Guidelines for the evaluation of building systems in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore the feasibility of an export-geared building industrialization in the United Arab Emirates, and to develop a tentative strategy for the implementation of such industrialization. The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E), a rapidly growing country, is chosen as the subject of this study, mainly because oil, which triggered the wealth and rapid development, is regarded by the government as an essential but temporary source of income; and a national policy to diversify the country's industrial development is, therefore, being pursued. Industrialization of the building sector is advocated in this thesis, as part of this diversification scheme. The first chapter summarizes the situation in the U.A.E in terms of geographical, vital, and economical statistics. The second chapter outlines the components of the Alpha - Beta Model (Grant, D.), the Method of Paired Comparison, and the Churchmann Ackoff Method for Weighting Objectives, as a formal means to evaluate and define the most appropriate industrialization approach. The third chapter applies these methods to the U.A.E's context, by evaluating the "open systems" and the "closed systems" approaches against selected objectives, derived for the data analysis. The fourth, and final, chapter attempts to define a strategy for the implementation of an export-geared building industrialization in the U.A.E.