Abstract:

<p>This&nbsp; research&nbsp; aims&nbsp; to&nbsp; assess&nbsp; the&nbsp; sustainability&nbsp; of&nbsp; housing constructed&nbsp; during&nbsp; the&nbsp; internal&nbsp; conflict&nbsp; in&nbsp; Syria,&nbsp; focusing&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; local context&nbsp; and&nbsp; the&nbsp; experiences&nbsp; of&nbsp; affected&nbsp; populations.&nbsp; Using&nbsp; a&nbsp; mixed-methods&nbsp; (quantitative&nbsp; and&nbsp; qualitative)&nbsp; research&nbsp; approach,&nbsp; data&nbsp; were collected&nbsp; &nbsp;from&nbsp; &nbsp;180&nbsp; &nbsp;residents&nbsp; &nbsp;of&nbsp; &nbsp;housing&nbsp; &nbsp;provided&nbsp; &nbsp;by&nbsp; &nbsp;humanitarian organizations in northwest Syria. The data were analyzed to determine the extent&nbsp; to&nbsp; whichthese&nbsp; housing&nbsp; units&nbsp; meet&nbsp; environmental,&nbsp; economic,&nbsp; and social&nbsp; sustainability&nbsp; criteria.&nbsp; The&nbsp; results&nbsp; showed&nbsp; that&nbsp; existing&nbsp; housing prioritizes speed and cost over environmental and functional integration, leading to long-term problems such as high maintenancecosts and a lack of&nbsp; functional&nbsp; flexibility.&nbsp; Significant&nbsp; gaps&nbsp; in&nbsp; social&nbsp; efficiency&nbsp; were&nbsp; also revealed,&nbsp; including&nbsp; the&nbsp; absence&nbsp; of&nbsp; community&nbsp; infrastructure&nbsp; and&nbsp; poor overall design. The findings underscore the importance of integrating local communities&nbsp; into&nbsp; design&nbsp; and&nbsp; planning&nbsp; processes&nbsp; and&nbsp; using&nbsp; sustainable, locally&nbsp; sourced&nbsp; materials&nbsp; to&nbsp; minimize&nbsp; costs&nbsp; and&nbsp; environmental&nbsp; impact. Based on these findings, a holistic, human-centered, context-sensitive, and resilient&nbsp; sustainable&nbsp; housing&nbsp; model&nbsp; is&nbsp; proposed.&nbsp; This&nbsp; research&nbsp; seeks&nbsp; to transform&nbsp; emergency&nbsp; housing&nbsp; from&nbsp; a&nbsp; short-term&nbsp; humanitarian&nbsp; response into a catalyst for resilient and sustainable recovery</p>