In the last three decades due to urbanization and modernization, the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the Bedouins of Jordan underwent several changes. As a result of the sedentarization process, which started in the beginning of 1970's, the Bedouins moved from a nomadic to sedentary life-style in which their customs, their houses, and their ethnic habits were deeply influenced. Their new settlements remind more of the Jordanian suburban landscape that characterizes most of the urban centers. These settlements provided them with dwelling units influenced by some of the western planning models. / To explore the issue of housing design policies of the Bedouins population, the author conducted an extensive literature review that deals with the complexity of the relation between culture, housing, identity, and user participation. It highlighted the process of sedentarization and its impact on their housing environments. The received literature, was supplemented by a field case study that aimed at showing to what extent the permanence of tradition and change can be perceived in the variety of modifications and extensions carried out by the Bedouins as users of the government built housing, projects. It also, aimed to investigate what kind of transformation the Bedouins introduced to their traditional habits while moving from nomadic life-style to the permanent settlement. / The case study of Bedoul housing settlement (Um Sayhun), shows that the Bedouin families life-style has became more diversified between traditions and modernity. The inappropriate housing environment design tend to influence the way the Bedouins use the living spaces in their houses. The thesis pointed out the role of community participation in enhancing the Bedouins understanding of the different issues related to their housing and their sense of identity.

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