The Phenomenon of Apartments in the Kuwaiti House
Abstract
A house in Kuwait usually refers to a building within a plot of land that may accommodate one or two families. However, at the turn of the 21stcentury this composition gradually shifted to see many people lease one or more apartments in their houses. As a result, many residential neighbourhoods that were originally designed as low-density areas have become overcrowded apartment buildings. This study examines this phenomenon of recent societal trends towards adding ‘apartments’ in the Kuwaiti house by employing in depth interviews. These discussions become a platform to understand this intriguing socio-economic construct. The findings reveal that high real-estate prices and Kuwait’s current housing crisis have significantly contributed in reshaping the Kuwaiti house form and altered some of it’s functions. People’s insecurity for the future has forced them to add apartments in their houses to pay off their loans in the short term and provide accommodation for their children in the long term. In addition, houses have become an investment opportunity for businessmen to turn them into commercial enterprises. This has resulted in many houses in model residential areas being transformed to medium density apartment complexes, which causes enormous strain on public utilities and infrastructure, such as streets, parking, electricity and water. Consequently, this situation highlights the extent of poor governmental regulations and shows how the nation’s larger political climate has directly affected people in relation to their domestic built environments.
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