Theoretical and Practical Frameworks for Using Land in Cities: An Applied Study on the Yemeni Capital, Sana'a

Abstract

This study aimed to address briefly the history of using land in some cities around the world, determine the geographical, historical, economic, and social conditions that may affect the use of land, and describe and analyse the use of land in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, along four decades. Using a descriptive and analytical approach, the paper was ranged into an introduction and two main sections. The first section was concerned with a theoretical study on the history of land in old cities in some European countries and Arab and Islamic cities. The second section discussed the uses of land in Sana'a in detail, and analysed geographical, natural, and human factors besides various city jobs. The paper introduced a number of findings; most notably, the techniques of organizing cities around the world developed based on their growth stages, there were various techniques used based on various basic city jobs, using land for housing purposes in Sana'a scored the top rank (57% of the built area), for transport scored the second rank (15%), for trade purposes scored the third rank (5.2%), for service purposes scored the fourth rank (2.23%), and for luxury (e.g., parks and stadiums) scored the final rank (1.4%).