Privacy regulation, Spatial culture and Communities in a communally diverse city: Ghadames, Libya

In the ancient UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ghadamès, Libya, ground-floor spaces—traditionally associated with male domains—demonstrate greater spatial integration and visual connectivity than upper-floor spaces designated for women. This finding, derived from a quantitative space syntax analysis, reveals that movement through male-dominated areas is less restricted, offering more route choices compared to female-dominated spaces. The study further identifies physical mechanisms within the city that regulate privacy, either facilitating or impeding it, while also allowing users to adjust their own spatial behavior for privacy control. Conducted across nine community sites representing Arab, Barbar, and Tuareg cultural groups—analyzed both as embedded within Ghadamès and in isolation—the research highlights how spatial configuration reflects and reinforces social and cultural norms.

El-agouri, F. A., & Karakale, V. (2018). Privacy regulation, Spatial culture and Communities in a communally diverse city: Ghadames, Libya. Journal of World Architecture, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.26689/jwa.v2i1.516