Proposal for Urban Living Environment and Housing Construction in Afghanistan

アフガニスタンにおける住環境と住宅建設に関する提案

2018-03-26

2018-03-26

The predominantly rural society of 1970’s Afghanistan, with only an estimated 24% urbanites, is changing at a rapid rate of 4% per year in the past decade - one of the highest urbanization rates in the world (UNDESA 2014). In addition, conflicts and drought has caused informal settlement in many cities of Afghanistan over the years, and Kabul, the capital city, has suffered the most. Over 5 million Afghan refugees have returned to their homes after the fall of Taliban regime in 2002, and most of them have settled in the capital city, due to better job opportunities and security situation, compared to other Afghan cities. Notwithstanding refugees, internally displaced people (IDP) have also moved to Kabul in search of better livelihood and education, largely due to conflict and natural disasters. Such rapid population growth has resulted in a massive housing development in Kabul City without approval of the Kabul Municipality, due to its ultra-restricted urban planning system practiced. As a result, similar to many developing countries, Afghanistan’s urban centers face huge challenges of informal settlements, lack of basic infrastructures, exposures to environmental pollution and poor sanitation. However, the core of problem lies in the outdated regulatory systems and a lack of sufficient capacity to prepare and implement plans in government agencies. In addition to the urban environmental issues, insufficient capacity in building construction in both government and private sectors represent a serious threat to public safety and institutions of Afghanistan. A lack of public awareness campaigns regarding prevention of damages and destructions caused by natural disasters through enforcement of building construction standards, poses a direct threat to public safety. This research provides insights on the conditions of urban planning currently practiced in Kabul and methods of building construction dominantly used and proposes countermeasure strategies to tackle the trends of informal settlements while identifying the classifications which would representative each types of informal settlement. In addition, it proposes improvement to the building codes through a comprehensive comparative analysis and evaluating the viability of implementation in the existing informal settlement and new development areas through evaluation of building standards proposed for the most commonly used building material in Afghanistan Building Codes (ABC).

博士（学術）

京都工芸繊維大学

14303甲第876号

http://hdl.handle.net/10212/2471

eng

ETD

Thesis or Dissertation

Thesis