Durham E-Theses
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Durham E-Theses The growth and functions of Tripoli, Libya Khuga, Mahmud Ali How to cite: Khuga, Mahmud Ali (1969) The growth and functions of Tripoli, Libya, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/8127/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk THE. GROWTH AND FUNCTIONS OP TRIPOLI, LIBYA BY MAHMUD ALI KHUGA, B A , M Litt A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Durham, June, 1969 The copyright of this thesis rests with the author No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged Ill PREFACE The study of towns in all developing countries is of vital importance to the understanding of the process of the urban growth and of the functions of these towns and cities Rapid urban growth, the impact of rural m-migration, together with the emergence of new industries and other economic and social forces have created certain urban and planning problems within each city Tripoli as an ex-colonial and pre-industrial city is experiencing rapid urban growth and many urban problems associated with the recent oil development The writer began to be interested m the urban study of Tripoli in 196k, and has continued his field work during a period of four years His research is based therefore largely on field work and his personal observations on the city's urban development since the Italian rule A word is necessaiy to explain usage of certain terms The writer has used the expression the "Madma" to indicate the name of the Old Town and the "Menshia" to indicate the new Tripoli outside of the walled town The writer has used the word "Suk" to indicate the traditional market, "Shara" to indicate the name of a street or a residential quarter and ABSTRACT Tripoli is the western capital of Libya and. is the largest urban centre m the whole country The old city has evolved since Phoenician times, "but grew gradually during the Roman and the Arab rules It reached its ultimate stage of urban development at the end of the Ottoman rule, when the walled town of Tripoli was a fully built-up area The urban development of new Tripoli was initiated during the Italian rule when the central business district and part of the middle zone were developed for commercial and residential uses After the Independence of the country (1951 ) and recent oil development, tne city began to experience a vast and rapid growth owing to various economic and social forces Between 1954 and 196^ it nearly doubled m population partly through m-migratior and partly through natural increase Tripoli has lnroortant political and economic functions The first is derived from the fact that the city is the western capital ana the administrative centre of the Muqataa of Tripoli The economic 1 unction is stronger than the political one, the growth of the shopping centre and ceitral business district, together with the emergence of various industries within the city, are its most striking features As a result of its growth, the city has begun to experience seriois problems of transportation and traffic flow, shortage of housing, rise of rents, the emergence of the Shanty Town and other serious urban problems Thus city planning and municipal programmes are OJ. crucial importance to the city, in order to cope with the rapid growth of the population and expansion of housing development as well as to create better urban facilities and amenities IV "Muqataa" to indicate the province Elsewhere he has avoided many Libyan expressions in certain places in order to make the thesis clearer in English In conclusion, I wish to record my grateful acknowledgment to Professor W B Pisher who accepted me in his Department as a post-graduate research student I am greatly indebted to Professor J I Clarke for his generous supervision, encouragement and useful criticism I wish also to thank all high officials and civil servants m Libya who supplied me with reports, statistics and valuable information during my fiela work in Tripoli I would like to record my gratitude to the Libyan University and the Ministry of Education for offering me the scholarship My thanks are also extended to other research students who gave me every kind of help V TABLE OP CONTLNTS Page PREFACE ill LIST OF TABLES vm LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xn LIST OF PLATES xv INTRODUCTION 1 PART I - THE EVOLUTION OF THE CITY Chapter I ELEMENTS OF LOCATION 9 1 -1 Geology 9 1 2 Topographical Features 11 1 3 Climate 1i+ 1 k Underground Water Resources 22 1 5 Tripoli's Water Supply 23 Chapter II THE ARAB TOWN CLASSICAL ORIGINS 29 2 1 Marca Uiat 29 2 2 Oea 31 2 3 Vandal and Byzantine Occupations 35 2 k The Early Arab City (6^2-909) 36 2 5 The Second Arab Period (910-1509) 37 2 6 The Spanish Occupation and the Knights of St John of Jerusalem 39 2 7 The First Ottoman Rule (1551-1709) k-0 2 8 Karamanli Rule (1710-1835) 42 2 9 The Second Ottoman Rule (1835-1911) kS 2 10 The Old Town during the last Ottoman Rule h,S 2 11 Evolution of Suburbs 5k vi Page Chapter III THE NEW TRIPOLI A DYNAMIC CITY 62 3 1 The Italian Fra 62 3 2 Effects of the Second World War 76 British Occupation (19^+3-51 ) 78 3 3 Impact of Independence 79 3 U Impact of Oil 81 PART II - URBAN ANALYSIS Chapter IV POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FUNCTIONS 91 k 1 Political Function 92 k 2 Commercial Function 99 ij. 3 Industrial Function 128 Chapter V TRANSPORTATION 169 5 1 Means of Transportation 170 5 2 Street Pattern and Traffic Volume 176 5 3 Parking 185 5 k Road Accidents 187 5 5 Tripoli Port 188 ChapterVI HOUSING 196 6 1 Land Values and Land Speculation 196 6 2 Construction of Houses 202 6 3 Building materials 205 6 1+ Construction Cost 208 6 5 Building Societies and the Libyan Industrial and Real Estate Bank 209 6 6 Housing Design 211 6 7 Public Utilities 215 6 8 Households 218 6 9 Housing Rent 222 6 10 Property Taxes 230 6 11 The Problem of Replacement and Slum Clearance 231 6 1 2 Housing Needs 233 6 13 Government Housing Schemes 235 Chapter VII DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS 21+5 7 1 Population Growth 2i+5 7 2 Natural Increase 252 7 3 Migration 258 7 k Ethnic Groups 269 7 5 Age Structure 279 7 6 Sex Ratio 282 7 7 Marital Status 28k 7 8 The Economic Composition 289 7 9 Urban Densities 293 Vll Page Chapter VTII URBAN ZONES 30i 8 1 Land Use 302 8 2 Urban Zones of lupoli 307 PART III - PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT Chapter IX CITY PLANNING AND MUNICIPAL PROGRAM ITS 33k 9 1 Early Turkish Mediaeval Planning 335 9 2 Italian City Planning 335 9 3 British Administration and Post Independence 338 9 k The First Municipal Programme 3^1 9 5 The Second Five Year Programme 3^-3 9 6 Some problems facing future city planning 3k& CONCLUSION 361 APPENDICES 366 BIBLIOGRAPHY M 2 Vlll LIST OF TABLES Page 1 1 Average monthly rainfall (1879-1965) in mm 16 1 2 Mean relative humidity (1922-1958) in % 18 1 3 Mean annual, mean maximum and mean minimum temperatures in Tripoli and Benghazi, 1920-1956 19 1 k Temperatures, Tripoli, 1920-1956 19 1 5 Number of days with Ghibli winds 1960-61+ 21 2,1 Commercial establishments, dwellings and institutions m the Old Town, Tripoli, 1885 48 2 2 Commercial establishments, institutions and _ gardens in the Menshia in 1911 56 3 1 The built-up area of Tripoli, 1932 70 3 2 Total expenditure of concession holding oil companies (1956-1967) 81 3 3 Local expenses of concession holding oil companies for oil operation in Libya (1964-1967) 82 k 1 Number of the main ministries in Beida, 1968 94 4 2 Distribution of the Libyan ministries m Tripoli, 1968 97 4 3 Ownership of shops in the Old Town, 1966-67 101 4 4 Ownership of shops within the modern shopping area, 1967 106 4 5 Ownership of cafes, cafes and bars, etc , 1967 119 4 6 Distribution of hotels, 1967 122 4 7 The wholesale market of the Sukel Tulatah, 1968 127 4 8 Distribution of capital invested m Tripoli plants, (December 1967) 130 IX Page 4 9 Industrial firms established in Tripoli between 1922-1967 134 4 10 Industrial establishments, Tripoli, 1967 135 4 11 Government tannery factory's production and sales, Tripoli, 1963-1967 150 4 12 Imported wood to Tripoli between 1962H965 155 4 13 Kind of plastic materials manufactured in Tripoli, 1965 159 4 14 Number of tourists and total nights, 1959-1966, Tripoli 164 5 1 Distribution of daily journeys to work, Tripoli, 1967 173 5 2 Number of road accidents occurred m Tripoli between 1951H965 187 5 3 The mechanical and handling equipment of Tripoli port, 1966 189 5 4 Quays and storage spaces of the port of Tripoli in 1965 190 6 1 House construction in Tripoli, 1952-66 203 6 2 Cost per unit floor area m Tripoli, 1967 208 6 3 Structure of households, Tripoli, 1962 219 6 4 Classification of households according to size m Tripoli, 1962 221 6 5 Housing rents in Iripoli, 1967H968 22k 6 6 Government housing units in Tripoli, 1965 237 6 7 Idris housing scheme m Libya, 1967-1971