Application of Urban Sustainable Design Strategies for Development and Rehabilitation of Al-Qahad Heritage Village

Naief A Aldossary

doi:10.5334/fce.55

Abstract

This paper investigates and analyses the redesigning of a heritage village in the southern region of Saudi Arabia to determine the impact of sustainable design strategies and green open spaces for the village rehabilitation. Heritage village development is an important step to consider for sustainable urban planning and design due to its influence in urban development, the local economy, and historical conservation. Al-Qahad heritage village has been selected as the case study due to its involvement with different historical domestic buildings, military castles, and mosques and its location on the main highway between Albaha and other regions. Furthermore, this heritage village reflects in its urban identity the local environment, social culture, and local construction materials and vernacular architecture. The applied approach involved visiting Al-Qahad heritage village for (a) analysis of the site and environmental conditions, (b) mobility survey analysis, and (c) the application of urban sustainable design strategies for redesigning Al-Qahad heritage village. The site visit included a physical survey to determine the current condition of buildings regarding heights, conditions, land use, and construction materials used. The output of the study is to redesign the heritage village including suggesting some other urban facilities, such as a museum, hotel, and other social activities to attract visitors and rehabilitate the village. The study highlights the importance of many urban sustainable design strategies that can be applied in other heritage villages in Saudi Arabia to protect and conserve the historical buildings and invest in these facilities for tourism purposes. Saudi Arabia is a nation rich with heritage villages, which are found across the country especially in the southern region. The study concludes by offering several recommendations for developers and investors.

Highlights

Sustainable urban and heritage development has become an important international concern
Stages to cover (a) site analysis to investigate the topography of the site, wind direction, natural resources, availability of construction materials, and renewable energy and agriculture areas; (b) physical analysis to include the condition of each individual historical building, the type of construction masteries used, and the process needed for restoration of the buildings; and (c) sustainable urban design to cover a comprehensive urban design of the whole heritage village and include new facilities to rehabilitate the heritage village and meet the environmental requirements
The findings are that urban design can be applied to Al-Qahad heritage village following additional work when drawing up plans and providing details of the construction materials

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable urban and heritage development has become an important international concern. Stages to cover (a) site analysis to investigate the topography of the site, wind direction, natural resources, availability of construction materials, and renewable energy and agriculture areas; (b) physical analysis to include the condition of each individual historical building, the type of construction masteries used, and the process needed for restoration of the buildings; and (c) sustainable urban design to cover a comprehensive urban design of the whole heritage village and include new facilities to rehabilitate the heritage village and meet the environmental requirements. The visit survey focused on how to link the heritage zone with the urban mobility network and on how this heritage village can be rehabilitated and operated by allocating areas for new facilities On this basis, the output of the site visit gives rise to a comprehensive restoration process for each individual building including comprehensive urban design for application of the urban sustainable and environmental criteria.

Design and restoration 88

Conclusion and recommendations