The Evaluation of Living spaces and Service parts in The Dwell-ing Units in single-family Housing Projects in Erbil city

Abstract

Housing is one of the main concerns raising critical problems in the Kurdistan Region. Due to the fast growth of the urban population through the last period, the Kurdistan-Investment Board was ongoing in construction of effective amount of housing estates by investment companies. Due to the rapid increase in population, many housing estate projects neglected specific family requirements, with low commitment to housing standards, quality of dwellings, and the resident's lifestyles. This study investigates living space and services parts of dwellings in those estates, finding out the factors that direct residential satisfaction supported by fixing correlations among determinants of overall satisfaction. The adopted methodology consists of evaluation based on two steps, the first was by a technical assessment using checklist comparing spaces with Iraqi standards, while the second part was through survey of resident's satisfaction. Field data collection had consisted of a questionnaire list and data collection performed for five housing projects (10 types of dwelling units covered by eighty-three samples) selected in Erbil city. Then the questionnaire results were analyzed using the SPSS program using correlations, regression, and descriptive statistics. Low commitment to Iraqi Standards was obvious in most cases. Results also showed that dwellers were satisfied with their dwelling units in cases despite differences with Iraqi urban housing standards. For instance, in two bedrooms dwellings, areas of services were below the standard by 21% while the resident's satisfaction in this group varied between neutral and satisfied. It had been found a clear correlation between indicators of dwellings units’ spaces. The regression has shown that the indicators of the kitchen location's size and shape highly affected the householder's satisfaction. The descriptive statistics have shown the satisfaction level mostly been neutral in all projects. Finally, the study suggests some recommendations regarding dwelling units in addition to the need to amend the Iraqi standards of housing.