This study investigates the housing characteristics and the determinants of housing production of the informal housing sector in Alexandria, Egypt. It also examines the impact of land policies on the development of the informal housing sector. Informal housing, by definition, is constructed and acquired outside the legal procedure of land and building registration and without the necessary permissions and approvals. Therefore, there is a little knowledge about it, and its role in the housing market could be underestimated. The aim of this research is to enhance the factual knowledge about informal housing as a basis for future policy development. The findings of this research, based on data collected from a field study conducted in four informal settlements in Alexandria in 1991, include the following: 1. Macro-economic, political, and social structures accelerated the emergence and the development of informal housing settlements, which occurred rapidly during and after times of economic and political crises. 2. Informal settlements are heterogeneous and it is not evident that informal housing is synonymous with marginal housing for poor people. 3. Informal settlements have low levels of public utilities and infrastructure. 4. Income, household size, age of household head, and tenure status of the household are the major variables that explain different patterns of housing consumption and expenditure among informal households. 5. Inhabitants of informal settlements have moved from other areas of the city rather than origins outside Alexandria. Owners are more satisfied with both the units and the neighborhoods than renters are. 6. The determinants of informal housing production are in a dynamic process of change and are self-organized. The general conditions of the overall housing market influence informal housing in similar ways. Informal housing finance depends upon small scale and incremental methods of savings. 7. Implementation of different land policies results in augmenting provision of illegal land subdivisions, increasing land prices and expanding informal land market operation. From the analysis undertaken in this research and previous findings, some policy implications for future planning for informal development become evident.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of City and Regional Planning, January 1951. / "October 27, 1950"--Submission letter. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf [86]). / by Robert Jackson Bartels. / M.C.P.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1969. / Includes bibliographical references. / by R. Alan Melting. / M.C.P.

Thesis. 1966. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of City and Regional Planning. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves [150]-153. / M.S.

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1969. / Includes bibliographical references. / by R. Alan Melting. / M.C.P.

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This paper attempts to find new directions and solutions that for both planners and landscape architecture designers to consider new progress into the future city design. Cities and towns worldwide are facing similar problems of growing automobile use, suburban sprawl, pollution, and proliferating use of natural resources and energy. Our times offer an historic opportunity for society and designers to rethink where and how to make a better living environment. Sustainable lifestyle established on the principles of smart growth, new ecological urbanism, and green design strategies etc. It will not only reduce the harm on the environment, but also can vastly increase the quality of life of people.

Over the past two decades, underused shopping malls and big-box stores have become more prevalent in the landscape, even as newer ones are built. Shopping centers from the last half of the twentieth century may not have been designed to serve uses other than commercial, but that does not mean these buildings must or should only be thought of as single-use spaces. Projects from across the United States demonstrate that large, empty commercial structures can become municipal complexes, new town centers, mixed-use complexes, office buildings, churches, and gymnasiums. They also can be rehabilitated to fill the need for new schools in communities where there is no suitable or cheap land, limited funds, overcrowding, and growing enrollments. This thesis identifies twelve cases where public school districts have converted former shopping malls or big-box stores into schools and conducts histories on three of these cases. A detailed comparative analysis of three school conversion projects in Burnsville, Minnesota, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Fort Myers, Florida is the foundation for the thesis research. By researching examples of retail conversion and assessing project history, this thesis determines common factors to these school projects and develops conclusions about relationships between school planning, growth management, and economic development. It develops a strong knowledge base that can be used to guide local governments interested in undertaking this type of initiative. Finally, the thesis demonstrates the importance of planning and building for future flexibility by underscoring the value of reusing the built form.

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