Culture Oriented Planning Approach for Sustainable Urban Development of Gaza City

Culture is increasingly becoming recognized as an enabler and driver of sustainable urban development. Though ample research exists on ways in which cultural factors are incorporated into strategic urban planning for creating sustainable cities, there is a knowledge gap and negligence of cultural issues in sustainable urban development theory and practice. Yet, constructing a link between culture and urban sustainability is a challenging task; as urban planning often pays more attention to economic drives than to culture itself. Culture – including knowledge, values, rules, norms, organizations, expression, artefacts, behaviour, symbols etc. – contributes to the aim of urban development and economic growth, yet most often its real meaning is tangled in capitalized global economies. This thesis attempts to understand how culture relates to the concept of urban sustainability and whether culture can be utilized as a tool to transform unsustainable environments in urban planning. The thesis focuses on the case study of Gaza city in Palestine in its exploration of "Culture Oriented Planning Approach for Sustainable Urban Development" where selected experts on urban issues are interviewed to understand underlying problems in the planning system and whether and how culture can bring solutions to the problem of unsustainable urban development. A quantitative and qualitative mixed - methodological research approach was used to collect data including survey questionnaires, literature review, observation of Gaza city, and interviews with its people. Statistical analysis was used to analyse the survey questionnaire and the thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data from literature review, interviews and observation and then results of analysis were triangulated and validated. Findings of both qualitative and quantitative methods highlighted similar iv cultural factors that can determine the development of a sustainable Gaza city. This research aims to set forth some guidelines for "Culture-Oriented Planning Approach" so that sustainable urban settlements can be achieved in Gaza and such approach/ model could be adaptable for other cities/ regions under political crises. Keywords: Culture, Sustainability, Gaza city, Urban development, Political instability.