Residents’ Satisfaction with the Villa as a Housing Type in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The villa as a housing type in its modern form in Saudi Arabia has been widely built since the early fifties of the last century. Doubts about its appropriateness to the Saudi society have been repeatedly pointed out in the literature. The intent of this study is to evaluate the level of acceptance the villa enjoys within present Saudi society, and to gauge this society’s degree of satisfaction with its design. It also addresses two issues in some depth: the use of the villa’s garden and privacy concerns.The study was based on a questionnaire administered in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and answered by 250 participants. It was found that the villa is well accepted and highly preferred as a housing type by the participants. It was also found that the participants were mostly satisfied with the design of the villa, although they had some reservations among which were high running costs and lack of complete privacy. The main issue that was evident throughout the study, however, was that it has become empirical to reexamine negative propagated ideas about the villa. Such propagated ideas include the inadequacy of the villa for the Saudi society, the view of the villa’s garden as a wasted space, and privacy as a constant concept.