A comparative study of Libyan public housing

Bilghit, EA

Abstract

A house is a basic necessity of life for all human beings. Beyond meeting this
basic goal, shelter should also meet the requirements of their way of life and
socio-cultural value requirements such as privacy, security, recognition of
religious constraints and the desire for prestige and status. Traditional forms
are able meet these requirements but the ability of more contemporary forms
to do so is questionable. This can be attributed to imperfect knowledge, both
with regard to resident's housing preferences and to the factors which
determine their satisfaction with the built environment.
The result of rapid urbanization, a common characteristic of most developing
countries is the tendency to apply western technology and building methods
without considering the socio-cultural values and needs of the society. It is
more desirable to be selective, to choose what is appropriate, rather than
apply the imported technology wholesale. In Libya, development has
changed the physical and social concepts of the country. The housing sector
in particular has expanded tremendously as a result of the oil economy.
While the social life remains largely unaltered. People accept modern
architecture, but also wish to preserve their indigenous socio-cultural values
and identity. Moreover, contemporary housing differs greatly from traditional
architecture with respect to scale, space organization, layout, land use,
architectural style and house type.
This study aims to describe the different stages that Libyan housing passed
through, providing a comparison between the different periods of the house
in Libya, and between the three regions in terms of climate, building materials
and the other differences. This represents the factors of influence that
affected the form of the Libyan house and the main features for the Libyan
house during different periods (Ottoman period, Colonial period,
Independence period and Revolution period). The study specifically
concentrates on Tripoli city representative of the coastal region, Ghadames
city, representative of the desert region and Garyan city, representative of the
mountain region. Data has been collected through historic documents
analysis and field work. This study is composed of ten parts. The first part is
an introduction, the second part is a literature review, the third part is a research methodology, the fourth part is a profile of Libya, the fifth part, is of
housing in the coastal region, the sixth part, of housing in the desert region,
the seventh part, of housing in the mountain region, the eighth part, of field
work, the ninth part, a comparison and analysis between the housing types
and the last part is the summary, conclusion and recommendations.
The research process found that there was a lack of existing research on
public housing in Libya. This was particularly noticeable when examining
public housing on a regional basis.
The research concluded that this was an unintended effect of the political
regime imposed on Libyan since 1969. Only recently has this regime relaxed
internal constraint to permit such a study to be undertaken.
The research found major disparities between the espoused 'best practice' of
research methods required to take account of the social/cultural values and
norms in Libyan society.
This disparity was also noted in the necessity of accepting the 'political'
dimensions of state support for research when determining appropriate
research approaches to conditions questionnaires and interviews.
The conclusions to this research make an important contribution to
knowledge by describing housing in Libya on a regional basis.
The analytical findings of chapters 8 and 9 present a comparison analysis of
public housing (in both traditional and contemporary designs) in the three
distinct climatic regions of libya.
The conclusions to this research showed that the current Libyan policy of
'standard' housing designs is failing to satisfy the social/cultural values and
norms of the Libyan people and is failing to satisfay the varied climatic
requirements of three very distinct regions.
The thesis ends by making a series of recommendations to:
The Libyan government;
Libyan designers;
Libyan local officials;
Libyan residents.
The thesis concludes that it is possible to take the 'best' features of traditional
and contemporary designs and merge them to create designs that are more effective in meeting the verity social/cultural values and norms of the people
of Libya.

Citation

Bilghit, E. A comparative study of Libyan public housing. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2021
• Award Date: Jul 1, 2007