ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how disjuncture occurs, and with what effects, when new residential environments fail to accommodate and sustain the values and needs of the community. It examines these conflicts in the context of modern residential layouts in Makkah city, Saudi Arabia which, by adopting the grid pattern, have neglected basic characteristics and standards to be found in older more traditional settlement forms of the city. The chapter considers the residential barha, which constitutes a major component of traditional residential layouts, but which is lacking in contemporary development. The wider literature on open space provision and the residential barha also provide further evidence on how more appropriate guidance might be constructed. The residential barha and its design must be carefully integrated within the urban fabric in future land subdivision, ensuring suitable, safe and secure forms of provision, which achieve positive microclimatic effects, which are accessible and within walking distance from the dwellings whilst maintaining privacy and seclusion.
