Creating of urban spaces: between legislation and application. A case study of land use plan N°06 in the city of Batna

Abstract

The illegal and disorderly practices committed by the IUC (inhabitants/users/citizens) have introduced chaos into urban spaces at different levels. The aim of this study is to examine how the practices do not comply with urban legislation impact urban spaces. It applies a socio-spatial analysis using three methodologies: the first is a social survey through questionnaires, the second is a field survey of the area studied, and the third is a spatial configuration modeling using space syntax analyses. The results show the dysfunctionalities caused by the unplanned interventions of IUCs within the study area, specifically land use plan N°06 in the city of Batna. Disobeying urban planning principles leads to compromised accessibility and visibility according to spatial syntax measures. Additionally, the results of the questionnaire and the survey highlight the inadequacy of legislation without effective enforcement mechanisms. Furthermore, the study contrasts the findings of field survey with spatial configuration analyses, indicating the disadvantages of the created urban space.