Mechanisms of Achieving the Social Sustainability in the Traditional Urban Structure

Abstract

Sustainability as a concept has become one of the basic terms which should be taken in concsideration in urban design and urban planning .There is an deficiency in knowledge covering the importance of the social approach and its mechanisims to achieve a contemporary urban structure . Therefore, the main goal of the research is to detect the elements of social sustainability in the traditional urban structure, using the indicators derived from the theoretical argument to analyze the traditional features of Al Kadhimiya City as a case study. The research hypothesis is: (The traditional urban structure embraces the elements of social sustainability , Traditional Islamic architecture for example is a sustainable architecture because it has adopted the intellectual aspects of Islam and reflected the cultural, civil and economic aspectes of Arab Islamic communities. The research has examined a number of components of social sustainability: (sustainability of kinship system - sustainability of the waqf system - sustainability of the religious factor). Thereby it has determined the conceptual framework for research in three axes. First axis clarify the concept of social sustainability and disclosure of components in the traditional urban structure. The second axis at the general framework of indicators and mechanisms for achieving social sustainability in the traditional urban structure, third axis (the study of applied) and analyze the results of the application.