Proposed Paradigms for Developing the Building Laws and Legislations of Residential Architecture in Aden City - South Yemen

Abstract

Since 1990 to date, Aden City has witnessed several changes which have their negative repercussions on the situation of building in residential areas. During that period several building decisions and laws have been made. Some of these decisions and laws have been defective and deficient, as they resulted in the spread of haphazard construction areas and building violations in residential areas as a result of the legislator's neglect of several local and environmental circumstances in the city and the changes that occurred in its residential architecture. This paper is intended to formulate proposed paradigms for developing the building laws and legislations to help manage or reduce architectural and constructional problems in the residential areas of Aden City. The research has come up with a set of findings, the most important of which are the following: The emergence of building laws is associated with the emergence of architecture, the increase in its areas, its expansion, and the difference of its style across ages. With the development of architecture laws developed depending on the conditions and changes of each period as well as on society's continuous need for what would regulate its building situation throughout history. The circumstances of each historical phase that societies witness contribute to defining the features of their architectural paradigms which, in turn, and through their main axes, form a main reference for the rules regulating building in them. The residential architecture paradigms in Aden City can be classified into general paradigms and a paradigm specific to the city (cultural diversity). General paradigms are divided into: typical paradigms that have a fixed influence on residential architecture in the city and atypical paradigms that are changeable over time to adapt to the conditions and requirements of each historical phase witnessed by the city. From these paradigms one can obtain the axes upon which the building laws and legislations in the residential areas of this city that must be based. This research paper deals with the following points: Introduction: The research problem, objective, method, and scope. Historical development of architecture and building laws and legislations as an approach to the formulations of the proposed paradigms. The beginnings of the emergence of residential architecture in Aden City - South Yemen. The situation of building in the residential areas of Aden City under Yemeni building laws and legislations during the period post 1990. The proposed paradigms for developing the building laws and legislations of residential architecture in the residential areas of Aden City. The most salient axes derived from the proposed paradigms.