Planning for Resilience – Study of a social housing model for Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

Author: Liudmila Cazacova, Fathia Elmenghawi, Ayza Sohail
Affiliation: American University of Ras Al Khaimah

Abstract
Housing, in general, addresses technical, social, political, and economic issues more than any other building type. However, there is a recent emphasis on a bigger picture with more intention placed on implementing sustainable planning aspects of neighborhoods and communities’ level as well as on the individual house’s level. Considering that from ten to twenty percent of the total urban area is usually occupied by social housing, urban resiliency is currently in the center of debate about the provision of social housing in order to achieve the long-term sustainable development goals. United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) government considers housing as one of the most vital sectors of the country’s economy that safeguards a successful sustainable urban development. One of the main goals of the country is to provide its citizens with quality social housing. Hence, new, more resilient models of neighbourhood planning are introduced in replacement to the conventional models of urban forms. However, these programs address country’s citizens only despite the fact that the demographics of the country shows the ratio of Emirati population to Expat 11,48% to 82,52% respectively. Based on this perspective, this study discusses the requirements of resilient social housing that are adaptable to the local environment, by proposing a social housing model for expat population of the country. Through observation of expat social housing conditions and of existing social housing programs for Emiratis population in Ras Al Khaimah, authors design criteria for environmentally/culturally adaptive social housing. The observation phase of the research is followed by an experimental one, during which the authors suggest a social housing model for Expat population that satisfy the set criteria. As a result of the research, model of social housing that considers the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainability is suggested to comply with Emirate’s strategy to enhance the sector of social housing. By this research, the authors comply with the Emirate’s strategy to enhance social housing and inform all decision makers and responsible stakeholders about the importance of better individual housing unit, neighbourhood, city planning that will result in sustainable communities and social equity.

Keywords: Environmental and cultural adaptivity, social housing, sustainable aspects, urban planning, urban resiliency