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Title Dwelling space in the Sudan: official policies and traditional norms
Full text http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7194
Date 1988
Author(s) Mahgoub, H.K.
Abstract The thesis is concerned with assessing the impact of Sudanese official dwelling space policies upon the settlement and housing of traditional societies and with proposals also for a more appropriate approach than the present one. The official policies currently in use in the Sudan are very rigid in nature. They are unresponsive to the different norms of the various traditional societies found, in the country. This lack of sensitivity- derives from the fact that the policies are based on a positivistic philosophy of planning and urban development which does not allow the specific social and cultural needs of traditional people to be acknowledged. As a result, the application of these policies is causing various serious practical problems and defeating the purposes they were intended to serve. The whole situation in the housing sector calls for a revision of dwelling space policies based on a more flexible approach. The phenomenological philosophy of Martin Heidegger, and in particular his explication of the relationship between the process of building and human existence, reflects a deep concern for the existential needs of human communities. The concept of existential space developed by Christian Norberg-Schulz expresses these philosophical views in detailed, concrete and structural terms. Considered together, Heidegger's speculations and Norberg-Schulz's proposals can be used as a basis for a more appropriate approach to meeting the needs of traditional groups. As an application of the phenomenological approach to understanding traditional people and also to planning their re-settlement and housing, two Sudanese traditional nomadic groups have been investigated. The socio-cultural characteristics and the patterns and use of dwelling space of each group are analyzed both in their nomadic and urban settled lifestyles. The findings of the investigation demonstrate the value of using the concept' of existential space based on the phenomenological approach. The benefits that would be gained by founding settlement and housing policies on such an approach are discussed.
Subject(s) Housing; Regional; planning; Anthropology; Folklore
Language eng
Publisher University of Edinburgh
Type of publication PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Format application/pdf; application/pdf
Identifier 384211
Repository Edinburgh - University of Edinburgh
Added to C-A: 2022-08-22;11:49:56