Deterioration in Urban Residential Areas: Causes and the Enhancement: Sana’a City is a Case Study

Abstract

Defects and deterioration of the urban areas throughout Sana’a city due to the lack of awareness, and ignorance the implementation rules, “Building regulations”. These defects and deterioration of the urban housing areas, some of the building been built out of the planning parameters, dimensions’ of the streets changed as it been designed and planed by the planning authority (s), open spaces between buildings never organized, lack of green areas, and lack of social facilities. Moreover, a mixed land uses, harmed the residential areas. The aim of the paper is to discuss the role of urban design as a transformative instrument in the regeneration process, considering the rebuilding of the society cultural values as the most important goals as well as the most important urban and architectural vocabulary. The study aim to identify location and reasons of existence of the defects, and what circumstances will result on social and economic aspects of the inhabitants of the residential areas in the city. We will focus on social as well as spatial aspects of built environments, and discuss national and international case studies in order to explore perceptual, morphological, functional, symbolic, regulatory, social, cultural, and political-economic aspects of urban design and apply that to enhance the defected urban area with the city of Sana’a. The descriptive and comparative analysis method was followed for the study, and then come out with some conclusions and recommendations to improve physical characteristics of built environment, which aim to contribute to the quality of life of urban residential environment at the study area, and to apply to the whole city, in the future urban enhancement.
 Keywords: Sana’a city, Residential areas, Urban Environment, defects and deterioration, Urban improvement or enhancement.