Affordable housing for middle income expats in Qatar: Strategies for implementing livability and built form

Abstract

Qatar is making large investments for the development of the urban fabric and public transport systems of Doha (i.e. the Msheireb downtown Doha, the Doha metro, and the Lusail light rail transit). It has also already been publicly announced that the population has undergone markedly faster growth over the past few years. According to data from the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS), the population grew over 5% each year, between 2008 and 2013 and then 12.5% between December 2012 and November 2013 (2.05 m). This large increase in the population growth is the result of expatriate workers arriving to Qatar for the construction of new infrastructure and buildings underway in advance of the 2022 World Cup. A massive influx of foreign labor, namely another halfmillion blue-collar workers, technicians, and managers, is expected to be recruited. Also, due to the fast growth of the population, real estate agencies highlighted the need to build more affordable housing in Doha. This paper argues that, for the construction of residential complexes in the Islamic city of Doha, livability and integration of new developments within the existing urban fabric are criteria to be evaluated and considered. A method centered on the interpretation of the pre-existent context is proposed: the old urban fabric is a source of generative ideas and design principles, which are embedded into the historical layering of design concepts.