Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Engineering - Department of Civil Engineering

In the last few decades, the problem of slums increased in Saudi Arabia in general and in Makkah and Jeddah particularly. The research presents the current situation of slums in the two cities including the existing upgrading projects. It focuses on two case studies; Ruwaise slum in Jeddah and King Abdulaziz street slum in Makkah. The research shows the different challenges that are faced by the construction authorities in both slums upgrading and replacement projects in Makkah and Jeddah. The study focuses on the social, economical and constructional challenges on both dwellers and constructors. Interview surveys were conducted with number of specialist engineers and randomly selected dwellers from Makkah and Jeddah slums. The data were collected through prolonged interviews with each person through which concerning questions were answered. The surveys proved that there are high needs to revise properties compensation system concerning paid amounts and timings since the majority of interviewed persons reported dissatisfaction. The most significant construction challenge is the rejection and violent resistance of dwellers to evacuate slums for the demolition process even after the delivery of compensation. A non-linear multi-objective optimization model was developed to determine the optimum upgrading intervention for a particular slum area. The optimization tool, which was developed using MatLab software, aims to maximize the life quality of the slum dwellers and minimize both construction cost and duration of upgrading projects. The tool enables decision makers to select the optimum upgrading intervention strategy for each zone of the same slum

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