Search results

This study aims to evaluate The Springs’ indoor environment, one of the iconic townhouse-type residential buildings in Dubai, more efficiently for the integrated evaluation of the indoor environment with the weights of indoor environmental factors such as thermal, indoor air, lighting and acoustic.

The weights of the indoor environment factors were derived for the integrated evaluation to reflect the residents’ preferences. Based on the post-occupancy evaluation (P.O.E.) survey, the weights according to the gender, age group and indoor spaces followed a comparison and analytical processes.

This paper had found the priority of residents’ needs for each space in The Springs project. In summer, thermal comfort was the most important factor for living room and the master bedroom. In winter, the priority for living room and kitchen was the indoor air quality.

As it is the first research survey for housing project in Dubai, it needs to be extended to other housing projects in Dubai. To increase the reliability of the weights calculated through this study and the applicability of the integrated indoor environmental evaluation, more in-depth P.O.E. survey is needed with wide range of survey participants.

This paper will help developing guidelines for future renovation based on the comparative analysis among thermal comfort, acoustic comfort, lighting comfort and indoor air comfort.

This paper is the first attempt to analyze the condition of early housing projects in Dubai. The data can be used to increase not only the design quality and marketability of housing projects in Dubai but also the condition of residents’ health status to avoid sick building syndrome from approximately 20 years old buildings.

The main aim of this study is to identify the prevailing design trends in contemporary mosques in northern cities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It highlights the key elements and features to categorize mosques.

Based on the literature review, four major stylistic expressions were identified, which formed the theoretical basis for a survey conducted to study 50 mosques in each of the four northern cities: Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Ras Al Khaimah. The 200 visited mosques were investigated and analyzed based on the four categories. The comparison between these mosques enabled the author to identify the key elements and features that can be adopted in classifying mosques in relation to the four main trends.

The study reveals that there is a strong attachment with local historic styles. In total, 86% of the mosques follow traditional and historic styles. While 74% of Sharjah mosques follow historicism, 64–72% in the other cities adopt local traditional. Almost all investigated mosques follow one layout, but with diverse stylistic expressions. Some major elements are common among all mosques, while other minor elements are found in all congregational mosques. The study identified key indicators that can be used to help classifying mosques in other cities and countries.

This is the first study to categorize mosques in the UAE. There are few studies on mosques in Sharjah and Ajman, focusing on typology and sustainability, with less emphasis on styles. The results of this study can be considered by architects as well as by authorities. It can also be used as a reference for other studies.

This research has been conducted to determine the design quality indicators and parameters for affordable housing in Karachi Pakistan. The absence of quality in Karachi housing resulted from various factors ranging from policy failure, violation of bylaws, population, housing scarcity and non availability of quality parameters etc. The amalgamation of these factors eventually lowers the quality of housing and ultimately results deficient housing design and construction. Because of this trend the end users experience the nuisance of unplanned maintenance and bear the tax of heavy repair and reworks. Significance of research has been accomplished through developing design quality models for both professional and users. This research has eventually evaluated forty eight (48) quality indicators for housing design (QIHD) from listed 65 design quality variables farmed in seven sections. This research concludes that existing design quality of affordable housing in Karachi could be enhanced through improving the design, construction, services, site development and neighborhood and sustainability. The QIHD model will provide the opportunity for design and construction professionals of city to rethink their housing design intellect in context of the housing quality.

This paper aims to optimize the smart elderly housing planning with IoT (internet of things) technologies for an aging society in Dubai. To reflect the IoT technologies in the elderly housing, the characteristics of the IoT home network devices, applied to Ajman University (AU) testbed and smart services model with the IoT technologies are thoroughly analyzed.

To extract the optimal smart elderly housing model in Dubai, the Korean smart home model from smart cities in Korea was used to implement the testbed at AU. In total, 100 users survey had been performed to adjust the Korean model to local culture/context.

It was analyzed that convenience and functionality are factors that must be provided. The security system was pointed out as a common denominator for future enhancements. When IoT technologies are applied to elderly housing, it should focus on the safety and health management of the elderly.

Dubai had announced a strategy to transform into a Smart City in 2014 and the strategy had included 100 initiatives. The base unit of smart homes, however, was not covered and furthermore as society grows older, the priority for IoT technologies application in the smart home should be focused on smart elderly housing, as the elderly is equivalent to the handicapped due to deteriorated physical abilities.

The characteristics of the IoT home network devices applied to the AU testbed and smart services model with the IoT technologies are thoroughly analyzed.

These are Working, Learning and Living. The first and last of Working and Living have been addressed in some of the previous issues of the journal. ‘Working’ has been supported and developed by books, journals and projects. User decision making processes lie central to these concepts.

This chapter briefly explores selected English and general education policy documents, curricula, and textbooks within the context of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) from a Critical Discourse Analysis perspective and examines how they have changed pre- and post-21st century. First, a policy document related to education in KSA in general (pre-21st century) is analyzed along with an English language teaching (ELT) policy document of the same period. Next, two general policy documents post-21st century are explored, followed by one related to ELT policy. Finally, one post-21st century document related to higher education is discussed. The “network of practices” within which these documents are situated are first detailed, as well as the structural order of the discourse, and some linguistic analysis of the choice of vocabulary and grammatical structures (Meyer, 2001). Issues which might be problematic to the learning and teaching identities of the students and teachers interpreting these documents are also highlighted. Finally, we consider whether the network of practices at this institution and KSA in general “needs” the problems identified in the analysis and critically reflect on the analysis.

This paper aims to identify the impact of Clans and parties on mobilizing and guiding voters in the municipal elections in Palestine, from the point of view of Municipal Council members, especially the municipal elections in Hebron governorate for 2005 and 2017. The Palestinian society in Hebron governorate is characterized by the penetration of parties and clans, and this governorate is one of the most clan-based Palestinian provinces. It also relies on clans to run its social and political system as well as managing and shaping the guiding of its citizens.

The quantitative research method was used in this study, and the study population is consisted of members of the municipal councils in Hebron governorate, especially the councils classified (A, B).Whereas, the municipalities classified under category (A) are the ones in the center of the governorate, and the municipalities classified under category (B) are the most in the population. The study depended on a purposive sample of (200) Municipal Council members, including 100 municipal councilors in 2005 and 100 municipal councilors in 2017. The survey was conducted in the academic year (2018–2019). The method Four–Jurors (Reviewers) was used in collecting data.

The results of the study showed that clans and political parties are among the most prominent means of mobilizing and guiding voters in Palestine. The field study indicated thact clans and parties had a high impact on the mobilization and guiding of voters in the municipal elections in Hebron governorate in 2005 and 2017. This is due to the unity of the clan, its association with political parties and the overlapping between the clan and the party. Parties have also penetrated the Palestinian society besides its support to people who are loyal even it did not choose them in the elections. Moreover, many members of the electoral blocs are attributing themselves to the parties to gain their support in elections. Although Hamas did not participate in the 2017 elections, it had an impact on the electoral process by guiding its members not to elect Fatah blocs in the elections, or to support those who are close to this movement.

This study can be regarded as an introduction to identify the impact of clans and parties on mobilizing and guiding voters in the municipal elections in Palestine. Comparing that effect between the 2005 and 2017 elections, to find out how the strength of clans and parties differs in guiding their voters depending on the time period, as well as the ability of clans and parties to make political change by its influence on the political participation of its citizens.

During disturbances and unprecedented events, firms are required to be resilient to confront crises, recover from losses, and even capitalize on new opportunities. The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to examine how different types of capabilities (routine, dynamic or ad hoc) steer an entrepreneurial firm into ecological, engineering and evolutionary resilience and (2) to identify strategic activities that are deployed by firms with different capabilities to achieve resilience.

Data were gathered using structured qualitative interviews with 26 entrepreneurial resilient firms that managed to survive a multitude of coinciding crises.

The findings show that each type of capability enhances the ability to achieve a specific resilience outcome: ad hoc capability for partial engineering resilience, routine capability for ecological resilience and dynamic capability for evolutionary resilience. Furthermore, ad hoc capabilities are shown to be favored when firms' losses are severe. In contrast, routine and dynamic capabilities are preferred when losses are mild. The most significant capability deployment activities related to building resilience are corporate strategic changes, global export strategy, cost reduction, stakeholder support, positive mindset, fund raising, network building, product development, efficiency improvement and restructuring. These activities are segregated based on capability and resilience types.

Practitioners are encouraged to cast off limiting assumptions and beliefs that firms are conditioned to fail when faced with unprecedented crises. This study provides an integrative portfolio of capabilities and activities as a toolbox that can be used by different entrepreneurs and policy makers to achieve resilience and better performance.

The paper undertakes a first of its kind empirical examination of the association between capabilities and resilience. The context is unique as it involves a multitude of coinciding crises including Covid-19 pandemic, city explosion, economic collapse, political instability and a severe banking crisis.