Locality of Residential Areas in COVID-19 Pandemic Conditions: Analysis of Neighborhoods and Housing Design in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is impacting countries across the world, resulting in governments undertaking a number of precautionary measures for their populations. This raises the issue of the effectiveness of urban design of dwellings to assist with these measures. This study therefore determines the current readiness of local neighborhoods and housing in Saudi Arabia to face epidemics. The study employs an analysis of a public survey achieving a comprehensive (n = 413) across the country to identify: (a) the current situation of local neighborhood and services, including density and the ability to fulfil human needs during periods of quarantine; (b) the ability of housing design to assist with social distancing: (c) appropriate housing design to fulfil social needs; and (d) the design of housing to accommodate the ability for infected household members to self-isolate. The findings identify that neighborhoods in Saudi Arabia meet current social requirements and can assist in avoiding gatherings. In addition, it illustrates the advantages and disadvantages of housing design, revealing that villas tend to be low density, and so facilitate social distancing, but neighborhoods with a high number of residential units face considerable challenges, due to the high density of population, particularly in areas lacking planning.