The Mechanisms of achieving and rating urban sustainable neighborhood projects in Baghdad city (Hypothesis academic vision)

Abstract

This scientific study seeks to shed the light on the first academic sustainable housing projects study designed by the fourth stage students in Baghdad University- Architecture Engineering Department, 2015, in a site in Baghdad city chosen for its environmental and site potentialities that achieve urban sustainability. The idea of the academic project is adopting urban sustainable neighborhood principles starting with the development and planning level, mixed uses strategies, the application of TOD and green transportation, site and green natural areas preservation, reaching to the design level by designing compact within contemporary housing clusters which applied green technologies from the use of renewable energies like solar panels, green roof gardens, water recycling, to the designing detail of an eco-house in urban orchard area. Finally, the researcher seeks to rate the projects according to (LEED -ND) rating system to measure the level of sustainability in some of the best- chosen academic projects in order to study the possibility of achieving the universal principles of the sustainability in the local projects. The findings are so many creative academic projects which showed two main results, firstly the possibilities of applying the universal principles of urban sustainable neighborhood in Iraqi cities in general and Baghdad as a case study to achieve urban sustainability and secondly the necessity of developing a local Iraqi urban sustainability criteria and rating systems suit with Iraqi environment and work with the local microclimate.