SUSTAINABILITY OF URBAN LAND IN IRAQI CITIES THROUGH MULTI STORIES RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS: DOUR CITY - CASE STUDY

The horizontal expansion of cities is a problem in itself because this leads to waste in the urban land and override on agricultural land in many cases, so the percentage of residential use could be large if compared to other uses of other urban land in cities. As a result, many countries have adopted the style of vertical buildings (3 - 5) floors for low height housing reaching to higher elevations, commensurate with the value and location of the urban land within the city because these residential buildings are characterized by suitable residential densities, efficient and economical use of the urban land, as well as the integrity of services that achieve the conditions for suitable and comfortable standards for housing. The problem of this research is coming from the reliance on horizontal residential building in providing the housing units in time of essential need for housing accompanied by waste in urban land with high proportion of residential use. The research is aimed to reduce the proportion of residential use of urban land in cities, including Iraqi cities, and make them close to the percentage of residential use in the world through the relying on the vertical residential building type as developed and integrated residential complexes from planning, design and service aspects. This research supported by field study of one of the multifamily housing complexes. This residential complex consisting of residential units in the form of apartments, which represent the vertical residential building.