37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 248DEVELOPING GHADAMES OLD TOWN: TOWARDS ASUSTAINABLE APPROACHRamadan T. BelgasemDepartment of Architecture & Urban PlanningUniversity of Al Fateh, Tripoli, Libyaramtabelg@yahoo.comKey words: Ghadames, old town, development, LibyaAbstractThis paper presents a development plan for rehabilitating and integrating the old city ofGhadames, Libya. It is based on findings and missions carried out by the author during hiswork as a consultant for UNOPS project LIB/98/003, for the urban rehabilitation ofGhadames Old city between November 1999 and April 2005.The aim of this paper is to propose a sustainable approach for formulating developmentstrategies for urban planning and urban design aspects related to the rehabilitation of the OldCity of Ghadames. A thorough review of the new town planning and the old city morphology,as it has been developed through time, revealed several challenges facing the futuredevelopment of Ghadames city. This paper discusses the planning measures and theintervention necessary to deals with those challenges and to rehabilitate the old city as well asto restore its urban position within Ghadames greater area. A comprehensive planningproposal is considered as the appropriate tool for managing the development andrehabilitation of the old town and its complimentary counterpart; the new city.The proposed plan considers the following five development strategies:• developing major city monuments;• rehabilitating major public squares;• providing zones for housing and tourist investments;• revitalizing axis between the old and new city, and• improving traditional building materials.A recent visit to the city of Ghadames has shown how urban planning and urban designcapacity can improve the quality of life in traditional cities. The city has attracted the attentionof local and national authorities; therefore, a new positive attitude seems to be flourishingamong local community.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 139