Historical Urban Fabrics and the Effect of New Building Shadings on Social Activities—Case Study Tripoli Lebanon

Abstract

As a general rule, the historical cities in the Middle East have a rich and unique urban fabric. However, due to rapid changes in the architectural built environment, some of these cities have not had the chance to develop or upgrade to follow the effects of the new architectural and urban changes to fulfil the needs of new users. The historical city of Tripoli in Lebanon is among the most important Arab cities, with a distinctive urban planning, and it has not changed since the Mamluk period. The urban fabric of the old city is historical, but some of its buildings are modern and have no distinctive architectural or historical character. Furthermore, the new, modern buildings that have been built among the old, historical buildings have different heights in comparison with the old fabric. In addition, changes have occurred in the original community structure to accommodate a new community with new needs. This differentiation in community and building heights leads to different shadings on the old pathways and streets, which has subsequently resulted in solutions being developed by the occupants of historical regions in order to meet their environmental needs in this urban fabric. Based on the above, the aim of this research is to observe and analyse the effects of urban morphology deformation, as well as a new community with new social activities, on the perception of the historical urban fabric. The focus is on shaded spaces that adapt to the urban environment in order to fulfil the new needs of the communities located there. Tripoli in Lebanon provides a case study.