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Worldwide, an increasing number of cities and regions are confronted with conflict and tension. These conflicts have an impact on shaping and planning the built-environment, as well as the future development of the area. This article focuses on Gaza City and its development process throughout its political conflicts, with an emphasis on the last two decades (2000-2018). The main objective is to comprehend the urban development in the case of conflict through analyzing the development of Gaza City, as well as questioning the determinants of urban development. This information is obtained through aerial maps, thermal maps and GIS map analysis. The findings reveal a general shortage of housing units and lack of safe housing locations, as most areas in Gaza City are under threat of war, as well as high prices of land due to the unavailability of unconstructed lands and high costs of construction materials. This study argues that urban development in Gaza City was not led by planning through local authorities, rather it was shaped by conflict. This article concludes with recommendations that could be beneficial in developing lasting solutions to urban development in Gaza City

The purpose of this paper is to study the feasibility of using the agency-driven housing approach in a post-conflict context. This paper aims to identify the challenges in applying the agency-driven approach within the context of post-conflict housing reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.

In this paper, a qualitative research approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders and representatives of project beneficiaries. Secondary data drawn from academic papers, articles, technical reports and media reports were also obtained.

The findings support doubts in the literature about the feasibility of using the agency-driven approach in post-conflict housing reconstruction. The paper concludes that an agency-driven housing project successfully constructed a few thousand housing units and provided thousands of temporary job opportunities. The project encountered challenges in beneficiary selection; affordability of housing units; access to building materials; governance issues; and delays in implementation.

This paper offers valuable lessons for decision-makers, planners and architects to build on in future endeavours in Gaza and in similar contexts.

This paper particularly confirms the challenges of using the agency-driven housing approach in a post-conflict setting. These findings are useful for policy-makers to develop relevant strategies to address housing needs in the Gaza Strip.

This paper aims to identify the priorities on water sector planning. The priorities are identified by comparing the climate change impact on water consumption and the impact of using domestic water illegally to irrigate the urban agricultural holdings in suburban areas.

Metered water consumption in summer and winter in both urban and suburban areas was studied in Rafah city. A backward chronological linear model of climate change (precipitation and temperature) influence on water consumption was developed using software STATISTICA 10. The developed statistical relation was used to predict the impact of various climate change scenarios for domestic water consumption. Hence, four climate change scenarios were hypothesized – an increase in temperature by 1 and 20°C and a reduction in the rainfall by 10 and 20 per cent, respectively.

The most influential climate change scenario was the increase of temperature by 20°C, which caused an increase of 1.4 per cent on the average domestic water consumption compared to the current value. The hypothesized reduction of 20 per cent in precipitation caused a negligible increase in water consumption by 0.1 per cent from the current value. Urban agriculture and current practice of using municipal water to irrigate cultivated urban holdings have a significant negative influence on domestic water consumption. The aforementioned practice led to a high percentage of unaccounted for water (UFW) of 33, 38 and 45 per cent for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The concerned decision-makers should consider the right track in prioritizing dilemmas for planning water sector in suburban areas.

This research could be considered the first of its kind because impacts of urban agriculture and climate change on domestic water consumption have never been previously considered in the Gaza Strip.

Labor productivity is one of the most important factors that affect the physical progress of any construction project. In order to improve labor productivity, site production should be measured on a regular basis, and then compared to acceptable standard benchmarks. The objective of this paper is to measure masonry labor productivity in Gaza Strip, Palestine, using a consistent benchmarking approach.

Production data were collected from nine different construction projects located in Gaza. For each project, values for baseline productivity, disruption index, performance index and project management index were calculated.

Based on the nine targeted projects, the baseline productivity of masonry works in Gaza seems to range from 0.29 to 0.80 work‐hours per square meter. Calculated values were utilized to develop a correlation between two project benchmarks (i.e. disruption and project management indices). AS only four out of the targeted nine projects performed reasonably well, the paper strongly recommends developing a benchmarking standard for each local construction firm in Palestine which may lead to an improvement in the national construction productivity.

The outcome of this research will improve the national construction productivity in Palestine and highlights the benefit of improving benchmarking standard.

The purpose of this paper is to prioritize the vital tools/techniques for the effective implementation of the last planner system (LPS) in the cross-cultural setting of a developing country, i.e. Gaza Strip. Besides, the potential benefits of implementing LPS are prioritized.

The significant techniques and likely benefits of LPS implementations were identified through comprehensive literature, followed by their verification through a pilot study. The quantitative data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 89 companies, operating in the Gaza Strip construction industry. The relative important index was calculated for prioritizing the significant tools/techniques (16) which support the effective LPS implementation, and highlighting the potential benefits (10) achieved through LPS implementation.

The results showed that the “use of visual devices to spread information in the construction site,” “attendance of key actors” and “look ahead plan” are the most important tools/techniques supporting LPS implementation. The top three potential benefits of implementing LPS include: “allows a better understanding of the program control,” “maximizes the co-operation and confidence among team members” and “allows the manager to better visualize the work program.” To prevent any waste in project time and to ensure the material supply and continuity of works, the study recommends advance supply and storage of demand materials, and early availability of the shop-drawings for acceptance by the superintendent.

The study’s findings are expected to guide the key construction stakeholders to prioritize their energies toward effective LPS implementation in the Gaza Strip.

Though this study pertains to Palestine, its methodology can be generalized in other countries and regions, having a similar work environment, after making necessary cultural adjustments.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank the factors that affect the bid/no bid decision according to their relative importance from the perspective of the contracting parties operating in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

The objectives of this research were investigated through a postal questionnaire, which covered a randomly selected sample of 63 contractors, 29 clients and 13 consultants operating in the construction industry in the Gaza strip. The questionnaire was structured based on related literature, the pilot study and actual factors affecting bidders' decisions to bid or not that arise from special conditions in the Gaza Strip. A total of 78 factors that affect the bid/no bid decision were identified. These factors were then ranked according to their relative importance to contracting parties operating in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

The results illustrate that the financial capability of the contractors, the financial capability of the clients, the financial values of the project, the due date of the payments, the availability of construction raw materials in local markets, and the stability of the construction industry were the most critical factors affecting the bid/no bid decision, as agreed by all respondents.

The paper provides supportive practical solutions for contractors, clients and consultants to enhance and improve bidding decisions. It is recommended that clients and consultants consider the financial capabilities, technical capabilities and staff competencies of the contractors during the awarding stage, and not simply focus on the lowest bid.