Rural Level

Adolescence is an intermediate state characterized by an active process of forming a personal identity. This active process is expressed with the demand for a sense of anonymity that allows the adolescent to act and think freely and engage rebelliously. This involves a search for spaces unsupervised by adults in general and family members in particular as well as a desire to socialize with their peers. The mutual connection that exists between individuals and the social environments in which they live emphasizes the importance of the physical environment and space in the eyes of adolescents.

These needs explain the presence and gatherings of youth in the public spaces that are relatively disconnected from the private environment and generally mixed with a variety of different people, such as the neighborhood and the residential block. From the adolescent’s point of view, the public space is a potential and suitable environment to implement their active process.

In the Arab villages, however, there is a serious lack of public areas as a result of their development. These villages are gradually moving from a distinct rural texture to a dense urban texture. Most of them are doing so in an organic manner that is not accompanied by prior planning or a guiding hand.

In order to meet their spatial needs, free and unguided interventions are made by the residents in their private spaces, a phenomenon manifested by illegal structures. This situation has led to blurred boundaries between public and private spaces. It has also given these localities the appearance of a built-up and dense continuum, while eliminating the potential space for the development of public spaces. As a result, there is a shortage of public spaces in Arab villages.

The spatial composition created in the Arab villages directly affects the developmental processes of adolescents. The blurred boundaries between the public and private spaces has reduced the sense of anonymity throughout the village, and public spaces in the village have become monitored and overlooked by the private spaces.

The project aims to examine how it is possible to plan public spaces that meet the needs of adolescents in an Arab village with a built-up and dense continuum.