Evaluation of Rural Housing Rehabilitation Program loans Impact on the Rural Built environment: A SWOT Analysis of Nodeh Village, Bojnord, Iran

Housing is the main part of the rural structure, which has an important role in the formation of the structural and architectural identity of villages. The rural house not only satisfies basic human needs but also means of livelihood and thus possess a complex form due to their multiple functions and embedded activities. Traditionally, common formal aspects of rural housing were less affected by those of the city. In rural areas, housing, either as an individual dwelling or as a collective fabric reveals specific formational directions. Regarding the available materials and local economy, the formation of rural housing and its internal configuration, multiple functionalities have been considered. In rural housing, each element has formed based on several need, and as a consequence of human thoughts, in relation to cultural, social, economic, natural, historical, etc. factors, it has always been evolving. However, the architecture of the new rural housing, which have been built mostly using loans from ‘Rural Housing Rehabilitation Program’ (RHRP), are very different from indigenous patterns, and more than being rural, are conforming to urban formal compositions. This shift has drastically affected the linkage between elements in the rural housing causing difficulty in adaptability with rural needs altering rural configurations. The issue becomes more visible as the trend goes on as a widely accepted change of taste of construction. The goal of RHRP loan beyond improving structural resistance, was to improve the quality of housing and rural structure, safety, sanitary and welfare level in villages. However, researches show that RHRP even though has led to higher resistance of rural housing but also has undermined rural configuration and its social, economic and cultural grounds. Through an analytical and descriptive approach together with surveys, theoretical literature review of rural housing, this study attempts to analyze the effects of RHRP loan system on the structure and configuration of the Nodeh village of Bojnord. The results of this research show that RHRP opportunities has also brought about certain threats including damaging domestic culture and manners, farming fields and shrinking of the responsive dwelling spaces due to tendency toward urban norms and appearances.