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Extracting a local pattern language: a case study of Khartoum’s City Centre

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Abstract

This paper conceptualises a method for exploring existing places and their architecture. Khartoum’s city centre (KCC), Sudan, has been selected as a case study for this exploration. The research adopts the Pattern Language Theory as a theoretical tool to extract KCC’s existing local pattern language. Thereafter, it suggests an empirical way to evaluate this pattern language by adding the role of the place users in interpreting it based on their experiences. This has been conducted through participatory focus group discussions with different categories of participants through which it was possible to evaluate, classify and prioritise the extracted patterns. The findings of this paper are threefold. Firstly, extracting a place’s local pattern language, coupled with meanings that place users perceive about these patterns, that conveys a deep and systematic understanding of the place’s character. Secondly, this finding contributes theoretically to the Pattern Language Theory by emphasising the potential of each place’s local pattern language compared to the allegedly universal one. Thirdly, the proposed empirical pattern-based and participatory method of analysis of a place promises to help architects, planners and urban designers in shaping future built environments.

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Fig. 1

Source: Ministry of Planning of Khartoum State/ 2018, edited by the Author

Fig. 2

Source: the Military Civil Survey Department, Khartoum

Fig. 3

Source: www.googlemaps.com and the Author

Fig. 4

Source: www.googlemaps.com, Edited by the Author

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Source: the Author

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Fig. 7

Source: the Author

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Source: the Author (2017)

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Source: the Author

Fig. 11

Adapted from (Hamid 2014)

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Notes

  1. This regime has ruled the country for 30 years (1989 – 2019).

  2. Previously cited in the Theoretical framework section.

  3. While these theories have proven their effectiveness, they rely on unsustainably high rates of resource consumption, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and other long-term impacts (ibid).

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Author notes

  1. Qi Wang—Deceased in June 2021. We have dedicated this paper to him.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Architecture, University of Khartoum, P.O.Box: 321, Khartoum, Sudan

    Malathe Hamid & Qi Wang

  2. Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Laura Hanks

Authors
  1. Malathe Hamid
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  2. Laura Hanks
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  3. Qi Wang
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Correspondence to Malathe Hamid.

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Hamid, M., Hanks, L. & Wang, Q. Extracting a local pattern language: a case study of Khartoum’s City Centre. Urban Des Int (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-022-00205-w

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