Exploring Architectural Implications on Social Sustainability: The case of extended family dwellings in contemporary Bahraini households

Abstract

Bahraini households have witnessed a transition from tradition to modernity since the 1960s, in response to the fleeting economic prosperity of the era of oil exportation in the region, by moving from the traditional courtyard house to the single family house. But subsequently, the global economic downturn in 2008 forced a gradual end to oil dependency, causing a detrimental impact on living standards, particularly housing, for a majority of the Gulf region residents. The constantly shifting and transforming social and political climate created significant pressures on the welfare mechanism, which then placed citizens on twenty-years-long waiting lists for social housing services. To alleviate the burden, many families opted to provide housing for their adult children to accommodate their new families, by adapting and expanding their existing dwelling. This paper uses mixed methodologies to study and examine the sustainability of the remodeled housing in support of transitioning extended families.