Competition Launches for Planning and Designing Youth Housing in Idlib

Earlier this month, the Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction of the Ministry of Local Administration and Services under the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) in Idlib announced a competition to plan and design two youth housing projects. The competition opened on November 12 to those interested in urban planning, including companies and architectural engineers, to provide planning and design studies for the North and South Youth Housing projects.

Damascus’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing has owned the land for both projects since at least 2005. However, work on these social housing projects ceased after 2012, when Idlib fell out of the regime’s control.

The SSG ministry has set a one-and-a-half-month deadline for submissions. Several prizes have been allocated as follows: USD 3,500 for the first place and USD 1,500 for the second place for the design of the North Youth Housing project, and USD 7,000 for the first place and USD 3,500 for the second place for the design of the South Youth Housing project.

The submitted planning studies must include a planning concept, a general site plan, architectural plans for each building, details of finishing, and construction techniques used. The studies must adhere to the Syrian construction code and its appendix regarding earthquakes and insulation and include a calculation memorandum for all project elements aligned with planning and design principles.

According to a local correspondent for The Syria Report, the Directorate of Housing and Reconstruction has a timetable for implementing the winning designs, issuing public tenders for their execution and opening the subscription process for housing in them.

The directorate offered two properties for the youth housing projects. The first, covering 26 hectares next to the University District, is the North Project. This project, initiated by Damascus’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing in 2005, had 1,485 applicants. The first phase was supposed to be completed in 2010 and the second in 2012. However, only a small part of the North Project has been actually completed, and 192 apartments were allocated to applicants in 2018. Allocation means signing a contract between the directorate and the applicant, specifying the location and specifications of the dwelling, the amounts paid, and any amounts remaining. However, this does not mean the building has been completed and handed over to its owners.

According to the Directorate, the space allocated for housing in the North Project is about 35 percent of the land area (including the previously implemented part), with 10 percent for service facilities, 15 percent for schools, and 15 percent for parks, squares and playgrounds, with the rest for streets and parking. The expected population density of the project does not exceed 400 people per hectare. The apartments range from 65 to 110 square metres and no more than six storeys per residential building.

Meanwhile, the South Project will be built on a 35-hectare property south of the city of Idlib, with work initially planned to start in 2012, but the uprising and war prevented implementation. The property is near the Governor’s Palace on the southern outskirts of Idlib city. It follows some of the same planning principles as the North Project, with notable differences including apartment sizes ranging from 75 to 250 square metres, 20 plots (each 800 to 1,000 square metres) allocated for small villas, and two one-hectare plots for 20-storey towers including floors for commercial, recreational and service activities, and basements for parking.