIS in Conservation
32
Research Paper
FORUM
STRUCTURE OF THE
INFORMATION MODEL
DEVELOPMENT OF
KNOWLEDGE BASED
CONSERVATION
INFORMATION MODEL
This section discusses the advantages of
adequate information resources for
conservation management. It covers the
access to recent urban and built heritage
recording and documentation, for the
easier preparation of conservation
appraisal.
Table 2 shows how the required
information could be acquired from
different departments.
Two types of data were considered to
manage the decision-making: spatial
data and attribute data. Spatial data
records ’where things are’ and attribute
data describes ’what things are’. The
activities of loading data both spatial
and attribute is carried out with the
following information tools:
q AutoCAD
q
q
Microsoft Access.
used to enable integration and analysis
of data sets both at horizontal and
vertical levels. Figure 2 is a prototype of
GIS layers. Spatial data are interrupted
to GIS using the vector method, which is
considered more appropriate for
answering topological questions about
containment, adjacency and connectivity
(Heywood et al., 1998).
Fig 3 explains the ability of the vector
models to answer different queries. The
model is set in order to investigate the
spatial model of the proposed physical
elements.
GIS.
AutoCAD is used to manage and
produce all geometric data. Access is
W
U
W
K
R
W
Q
F
\
V
S
W
U
H
F
Q
V
D
V
Q
R
Q
P
H
WV
H
F
R
V
Q
Q
J
Q
H
H
F
R
Q
H
LR
U
H
U
D
K
U
\
W
L
R
5
Q
LU
H
F
L
F
J
P
K
5
D
Y
W
L
G
D
W
U
W
H
J
LR
S
I
Q
W\
Q
U
D
Q
D
H
LQ
W
LI
S
F
L
I
D
J
P
H
F
W
H
D
V
R
J
D
LQ
(
Y
H
D
U
D
V
X
V
L
V
O
Q
Q
X
S
D
X
L
Q
J
L
\
O
G
T
H
P
&
K
S
U
V
G
H
U
S
V
Q
G
L
V
Q
R
L
U
F
Q
L
V
F
W
R
Q
X
LD
Q
LV
R
H
X
(
F
R
U
OR
D
Q
D
5
I
OD
Q
D
H
R
F
I
WH
I
U
R
D
H
H
U
V
R
LF
Q
Q
/
S
'
*
U
O
Y
J
WD
7
G
$
&
I
I
I
I
,
U
L
6
V
+
7
1
D
H
V
R
I
I
I
I
P
R
I
I
I
I
I
I
R
R
H
Q
OL
2
R
2
R
R
R
I
H
F
'
R
R
R
R
R
R
(
R
V
G
P
O
LR
I
S
S
H
S
&
S
W
S
S
S
D
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
S
D
H
H
L
H
Q
D
H
H
H
F
(
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
H
R
H
U
8
'
1
'
'
&
7
'
$
1
'
'
'
'
5
'
'
'
1
'
'
'
J
LQ
E
P
X
S
%XLOGLQJV
&DGDVWUDO
(QYLU/DQGVFDSH
3URSHULWLHV
6WUHHWV
/LVWHG%XLOGLQJ
&RQV$UHDV
0RQXPHQW
$UFKDHRORJ\
*HR&RQWRXU
3RS'HQVLW\
(WDEOLV&RPPHUFH
7RXULVP
&LWLHV
6RFLDO6FLHQFHV
(GXFDWLRQ
,QIUDVWUXFWXUH
'LJLWDO0DSVDFFHVVLEOH
'LJLWDO'UDZLQJVDFF
+DUGFRS\PDSVDFF
+DUG&RS\'ZJDFF
0DSVQRWDFF
'UDZLQJVQRWDFF
'LJLWDO5HSRWVDFF
+DUG&RS\5HSRUWVDFF
5HSRUWVQRWDFF
Table 2 Methods of obtaining required information
There are some difficulties involved in
finding information as well problems
related to current documentation and
recording systems.
used to load all attribute data in table
forms arranged according to a predefined layout. Access is applied for two
targets: Input attribute data in an
understanding method. Output analysis
results in a defined archival form. Figure
1 is a prototype of Access forms. GIS
(Arc-View and Arc-Info) have been
Figure 1: Prototype of access forms
GIS in Conservation
33
Research Paper
FORUM
Figure 2: GIS layers prototype
Points
Arcs
Polygons
Figure 4: Vector models ability to answer
different queries
Attributes data are organised in a serious
of tables with the columns contain the
attributes of the entity. Spatial entities
have more than one attribute associated
with them. For example, a polygon
representing the building may have a
number of other attributes: the number
of units and the name of the owner etc.
Attributes give additional information
about the character of the entities
(Heywood et al., 1998). Attribute and
spatial data are related to each other by
storing a unique number in both the row
of the databases and the element in the
drawing file. Once this linkage is
established, the database can be
manipulated and information can be
reviewed from inside Arc-View. Any
database query to our graphic display
can therefore be transformed, or be
combined with a selected set or portion
of the drawing file to produce printed or
plotted reports. The structure of GIS is
designed in order to answer queries
related
to
information
retrieval;
topological modelling networks and
overlay analysis, and data output. These
processes are developed with many GIS
function
such
as
classification,
buffering, filter etc.
CONCLUSION
There is an increasing need to develop a
decision support system for the
assessment
and
appraisal
of
conservation areas. The existing
conservation appraisal criteria have
several negative factors in assisting
conservation management decisionmaking. This is mainly due to the lack
Figure 3: The linkage system between different entities and attributes
GIS in Conservation
34
Research Paper
FORUM
of an appropriate structured database
that can enable relating spatial and
spatial information. The advance in
information technology enables the use
of the spatial dimension.
The paper summaries the advantage of
using GIS to support conservation
appraisal, it recognises the significance
of conservation for urban regeneration
policies. Information is organised into
different scales and levels and series of
vertical and horizontal relationships are
established. The proposed scales are
structured in a way to identify national
and local heritage features, planning
aspects, significant historic events,
investment opportunities, policies and
legislation.
A methodology is developed using
information technology in order to
provide an appropriate integrated model.
The model uses a combination of CAD,
database, and GIS techniques. It is
hoped that such a model will help to
provide a more comprehensive support
system for the appraisal of conservation
areas in Lebanon and elsewhere.
REFERENCES:
Aangeenburg, R.T. (1991). A Critique
of GIS: Principles and Application,
Maguire D., Goodchild M., and Rhind
D., Longman Scientific & Technical,
New York.
Daher R. (1996). Conservation in
Jordan: A Comprehensive Methodology
for Historical and Cultural Resources.
Journal of Architectural Conservation,
N3, V2, November, pp 65-80.
Elkadi H., Amin M. (1995).
Development of urban conservation
strategies using information systems. At
the 5th International Conference on
Regional Science Association, Tokyo
English heritage town’s forum (1998).
Conservation Area Management, A
Practical Guide. Britain.
Feilden B., Jokiletho J. (1993).
Management Guideline: For World
Cultural Heritage sites.
Heywood I., Cornelius S. and Carver
S. (1998). An Introduction to
Geographical Information System .
Longman, England.
UNESCO, The Management Guide B.
Management of World Heritage Towns,
from
World
Wide
Web:
http://www.ovpm.org/ovpm/english/gui
de/b/b1.html.
Walker R. (1995). The Cambridgeshire
Guide to Historic Building Law. 1995
Edition, HMSO, London
Larkham A. & Peter J. (1996). The
Enhancement of Conservation Areas: A
Search for Information. Journal of
Architectural Conservation, N0 3, v2,
November, pp 47-64.
Letelier
R.
(1994).
Recording,
Documentation
and
Information
Management Guideline for World
Cultural Heritage Sites. ICCROM,
Quebec, Canada.
Mageean
A.
(1998),
Urban
conservation
policy
development:
character appraisal and analysis.
Journal of Architectural Conservation,
N3, November, pp 59-77.
Manfred Fisher, H.J. Scholten, and
David Unwin (1996). Special Analysis
Perspective on GIS .T.J. Press. Great
Britain.
Michael F. Goodchild M.(1996). GIS
and Environmental Modelling: Progress
and
Research
Issues.
Longman
Scientific & Technical, New York.
Nina Jidejian (1986). Tripoli through
the ages. Dar al-Mashriq Publisher,
Beirut.
Row G. P. and Sarkis H. (1999).
Projecting Beirut, Episodes in The
Construction and Reconstruction of A
Modern City. Prestel , London.
English Heritage (1997). Conservation
Area Appraisals. London.
GIS in Conservation
35
Research Paper
FORUM
Information technology in the
European construction industry
The application of workflow management
and business process reengineering
Hector C. Sikazwe
Keywords
Workflow, Workflow management, Business process reengineering, Automation, Continuous process improvement
ABSTRACT
Many organisations struggle with the
coordination of work. For example,
procedures that are available on paper
are not, or only partly, used in practice;
work is stuck on desks of people for too
long, task responsibilities are unclear
and much effort is spent in corrective
actions on procedural errors.
To improve such situations, an
understanding of the business process is
necessary.
The business challenge is to exploit the
possibilities that improve and affect
work coordination.
Workflow management is considered as
one of the essential techniques for
providing efficiency and effectiveness
for the Construction office.
It allows the analysis of current
workflow in order to detect potential
bottlenecks and the design of new
workflow
patterns
so
those
shortcomings can be eliminated.
It is a new research area rooted in office
automation, business administration,
data
communication;
information
system
and computer
supported
cooperative work.
INTRODUCTION
During the last decade, Construction
firms (Companies and enterprises that
reside within the Construction Industry
in general) have dramatically improved
information bases and information
processing capabilities.
Complex tools with advanced features
are currently available for most
operations and contracts that are
embarked on.
PURPOSE
The central thrust of this paper is the
question of workflow analysis in the
Construction Industry. The paper deals
with how to realize the full potential of
workflow in a practical construction
process situation. In order to investigate
and manipulate workflow in the
construction industry, this paper
proposes the model of an organization’s
current workflow to be used for
documenting,
understanding
and
communicating the coordination in
business activities. This particular model
is viewed to be the natural basis for
Business Process Reengineering (BPR).
BPR AND WORKFLOW
IMPACT
The biggest change brought about by
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
is the orientation of construction firms
toward processes. Workflow, by its very
nature, is process oriented. This makes
Workflow in general an excellent
candidate for implementing the results
of BPR. Swenson et al (1994) has
examined in detail the relationship
between
Business
Process
Reengineering and Workflow. This
paper draws on their findings.
Workflow is concerned with the
automation
of
processes
where
documents, information or tasks are
passed between participants according to
a defined set of rules to achieve, or
contribute to, an overall business goal.
Whilst workflow may be manually
organised, in practice most workflow is
normally organised within the context of
an Information Technology system to
provide computerised support for the
procedural automation. (Schal, 1994)
Hale & Lavery defines Workflow
management (WfM) as being the
productive computer system that
manages the flow of work among
participants according to defined
procedures consisting of a number of
tasks. The authors mention that
workflow is supposed to co-ordinates
users, systems and participants, together
with the appropriate data resources,
which maybe directly accessible by the
system or off line so as to achieve
defined objects by set deadlines (Hale &
Lavery, 1991). This co-ordination
involves passing tasks from participants
in correct sequence, ensuring that that
all fulfil their required contributions
taking default actions where necessary.
Other researchers have referred to
workflow systems as, “… an application
level program which helps to define,
execute, co-ordinate and monitor the
flow of work within organisations or
workgroups. In order to do this, a
workflow system must contain a
Workflow technology in the Construction industry
36
Research Paper
FORUM
computerised representation of the
structure of the work procedures and
activities.” (Ellis & Nutt, 1993:3-4)
can only take place due to the improved
support being provided by new
information technologies (IT).
The implementation of WfM and BPR
technology is based on knowledgeable
design teams. Achieving seamless
knowledge quality in the design teams is
vital because co-operation within the
design team still rely to a great extent on
the different levels of Information
technologies applied in the individual
firms that form part of these teams.
Hammer, (1994) sees Workflow and
GroupWare1 as enabling technologies
for the improvement of Construction
process execution. These technologies
can be applied with or without previous
reengineering experiences. Though the
analysis required for their implantation
always implies some form of process reengineering
activities,
these
technologies have in many instances
been misapplied. This raises the
question of choice of methodology.
The complexity of this scenario invokes
a protracted analysis of how to arrive at
appropriate
available
workflow
methodologies to be employed for the
industry.
METHODOLOGY
From the existing research findings,
there are various methodologies that can
be exploited and applied within the
Industry. There are though, basic
prerequisites for the implementation to
be successful.
There are many methodologies in the
market for process analysis for
workflow management and BPR
purposes within the Construction
Industry. Though many, they all fall into
two main schools of thought:
(a) Continuous Process Improvement
NEED FOR GOOD
INFORMATION BASES
Research work shows that while
automated
tools heavily support
construction
work,
and
heavily
mechanised and revolutionary gains in
efficiency have been seen, processes are
not as efficiently supported as required.
Organisations
find
that
their
fundamental problem is their inability to
manage efficiently the construction
business processes (Burati 1989). The
lack of standardisation of processes in
the industry compels individual players
in the industry to spend more and more
time looking for information and less
and less time in exploiting it.
The Eagan report (1998) observes that
many UK construction firms and
companies are taking initiatives to
redesign and optimise their processes
through many different techniques like
Workflow management, (WfM) Total
quality management (TQM) Kaizen and
BPR. Schal (1996) observes that
whatever the technique selected, it is
clear that to a great extent, this change
The main proponent is Davenport
(1993). This is based: on refining
existing processes through removing
parts/portions of processes that are of
low value and replacing them with value
added ones.
(b) Clean Slate approach
This is Hammer’s theory that existing
processes have not worked and as such
they are obsolete and should be replaced
by new ones to bring about the desired
radical
improvement
in
an
organisation’s performance. Hammer &
Stanton (1995: p 3-5) defines Business
Process
Reengineering
as
“the
fundamental rethinking and radical
redesign of business processes to
achieve improvements of business
performance in terms of cost, service
and speed.”
1
1
GroupWare is a term used to describe a class of
computer technology that enables information
sharing, co-ordination and collaboration between
groups of people who might be in close proximity
or globally spaced
There are though, various issues that
need to be considered when applying
any methodology to the construction
process.
Consider
the following
attributes of a typical construction firm
that would benefit from new technology:
• Every construction project has
processes that can be transformed by
workflow automation. Many of those
processes are in those parts of the
business with the largest financial risk
and potential gain if managed properly.
• Every
construction
company
comprises low-risk processes that can
equally like high risk processes be
automated if identified and when they
are found to be of value to the entire
process,
• Every construction company has
processes that can take advantage of
GroupWare and workflow management
technology. For instance, the stores
department needs to access and share
updated information on availability of
materials, reordering and disbursement
transactions. This department would
benefit immensely from automation and
workflow solutions,
• Every company needs to capitalise
on its existing technology know-how,
and needs to observe and assess its
processes with intent to maximise its
operations.
On the other hand, there are serious
factors that need to be taken into
account
when
reengineering
an
enterprise. These factors could be:
• That the company also has ongoing
business that must not be disrupted by
new way of doing business when
reengineering occurs. The fact that BPR
instigates complete annihilation of the
business process of the firm in particular
projects, there are ongoing alternative
projects that might not need their
processes to be redesigned in any way.
These must go on without disruption.
Business process reengineering is
incidental in construction projects. Each
project process is unique though it is the
same firm that carries out the work.
Workflow technology in the Construction industry
37
Research Paper
FORUM
• The company has large investments
in legacy systems that must be preserved
though the new ways of operating and
the inclusion of new technology will
definitely constrain the firm to obliterate
most existing processes.
• The company has workers that will
use the new system and must be
convinced that the main purpose of the
new system is not to prune them off.
This downsizing fear causes workers to
become insecure and a threat to the
enterprise. Training and knowledge
dissemination is important for an
enterprise that opts to reengineer. For
the
construction
industry,
the
appropriate methodology or solution
would be to adopt a global methodology
that takes into account technical aspects
as well as non-technical ones. It must
take advantage of commonly accepted
benefits of the new technology to:
a.
Boost its introduction,
b.
It must be aware of potential fears
(rational and irrational ones) within
the industry,
c.
d.
It must be adaptable to the maturity
of the organisation with respect to
the
new
technology
and
accompany the organisation on the
path towards becoming a mature IT
oriented organisation,
And it must take advantage of the
technology itself to educate future
workers and focus the penetration
of the technology using itself.
PROPOSED
METHODOLOGY
This paper proposes the Continuous
Process Improvement (CPI) as advanced
by Davenport, (1996). CPI appears to be
the most appropriate methodology for
the
construction
industry
when
considered from the angle that the nature
of the industry is diverse and complex.
Due to the legal and contractual
arrangement that the Industry is
orchestrated
in,
it
would
be
inappropriate to apply Hammer’s
approach
of
business
process
reengineering
which
suggest
annihilation of the existing processes by
starting afresh on a clean slate
Davenport’s methodology of application
of BPR does not suggest to firms to
completely discard the previous way of
doing things and to start creating the
process from the scratch2. CPI suggests
applying BPR based on the original
process, shape and culture of the
organisation and also by continuous
improvements of the process according
to audit data gathered during process
execution.
This methodology proposes a global
framework that comprises both technical
and non-technical aspects. There are no
magic recipes in this methodology, but
has some indications that force the
process analyst to consider all the
aspects that will be important in the
implantation of business process
reengineering.
At a first glance, the CPI school of
thought is seen as negative as it seems
only problems are identified. The
methodology tries to identify in the early
stage the potential problems that may
appear during process execution. During
initial stages of implementation, CPI
suggests that an organisation should
scrutinise itself in the light of it’s:
a)
Motivations for introducing the
required technology,
b) The expected benefits and
c) The potential risks and barrier to the
technology to be introduced.
These will have a major influence on the
relative importance of the various
phases of the methodology applied.
Before
engaging
a
professional
consulting
company or
external
expertise to help in defining the
2
Experiences in Norway Post and Anaya, users of
CPI technology, have shown that it is both workers
and the organisation are more confident in the
process improvement if the previous way of doing
things is considered.
methodology strategy, the company
should carefully evaluate its current
position. In particular, the following
aspects must be evaluated:
d) Objectives must be clear
e)
Scrutinise current project in which
the new technology is to be applied.
Is there time available to introduce
and deploy the technology?
f)
Expected benefits must be ranked.
g) Potential risks (which are many in
the industry) must also be ranked to
take in time appropriate actions.
h) The existing formal description of
business procedures (normally
informal)
i)
The organisational culture and the
importance of existing legacy
applications
and
requirements
concerning their integration with
process to be automated.
j)
The education of the company
management and company staff
with respect to the technology
k) The financial aspect is important as
the level of sponsor counts to the
quality of project implementation.
Within this method, construction
organisations avoid the problems of
'change programmes' by concentrating
on “process alignment”. Recognising
that different players in the process have
different roles and responsibilities is
firstly related to the processes in which
these players work.
In CPI senior managers implement the
task of process alignment by a series of
BPR steps that are distinct but clearly
overlapped in nature.
This recommended path develops a selfreinforcing cycle of commitment,
communication, and culture change in
the organisation. The steps are as
follows.
1. Gain commitment to change through
the organisation of the top team.
Workflow technology in the Construction industry
38
Research Paper
FORUM
2. Develop a shared vision and mission
of the business and of what change is
required.
3. Define the measurable objectives,
which must be agreed by the team, as
being the quantifiable indicators of
success in terms of the mission.
4. Break down the critical processes into
sub-processes, activities and tasks and
form the teams around these.
5. Re-design, monitor and adjust the
process-alignment in response to
difficulties in the change process.
CPI creates slow change. This change is
expected to create conditions and
circumstances that did not exist before.
The business team is seen to be a
“learning organisation” capable of
adapting to a changing competitive
environment. A learning organisation
aims to create a self-perpetuating
momentum that changes the culture of
the organisation as a whole.
The aim of CPI piecemeal application is
to create a completely different
environment with different attributes.
The environment created has norms,
values and attitudes that underpin
behaviours that are oriented to address
continual
improvement
and
are
constantly questioning processes. This
culture embraces human resources
development on the one hand and
systems development (including BPR)
on the other. For without addressing the
systems of an organisation, CPI has no
foundation.
The organisation created learns to
continually monitor and modify its
behaviour to maintain the changesensitive environment. Critics and
traditional hierarchical managers of
course, find it difficult to accept these
changes and are incapable of making the
adjustments, in spite of all the direction,
support and peer pressure brought about
by the process alignment principles.
Replacement of these managers and
possible future saboteurs who cannot
function in the new organisation
becomes inevitable after they have been
given the opportunity to make the
required change.
For such new organisation to be
realised, it takes time and can be
frustrating for the implementers. It also
produces
anxiety
amongst
the
employees, as they have no information
of who would be replaced next due to
the furtive nature in which the new
technology is implemented
CONCLUSION
The construction industry has been at
the crossroads for some time and has
lagged behind other industries in the
integration of new ways of working. The
need to have appropriate methodologies
for the implementation of approved
workflow solutions for the elusive
formal construction process is important
and should be researched into further.
Appropriate research into the choice of
workflow methodologies should take
pre-eminence in the research for
solutions for the construction industry.
The use of Davenport’s ‘CPI’ is
currently preferred to Hammer’s ‘Clean
slate’ due to the level of research that
has been devoted to by the proponents
of the school of thought.
The construction industry needs to
address investment into emerging
technologies and appropriate training for
the construction labour force for the
industry to become responsive to the
new work culture. It is only through
further research that the industry will
benefit from the emerging management
innovations being applied.
REFERENCES
Burati, J. L. (1989). "Cost of quality
deviations in design and construction."
Source Document No. 29, University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
Champy, J., (1995) “Reengineering
Management: The Mandate for New
Leadership.” New York: Harper Collins.
Colin
Coulson–Thomas
(1994)
“Business process reengineering: Myth
or reality Kogan Page, London.
Davenport T., (1993) "Process
Innovation." Harvard University Press.
Davenport, T.H. & Beers, M.C.
(1995). "Managing Information About
Processes," Journal of Management
Information Systems, 12 (1), pp. 57-80.
Davenport, T.H. & Short, J.E. (1990
Summer).
"The
New
Industrial
Engineering: Information Technology
and Business Process Redesign," Sloan
Management Review, pp. 11-27.
Davenport,
T.H.
(1994
July).
"Reengineering: Business Change of
Mythic Proportions?" MIS Quarterly,
pp. 121-127.
Eagan report, (1998) The UK
Government task force Report presented
to the UK Prime minister.
Hales, K & Lavery, M (1991)
Workflow management software: the
business opportunity, Ovum Ltd,
London.
Hammer, M. (1990, July-August).
"Reengineering Work: Don’t Automate,
Obliterate," Harvard Business Review,
pp. 104-112.
Hammer, M. and J. Champy (1993).
Reengineering the Corporation: A
Manifesto for Business Revolution,
Harper Business, New York.
Swenson, K.D.; Maxwell, R.J.;
Matsumuto,T.; Sagahari , B.; Irwin,
K. (1994). A business process
environment supporting collaborative
planning. Collaborative computing,
Chapman & Hall
Burati, J.L., & Oswald, T. H., (1993).
"Implementing TQM in Engineering and
Construction." Journal of Construction
Engineering and Management, 9(4), pp
456-470
Workflow technology in the Construction industry
39
Research Paper
FORUM
Gendered Space?
An exploration of the gendered meaning and
experience of ‘home’ in contemporary
British society
Paula Townsend
Keywords
Gender, Space, Home, Contemporary British society.
INTRODUCTION
In the field of urban sociology, and
particularly in the area of housing and
the home, very few studies adopt a
gendered perspective. Gender may be
considered a relatively new focus on
research agendas, with those studies that
do contain a consideration of gender and
housing in contemporary Britain often
focusing on the problems women face
with access to housing, and failing to
examine the complexities of gender
relations within the home. Despite the
home’s powerful influence on everyday
lives and the importance of the
interaction occurring within our homes,
particularly as a means of socialisation,
research, such as that undertaken by
Saunders and Williams (1987), which
explores the social meaning of home,
fails to consider more fundamental
gender and generational relations inside
the home.
Their emphasis lies on the physical and
design features of the home and, in
common with other such studies, may be
seen to be largely gender-neutral
(Madigan et al, 1990).
Although Saunder’s and William’s work
does broaden the scope of urban
sociology and marks a shift in research
away from concentrating on the public
realm towards a focus on the private
sphere, whilst recognising that the
domestic should be included in urban
problems, it fails to consider questions
of power and gender relations within the
home (Somerville, 1989).
The trap that many studies fall into
when introducing gender as an aspect of
research, is that they equate ‘gender’
with
only
concerning
women
(McDowell, 1983). Often women are
‘slotted-in’ in order to satisfy a claim for
a gendered approach. What is really
required is a consideration of the
relationships between and among men
and women, boys and girls, in order to
gain an understanding of how the home
may
be
experienced
differently
according to gender.
The very nature of home life makes it
difficult to conduct meaningful research
into such relations and experiences. The
home is fundamentally private, therefore
creating the problem of access for
researchers (Allan and Crow, 1989).
Even when access is gained, researchers
face the problem of interpreting
collected information as it is often
personal to the particular values of the
family within the home; values
determined by culture, class, age and
sex.
The specific nature of the
information on the home may raise
problems in attempting to generalise
data to form theories on the home as a
social setting (Darke, 1994).
Despite these difficulties, research into
the home remains abundant thus
reflecting the importance of the home in
British society. It is something that
most of us can relate to in one form or
another. Saunders argues that the home
is “the crucial medium through which
the society is structured.” (Saunders
quoted by Somerville, 1989: 115).
However, the home may be the base
point around which local and national
politics is organised, but there are a
number of other locales (school,
workplace, place of leisure) which are
influential in our lives. Despite this, the
emotional attachment that home
possesses for most of us maintains its
primary importance in people’s lives.
OUTLINE
Before an exploration of gendered space
within the home can be conducted it is
first necessary to define what exactly is
understood by the term the ‘home’. This
will be examined in the British context
in section 1, although it must be
remembered that the meaning of home is
culturally specific.
The subsequent
sections
focus
on
three
main
characteristics of the home within which
the construction of gendered experience
and meaning will be examined,
however, whilst this study explores the
gendering of space and experience
within the home, it does not attempt to
discuss in depth the historical and social
factors behind the sexual division of
labour. Nor does it enter into debates
surrounding women’s subordination.
Section 2 looks at the private nature of
the home and considers how access to
private space within the home may be
gendered. Issues of security, control and
freedom in the home are explored in
Gender and Home
40
Research Paper
FORUM
section 3, which emphasises some of the
contradictions of home life, and section
4 considers the home as a place of
creativity and self-expression in which
certain spaces become gendered and in
which conflicting meanings exist,
particularly with reference to women. In
conclusion, suggestions are made for
future considerations for research on the
home.
1. DEFINING ‘HOME’
‘Home’ is something individual to each
of us; we all have our own idea of what
we associate with ‘home’. For some
home may mean their country of origin
(particularly if they are resident or
travelling in another country), for others
a certain region or town. The idea of
home very much depends on the context
in
which the individual finds
themselves, as often home is defined by
comparing it to what it is not (Dovey,
1985). Although country, region and
town are all aspects of what we consider
to be home, for the purpose of this
study, home is defined as the dwelling in
which we live, or used to live, and the
relations and social interaction within
the dwelling, in which we find
emotional attachment through a shared
history, memories and a sense of
familiarity.
Political groups, as well as individuals,
possess varying views of the home
within the physical boundaries of the
home. Feminists see the home as the
locus of gender dominance and female
exploitation. Liberals regard it as a
bastion of personal liberty and
autonomy in opposition to the
increasingly expanding state, and
socialists view the home as an obstacle
to collective life and a place where
capitalist social relations are reproduced
(Saunders, 1989).
However, these are generalised views
and often based on vague evidence.
The home, and the meaning it has for
individuals in today’s society, is an issue
that has been seized upon, developed
and promoted by all aspects of the
media through the use of idealised
images of the home. Such images have
played (and continue to play) an
important role in influencing people’s
ideals and aspirations surrounding
homes, and have also proved to be a
powerful marketing tool. What must be
remembered is that there may be a
considerable difference between the
romantic image of the home as
portrayed by the media, and the reality
of home in a constantly changing British
society.
Whatever our image of home, what
needs to be questioned is whether these
interpretations of home are themselves
gendered? Is the picture of the mother
as carer and nurturer of the nuclear
family, content in her cosy, comforting
kitchen, with the male earner and head
of house busy in his garden, a reality
portraying the sexual division of labour
in British society, or is it the gendered
image of advertising? The issue of
whose images are portrayed and what
dominant cultural values are being
represented in such images needs to be
challenged as it is apparent that the
image of white, Western, middle-class
families is plentiful.
This may be interpreted as being a
feminist approach towards images of the
home.
Indeed, Saunders (1989)
criticises much of the feminist literature
on the home for seeing images of the
home as only representative of male
experience. In research undertaken in
1986 among 522 men and women in 450
different households across 3 different
towns in England (Slough, Derby and
Burnley), Saunders showed that men
and women shared the same images of
love, warmth and comfort about the
home. Saunders concluded that their
replies in his survey should be seen to
reflect their everyday experiences
(Saunders, 1989). However, what must
be remembered is the question of power
within the home and whether this is
gendered,
therefore
influencing
reactions to, and replies provided by
females to the interviewers. Saunders’
method of research, by aiming only a
few questions in a large-scale survey at
the meaning of home, is not an
appropriate way of exploring complex
and subtle areas of meaning (Darke,
1994).1
Our ideas about the home are very much
linked to family. Home life shows a
strong imprint of the modern domestic
ideal in which ‘home’ and ‘family’
(being the kin resident within the
dwelling) are run together (Allan and
Crow, 1989). The family plays a key
role in ensuring the home’s social
importance, rather than the household,
yet the physical nature of the household
remains the focus of much of the
literature about home (Somerville,
1989). It is the family and relations
between kin rather than the physical
structure of the household, which
reproduces the labour force, socialises
the young and which helps to explain
the existence of women’s unpaid work;
and it is the kinship relations which help
to explain the creation of communities
and
nations (Somerville, 1989).
Focusing on the household may result in
gender-biased research, as it does not
adequately understand the meanings of
the household to different people.
Relations within the household must be
an emphasis of research (Varley,1994).
This link between home and family is
not new. Women’s lives have been seen
to revolve around the house since at
least mid-C19th, and in some cases
much
earlier
(Williams,
1987).
Traditional ideologies view the home as
the private realm of the woman, whilst
the public sphere (paid work, politics) is
predominantly the man’s space (Darke,
1994).
1
Saunders’ interviews were conducted by
both males and females, however the private
nature of home life may cause reluctance on
the part of the interviewee to divulge details
concerning certain aspects of individual
experience in the home.
For further
discussion see Somerville (1989).
Gender and Home
41
Research Paper
FORUM
This is not to imply that ideas about the
family have remained static.
More
women are now entering the labour
market and it is suggested that men, as
husbands and fathers, are becoming
more home-centred, but the ideals of
family life remain central to the home
(Allan and Crow, 1989). According to
figures collected by Somerville (1989)
in the 1980s, over 80% of the British
population continue to live as
‘traditional’ families and opinion polls
show that even more prefer it that way.2
However the significance of such
statistics today must be challenged as
non-traditional family arrangements
continue to increase. Oakley (1976) says
the home is the family.
“If society has grown more ‘family
oriented’ the family itself has identified
more and more squarely with its
physical location, the home. ‘Home’ and
‘family’
are
now
virtually
interchangeable terms”. (Oakley, 1976:
65).
The age and generalisation of this quote
may mean that it requires some
qualifying, but Gilman supports the
central role of the family to the home by
saying that home “is home while the
family are in it. When the family are out
of it, it is only a house.” (Gilman
quoted by Allan and Crow, 1989: 2).
However this denies any emotional
attachment that remains felt for a
dwelling when a particular family no
longer reside there.3
The home has often been associated
with the presence of women as wives
and mothers, and the ideology that
requires of home life the presence of a
wife (and, ideally, mother) remains a
2
A major weakness in Somerville’s work is
that he offers no explanation for what he
considers to be a ‘traditional’ family. For the
purpose of this study ‘traditional’ has been
defined as meaning nuclear.
powerful one (Allan and Crow, 1989),
and one which extends into other aspects
of how we identify our home, for
example, Mother Earth and nations
being referred to as ‘she’ It must be
remembered that this association of
women with the home is culture specific
(Kellett, 1995), but nevertheless is an
association that causes difficulties for
less ‘traditional’ forms of home, such as
lone-parent households and homes for
the elderly.
2. THE PRIVATE NATURE
OF THE HOME
Privacy is perhaps the most valued
aspect of home life in contemporary
British society. Having a private place
is central to what it means to many to be
at home (Rybczynski, 1986). There is a
clear distinction, both physically in the
form of the house, and emotionally,
between the inside and the outside of the
home. The doorstep forms a boundary
between the private realm of the family,
away from the scrutiny of others where
they can exercise control over outsider’s
involvement in domestic affairs, and the
public world of wider society (Saunders,
1990).4 The idea of ‘normal family life’
being built around the nuclear family
living independently in its own, separate
dwelling remains a popular image
(Allan and Crow, 1989). However it
may not be that simple to distinguish
between the public and the private, as
access to the home varies; different
people have different access at different
times (Mason, 1989). This particularly
applies to women, who once in the home
of another family, are more likely to
have access to more (or all) parts of the
home than men. Access to bedrooms,
kitchens and bathrooms is often more
free for women than men (Gullestad,
1993), and this would appear to be a
cross-cultural occurrence.
Home provides a private place for the
family, but does not necessarily secure
3
A wealth of literature focuses on the
debate surrounding the difference between
‘house’ and ‘home’. For discussions see
Benjamin (1995).
equal amounts of privacy for all
members of the family.
This is
particularly true for women, but could
also apply to children who are subject to
parental approval (Allan and Crow,
1989). Within the home children have
their own bedrooms or, if they share a
bedroom with other siblings, they claim
at least part of that room. However,
privacy within the home in terms of
segregation of adults is often ignored.
There would seem to be a contradiction
between ‘privacy’ being equated with
being alone, and family ideology
emphasising a form of ‘togetherness’.
Lack of privacy is seen as a problem, yet
being confined to a private sphere is
often regarded as a form of deprivation
(Madigan et al, 1990).
Male partners frequently have space that
can be regarded as their own personal
territory in the form of the garden, a
garage, a den, or in better equipped and
often larger dwellings, a study; a space
where they have the freedom to do as
they choose. Women, as housewives,
rarely have defined personal space. The
female partner may have personal space
in her part of the bedroom, yet total
privacy is denied due to the bedroom
being a shared space between adult
partners. Of course exceptions exist in
homes where partners have separate
bedrooms. The kitchen may be defined
as a ‘woman’s place’ because of its ties
with domesticity, but in many homes it
is also a ‘family space’ where food is
consumed and a workplace, rather than a
place of leisure, for women. Hunt
(1989) echoes these views, but also
emphasises that not all women require
privacy. What must be avoided is the
assumption that all individuals seek the
same level of privacy.
Differences
within levels of privacy sought by
dwelling members, regardless of gender,
needs to be acknowledged.
Much of the early literature by feminists
on the home concentrates on women’s
subordination in the home due to
domestic chores resulting in lack of
4
For further discussion on the dichotomy
between inside/outside see Saunders (1990).
Gender and Home
42
Research Paper
FORUM
privacy and freedom.5 In a study of 5
middle-class and 5 working-class
households in Britain by Hunt (1989)
relatively few women reported having a
problem with lack of personal space.
Indeed, they associated the need for
personal space with feeling depressed (a
space to have a good cry). Apart from
jewellery and clothes, the women that
Hunt interviewed had few personal
possessions that would create a need for
personal storing space. Having the
house to themselves during the day was
adequate personal space.6
Personal
space is closely linked to the issue of
self-identity.
The lack of personal
territory and property, and the lack of a
felt need for such, indicates the extent to
which the houseworker’s self-identity
becomes submerged in the job of caring
for others (Hunt, 1989).
Yet privacy within the home is not
always experienced positively.
The
private nature of home life allows for
limited contact with others, which may
result in feelings of isolation,
particularly for housewives.
Such
feelings are experienced in more
‘traditional’ families as well as less
conventional ones where only one
partner is present (Allan and Crow,
1989). “Home, as the setting in which
most caring is carried out, becomes not
so much a haven from the rigours of the
labour market as a prison.” (Graham,
1983: 26).
What Graham fails to
acknowledge in the above quote is the
element of choice; many women choose
to stay at home, rather than it being
something that is forced upon them, and
surely introducing gender onto the
agenda is about maintaining this choice.
5
Commentaries on this can be found in
Oakley (1976), Oakley (1979).
6
For a consideration of the issue of privacy
in different cultures see Rapoport (1969).
3. SECURITY, CONTROL
AND FREEDOM WITHIN
THE HOME
Just as there would appear to be a
contradiction around the notion of
privacy
in
the
home,
similar
contradictions are to be found in
considering security, control and
freedom in the home. Traditionally
home has been viewed as a castle; a
retreat where individuals are free to do
as they choose (Allan and Crow, 1989).
However, as also expressed by Allan
and Crow (1989), actions within the
home are regulated by the wishes of
other members of the dwelling.
A tension exists between the idea of the
home as a place of relaxation and
freedom away from the rules and
regulations of the public sphere, and the
requirement
of
regulation
and
predictability with regard to domestic
arrangements (Allan and Crow, 1989).
Indeed it is within this routineness that
we find a sense of comfort in the
predictability of home. It is a place
where, although individual members
may change, the actual running of the
home varies very little. Home offers us
a form of shelter and dependency away
from a more independent lifestyle,
though this may be a gender specific
experience.
Creating these feelings of order and
security within the home still remains
primarily the responsibility of the
woman, particularly as the mother
figure. Even in homes where both
partners are employed full time, pressure
remains greater upon the female partner
to maintain a comfortable and orderly
environment.7 We must not assume
though that the primary responsibility
placed upon women to maintain a safe
and tidy home always results due to a
7
Gregson and Lowe (1994) provide an
informative account of the pressures placed
upon women in the home as a result of
traditional ideologies.
lack of male participation in domestic
tasks (or, at least, the less desirable
ones). Help offered with domestic work
by the male partner may be refused, as
the female resents intrusion into her
domain by the male, and she may feel
that the job will be best done by her
(Mason, 1988).
Women may experience a sense of
autonomy in the control and planning
involved with running a home.
Autonomy may be experienced in
control of consumption of the
household, and this view is supported by
Gullestad (1993).
Saunders (1989)
regards control over spending as a major
power resource within household units.
Indeed, he equates it to power resources
in other social settings, such as the
workplace.
However it must be
remembered that for many women the
chore of running and maintaining a
home proves tiresome and, whilst for
some it provides opportunities of
autonomy this still remains clearly
within the domestic sphere, thus
reinforcing traditional ideologies about
women’s roles and ownership within the
home, and possibly maintaining overall
dependency upon the male partner.
Freedom within the home may similarly
be experienced differently according to
gender. This especially applies to the
issue of leisure time and activities.
Ideally ‘home’ equals relaxation and
leisure, but for women it may also be a
place of work and duty. This can be
most clearly demonstrated on special
occasions, when other members of the
home are relaxing, women remain
primarily responsible for tidying,
serving and cooking (Hunt, 1989).
Mason (1988) expands on this idea in
her research on the home and marriage
in later life.
The home ideally,
especially in retirement, is about leisure,
but whose leisure? Being at home for
women does not necessarily mean
having free time. Mason argues that the
women in her study were producers of
the home, and that this was done on two
levels: firstly, for husbands and
secondly, for public scrutiny. “The
Gender and Home
43
Research Paper
FORUM
distinction between the two is akin to
that between reproduction and social
reproduction.” (Mason, 1988:117).
Care must be taken not to generalise
about feelings of security created by the
home, and credit must be given to
feminist literature on the home for
reminding the reader to question the
origin of images of the home. There
may exist a difference between
individual’s perception of what home
should be and what it actually is.
Somerville (1989) supports this view by
focusing on domestic violence within
the home. Often theories about home,
such as that of Saunders and Williams
(1988), have no means of dealing
theoretically with contradictions within
the household unit. Somerville (1989)
argues that this may explain why issues
such as domestic violence and child
abuse, are dismissed as being due to the
“internalisation of the general crisis of
British society” (Saunders and Williams
quoted by Somerville, 1989: 117). In
viewing home as a haven or sanctuary,
such theories are failing to appreciate
that, in reality, the experience may be a
much different one. For whom the
home is a haven must be questioned and
this is an issue that McDowell (1983)
would agree with. In continuing to class
the home as such a retreat, is research on
the home failing to challenge traditional
ideologies about the home?
4. A PLACE OF
CREATIVITY AND SELFEXPRESSION
Our homes not only provide us with a
form of shelter and escape, but also act
as arenas which allow us to express
individual personality and taste. They
serve as a vehicle within which to be
creative when other areas of our lives
may deny this. As a result, our values
and identities are created and objectified
in home decoration.
This idea is
expanded upon in Gullestad’s (1993)
research on home decoration in Norway.
Despite the research being conducted in
Norway, It may be used to draw
parallels with British homes. Through
the arrangement of our homes,
individuals express themselves as
gendered human beings belonging to
specific social classes and reference
groups. Home decoration and home
improvement is therefore part of the
construction and reconstruction of social
groups, and is both highly gendered and
highly shared as a focus of attention for
both sexes, and as a cultural symbol
(Gullestad, 1993).
Decoration of the home, as with other
domestic chores, is often a gendered
task; women frequently are primarily
responsible for deciding how the home
will be decorated and the possessions
within it, whilst men are responsible for
the actual decorating (Allan and Crow,
1989).
This common arrangement
would seem to reflect traditional
ideologies on the home being the
woman’s domain, with the female
partner (because of her sex more
associated with art and creativity)
creating a ‘homely’ environment and the
male partner concentrating on the
physical labour.8 In principle the home
as a whole may be designed as a genderneutral place, but in practise it is largely
a female universe.
Male partners
engaged in physical labour may
experience quite a contrast between their
own appearance and the polished
surroundings of their home (Gullestad,
1993). What must be emphasised here
is the existence of class differentiation,
with the contrast between men and
women being greater among the
working-class.
The desire to create certain atmospheres
in particular rooms lead to a variety
between rooms which is possible to link
with the gendered division of domestic
responsibilities.
The kitchen has
8
A debate exists around whether males
doing occasional housework tasks, such as
decorating, can be regarded as a change in
the sexual division of labour.
For a
discussion of this see Gullestad (1993), Hunt
(1989).
traditionally been viewed as the realm of
the mother, but as Craik (1989) argues
the kitchen has changed from reflecting
the managerial power of women to
becoming just a sign of motherhood and
femininity.9 What must be challenged is
the extent to which the modern kitchen,
designed as a functional workspace,
segregates the housewife from the social
centre of the house (Craik, 1989,
Madigan, et al, 1990). The location of
the kitchen in modern architecture, often
positioned at the rear of the house, can
be traced back to the divisions between
front and back of the house, public and
private, male and female of the
Victorian house (Madigan, et al, 1990).
Indeed, it may be the case that today,
even more so, the kitchen is defined as a
female space due to the limited size of
many modern kitchens. It would appear
that they assume only one user, an idea
that Madigan, et al (1990) support.
However it can be challenged whether
this is occurring across all modern
housing or only at the cheaper end of the
market, whilst more expensive housing
boasts larger kitchens designed to be
more integrated into the dwelling.
In considering the design of the home,
the issue of privacy is again raised;
women rarely have a space of their own
despite their central role in the dwelling,
which contrasts with their often
marginal role in the public sphere
(Craik, 1989). As Whitehorn says:
“Women have real difficulty in knowing
what if anything is their own territory.
In one sense a woman controls the
whole house: but in another she may
feel she owns nothing personally but her
side of the wardrobe.” (Whitehorn
quoted by Madigan, et al, 1990: 632).
It would seem that the home,
particularly for women, is a place of
many contradictions and conflicting
meanings. On the one hand there are
feelings of affection reciprocated
towards the home as a nurturing
9
For further details see Craik (1989).
Gender and Home
44
Research Paper
FORUM
environment, and on the other hand a
sense of resentment at the demands of
the home (Allan and Crow, 1989, Darke,
1994).
To generalise, many of us
identify the home with the fantasy ‘good
mother’; a place that unconditionally
accepts and protects us so that we can
venture into the judgmental ‘outside’
world again (Darke, 1994). Yet Darke
(1994) explains that in addition to this
idea of home as the nurturing mother,
there are feelings of resentment over our
dependence on home. For young adults,
especially males, the home is rejected or
escaped from in an attempt to rebel
against the order and routine of home.
Women cannot so easily do this, as they
themselves may become the mother
(Darke, 1994). This is why women
experience “at one and the same time
irritation at the home ‘demanding’ that
we clean it, and guilt at the fact that we
haven’t cleaned it enough.” (Darke,
1994: 22).
Darke’s writing does at times appear to
be too extreme in her attempt to explore
the conflicting meaning of home for
women. Although her research was
designed to focus on women, rather than
men, and the meaning of home, in
common with other studies greater
insights may be gained by a
consideration of both men’s and
children’s experiences of home together
with further research on the meaning of
home across class and ethnicity.
Especially at a time when increasing
numbers of women are entering the
labour market and we are witnessing the
rise of the ‘house husband’.
What is needed in research on the home
is a way of balancing the practical needs
of women in their existing position and
the political ideals to which feminism
aspire. Architects need to ensure that
design does not trap individuals in
existing gender roles while recognising
that physical design will not, in itself,
change social relations (Madigan, et al,
1990). An increase in the number of
female architects alone will not achieve
this, as gendered space within the home
is about relations between men and
women. The knowledge that people
need to transform their dwellings is legal
and social rather than architectural
(Madigan, et al, 1990).
This is
particularly true in Britain, where the
majority of new houses are the
responsibility
of
private
sector
developers rather than architectdesigned, and consequently reflect the
power of the developer to influence the
marketing and image of the home.
CONCLUSION
The concept of home in contemporary
British society is comprised of many
complex and contradictory issues, which
due to the personal and private nature of
home life prove difficult to research.
The need to gather more empirical
evidence about the role of the home in
people’s lives is not easily resolved, and
raises not only the problem of access,
but
also
issues
surrounding
interpretation of information and
representation of dominant cultural
values. What must be examined in
research into the home, as with all other
research, is the social position of the
researcher and how this may effect their
findings. Much of the literature on the
social
meaning
of
home
in
‘conventional’ families is written by
those belonging to less conventional
homes, such as feminists, lone-parents
and bachelors (Madigan, et al, 1990).
Whilst their research must be valued for
its
role
in
highlighting
the
heterogeneous nature of the family and
home, it must be questioned how much
these researchers can gain meaningful
insight into unfamiliar social settings.
The home, and the gender relations
within it, are not static, and what is
required is more balanced research that
recognises the dynamic nature of the
home environment and which further
acknowledges
and
explores
the
gendering of both images of the home
and the space within it. Power relations
within the home, associated mainly with
gender and age differences, need to be
investigated in more depth in order to
gain a greater understanding of the
social significance of the home
(Somerville, 1989). The home must be
recognised for its role in maintaining
existing ideologies surrounding gender
and for representing, and promoting,
ideals.
As McDowell (1983) and
Madigan, et al (1990) would agree,
whilst the home continues to be
regarded as a haven, the likelihood of
gender-based urban social movements
and a true understanding of gendered
experience within the home is greatly
reduced.
REFERENCES:
Allan, G. and Crow, G. (1989)
Introduction in Allan, G. and Crow, G.
(eds.) Home and Family: Creating the
Domestic Sphere. London: MacMillan.
Anais, E. G. (ed.) (1993) The Meaning
and Use of Housing:
International
Perspectives, Approaches and their
Applications. Aldershot: Avebury.
Benjamin, D. (ed.) (1995) The Home:
Words, Interpretations, Meanings and
Environments. Aldershot: Avebury.
Craik, J. (1989) The Making of Mother:
the role of the kitchen in the home in
Allan, G. and Crow, G. (eds.) Home and
Family: Creating the Domestic Sphere.
London: MacMillan.
Darke, J. (1949) Women and the
meaning of home in Gilroy, R. and
Woods, R. (eds.) Housing Women.
London: Routledge.
Dovey, K. (1985) Home and
homelessness in Altman, I. and Werner,
C. M. (eds.) Home Environment. New
York: Plenum Press.
Graham, H. (1983) Caring: a labour of
love in Finch, J. and Groves, D. (eds.) A
Labour of Love: Women, Work and
Caring. London: Routledge.
Gregson, N. and Lowe, M. (1994)
Servicing the Middle Classes: Class,
Gender and Waged Domestic Labour in
Gender and Home
45
Research Paper
FORUM
Contemporary
Routledge.
Britain.
London:
Gullestad, M. (1993) home decoration
as popular culture. Constructing homes,
gender and classes in Norway in del
Valle, T. (ed.) Gendered Anthropology.
London: Routledge.
Hunt, P. (1989) Gender and the
construction of home life in Allan, G.
and Crow, G. (eds.) Home and Family:
Creating the Domestic Sphere. London:
MacMillan.
Kellett, P. (1995) Constructing home:
construction and production of popular
housing in Northern Colombia. Phd.
thesis: Newcastle University.
Madigan, R., Munro, M. and Smith, S.
J. (1990) Gender and the meaning of
home. International Journal of Urban
and Regional Research. Vol. 14, No. 4,
p.624-647.
Manson, J. (1988) “No peace for the
wicked”: Older married women and
leisure in Talbot, M. and E. Wimbush
(eds). Relative Freedoms. Miton
Keynes: Open University Press.
Saunders, P. (1989) The meaning of
‘home’ in contemporary English culture.
Housing Studies. Vol. 4, No. 3, p.177192.
Saunders, P. (1990) A Nation of Home
Owners. London: Unwin Hyman.
Somerville, P. (1989) Home sweet
home: a critical comment on Saunders
and Williams. Housing Studies. Vol. 4,
No. 3, p.113-118.
Varley, A. (1994) Housing the
household, holding the house in Jones,
G. and Ward, P. M. (eds.) Methodology
for Land and Housing Market Analysis.
London: UCL Press.
Williams, P. (1987) Constructing class
and gender: a social history of the home
1700-1901 in Thrift, N. and Williams, P.
(eds.) Class and Space. London:
Routledge and Keagan Paul.
Woods, R. (1994) Introduction in
Gilroy, R. and Woods, R. (eds.) Housing
Women. London: Routledge.
McDowell, L. (1983) Towards an
understanding of the gender division of
urban space. Environment and Planning
D: Society and Space. Vol. 1, p.59-72.
Oakley,
A.
(1976)
Harmonsworth: Penguin.
Housewife.
Oakley, A. (1979) Becoming a Mother.
Oxford: Martin Robertson.
Rapoport, A. (1969) House Form and
Culture. Englewood Cliffs: PrenticeHall.
Rybczynski, W. (1986) Home: A Short
History of an Idea. London: Heinemann.
Saunders, P. and P. Williams (1988)
The constitution of the Home: Towards
a Research Agenda. Housing Studies.
Vol. 3, No. 2, p.81-93.
Gender and Home
46