Comparative Analytical Study of the Social Dimension Between Traditional and Contemporary Urban Environments: Case Study of Riyadh

Ali Alhumaidi — 2022-05-15

Abstract

This paper is mainly concerned with the relationship between social dimensions and the built environment in residential neighborhoods. The study focuses on the imbalance in social functions in accordance to the performance of the urban residential environments, by comparing two types of residential environments, traditional neighborhoods and contemporary neighborhoods. In the past, residential neighborhoods provided good social cohesion among residents on all neighborhood levels. On the other hand, contemporary neighborhoods show a noticeable decline in some important social dimensions such as privacy, security, safety, communication and social interaction. Therefore, this study aims to shed some light on the differences between traditional and contemporary neighborhoods with regard to the social dimensions of urban space. The study also aims to recommend some measures to improve these social dimensions by taking advantage of lessons from the past and extrapolating it through the use of qualitative methods. Tools such as interviews were used to collect information and to analyze study models of both types of neighborhoods. The study concluded that privacy in traditional neighborhoods was the most important social dimension, which in turn enhanced other social dimensions such as security, safety and social interaction. On the other hand, the lack or decline of privacy in contemporary neighborhood has affected negatively other social dimensions in the built environment

36 Evaluation Identity within Environmental Sustainability Case Study: The Housing of the Pilgrims in Azizia District - Holy Mecca

Ayman Mohamed Mostafa Yossef — 2022-05-15

There is a global trend to assess the cities within sustainability, also, the identity is one of ‎the most important challenges of the urban field here shows the main question of the research is ‎how to assess identity within sustainability? The research aims to develop a sustainability ‎measurement tool for architectural identity through the inductive approach, and examine how it ‎could be applied to the case study of the housing of the pilgrims in Mecca through the ‎analytical descriptive approach, the research has concluded some important theoretical ‎findings such as the development of the concept of identity and that identity can be measured ‎and analyzed through four criteria (character, passive design, renewable energy, building ‎materials, and sustainable use) and each criterion has measurement objectives and indicators, ‎In the case study in the housing of the pilgrims in Holy Mecca, it was reached that all buildings ‎were failed to take into account renewable energy and about 38% were of an international ‎character with a weakly passive design with poorly sustainable construction materials. 5% ‎International character in median passive design with low sustainability building materials, ‎‎13% International character in median passive design with median sustainability building ‎materials, 16% Local and historic in median passive design with median sustainability building ‎materials, 29% Local and historical character in medium building materials with good passive ‎design with medium sustainability building materials. The research recommended that the use ‎and development of an identity assessment tool check the status quo be used as a basis for ‎development policy development and sustainability.

Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Environmental Design Sciences

Comparative Analytical Study of the Social Dimension Between Traditional and Contemporary Urban Environments: Case Study of Riyadh

36 Evaluation Identity within Environmental Sustainability Case Study: The Housing of the Pilgrims in Azizia District - Holy Mecca