Waste of Space in the Design of Contemporary Local Dwelling Units
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23918/eajse.v3i2p24Keywords:
Function, Space Usage, Balconies, Dwelling Unit Design, Housing ShortageAbstract
Iraq is still facing a housing shortage according to studies which determined that 2.5 million dwelling units have to be built before 2020. A huge and unpredicted destruction due to the war against terrorism has exacerbated this problem in the last few years. Thus, rationalization of resources has become crucial in minimizing waste spaces in local dwelling units that have to be built to satisfy public need. However, the rate of space usage of local contemporary houses has yet to be studied. This study, which focuses on balconies featured in contemporary family houses, hypothesizes that most balconies are out of use. Observation was conducted on two residential neighborhoods in Erbil City and questionnaires from 268 household members have been collected. Results showed that a majority of families did not use their balconies because of climate or social causes. Most of these families declared that they rarely used their balconies or used it for different reasons other than relaxation or enjoying the outdoors. Consequently, the fact that 2.2% of the area of dwelling units is wasted space in the form of a balcony results in additional cost on a national level once the housing shortage is solved. This conclusion should be considered by housing authorities, designers, investors, and other stakeholders to avoid wasted spaces that also causes waste of national resources.
References
Abdulrazaq, N. K., Yousef, N. F., & Alshamaa, Z. A. (2008). The role and the social efficiency of
the design characteristics of outdoor spaces. Journal of Engineering and Technology,
(26)3, 81-94.
Al-Bairuti, F.A. (1992). The Architectural Development of House in Baghdad during 20th Century.
PhD thesis, Baghdad University.
Ali, S. H., & Al-Kindi, S. K. (2016). The Indicators of Sustainable Housing in Local Housing
Projects. Journal of Engineering and Technology, (34)4, 131-151.
Al-Kafaji, A. M., & Rubaiey, Z. I. A. (2014). Excessiveness Concept in Architecture. Journal of
Engineering and Technology, (32)10, 338-352
Al-Khateeb, M. (2010). Planning Ideology and its Effect on Designing that Traditional House in the
Islamic Arab City. Journal of Al-Maamoon College, 16, 38-61.
Al-Mas`audi, R. M. A., & Al-Sa`adi, A. H. M. (2012). Housing Shortage in Iraq-Its indications and
Confrontation Strategy. Al-Ameed Journal, (2)3, 368-415.
Al-Meamar, M. S. (2013). A proposal of dwelling unites size standards in Iraqi StandardsIdentification of minimum number and capacity of bed rooms. Zancojournal for pure
sciences, (25)1, 1-13.
Al-Sultani, K. (2015, November 7). Retrieved July 9, 2016, from Almada:
https://almadapaper.net/ar/news/498581
Al-Yousef, A. J. & Khalaf, A. S. (2012). Consumption in Architecture -Study in the formulas for
dealing with consumption in the local architecture. The Iraqi journal of architecture, (25)8,
158-181.
Cambridge Dictionary. (2016, August 20). Retrieved from
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/englishKom.
Kim, H. & Elnimeiri, M. (2004). Space efficiency in multi-use tall building. CTBUH Conference.
Seoul. Retrieved June 20, 2016, from
Kossov, I. (2017, July 10). Retrieved September 21, 2017, from the Atlantic:
https://theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/07/mosul-iraq-abadi-isiscorruption/533067.
Maslow, A. H. (1987). Motivation and Personality (3rd Ed.). London: Harper &Row
Ministry of Construction and Housing, (2010). Iraq National Housing Policy. Retrieved from
Ministry of Construction and Housing. General Board of Housing. (2009). 1st national conference of
housing sector Retrieved from
file:///C:/Users/digital%20city/Downloads/Recommendations%20-
%20Iraq%20National%20Housing%20Conference.en%20 (2).pdf.
Moughtin, C. (2003). Urban Design Street and Square (3rd Ed.). Oxford: Elsevier’s Science.
Muhammad, N.A. (2012). Traditional house between modernity and originality. Journal of
engineering and development, (16)4, 13-32.
Mutlag, J. B. (2011). Activating the role of private sector in housing finance. Planner and
Development, (24), 109 -124.
Oxford learner’s dictionaries, dictionary. (2016, August 20). Retrieved from
https://oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/parts_of_a_house/balcony_2.
Rapoport A. (1969). House, Form, and Culture. N.J.: Prentice Hall, INC.
Shukur, W. (1993). Impact of Urban Fabric Spatial Characteristics on the Social interaction.
University of Baghdad
Slaughter, E. S. (2013). Scenario Analysis to Assess the Economic Efficiency of High Performance
Building Strategies. Built Environment Coalition, 423. Retrieved from
https://builtenvironmentcoalition.org/Results/Scenario Analysis to Assess the Economic
Efficiency of High Performance Building Strategies.pdf
S. M. G. (2006). UK Higher Education Space Management Project Space utilization: practice,
performance and guidelines. Retrieved from
https://smg.ac.uk/documents/utilisation.pdf.
The National Audit Office (1996). Space Management in Higher Education: A Good Practice
Guide”. Retrieved from www.smg.ac.uk/documents/NAO_report_1996.doc.
Warren, J., & Fethi, I. (1982). Traditional houses in Baghdad. Horsham: Coach Publishing House.
Yeang, L. D. (2000). The Urban Design Compendium (3rd Ed.). London: English Partnerships
Yusuf, N. F., Abdul-Ameer, N., & Nehad, M. (2010). Influence of Some of Design Decisions in
Raising the Cost of Dwelling Units. Iraqi Architecture Journal, (6)19,154-170.
Zhao, A. (2011). Walk On: Walkability Assessment in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles: MSc. University
of California.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Eurasian J. Sci. Eng is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY-4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
