Efficiency of Libyan city and municipal plans

Abstract

After the city or town plan is the effective tool in organizing land uses in them, in order to meet the needs and requirements of their inhabitants, and to guide the urban development taking place in them, so that they respond to political, economic, social and cultural changes.
Preparing comprehensive and general plans and supporting them with laws specific to urban planning are two things that are intertwined in order to implement them and achieve the desired benefit from them, which is to implement the proposals contained therein that were formulated according to extensive studies of the various aspects of the lives of the residents in these cities and towns.
Numerous plans of Libyan cities and towns were prepared during different historical periods, each period characterized by specific features resulting from the circumstances Libya was experiencing. These circumstances left a clear mark on those plans, reflected in the morphology of these cities and towns. It contained numerous planning proposals and policies designed to operate efficiently and make cities and towns good places to live, work, and relax. However, the efficiency and effectiveness of these plans have become a subject of much debate among researchers and planners in various planning fields. Because it generally faces difficulties and obstacles in many cases, including non-compliance with the proposals contained therein, or deviating from its essence in some instances; as all these factors extend to the future development of urban development in cities and towns, thus affecting their morphology and the comfort of their citizens.
Against this backdrop, the idea for this paper, which is worthy of scrutiny, took shape. It aims to shed light on the process of preparing plans for Libyan cities and towns in successive historical periods, to understand how these plans were prepared, the motives behind them, and their degree of effectiveness, in addition to determining the extent of adherence to their implementation.  The proposals contained therein are due to their impact on the internal structure of these cities and towns, and on the lifestyle of their inhabitants, in order to reach constructive conclusions.