Investigating the Problems and Proposing Solutions for Rural Residential Buildings in Northwest China

Abstract

With the increasing income of the rural population in Northwest China, people’s sense of happiness and gain is also increasing. However, the improvement of housing conditions is lagging behind the increasing income levels. In recent years, the government and owners have paid much attention to this issue. The local government has successively issued relevant guidelines and policies to encourage owners to reconstruct their houses and improve their housing conditions. Before improving housing conditions, the existing housing problems must be identified. In order to have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the problems of rural residential buildings in Northwest China and to propose corresponding solutions, 90 representative rural residential buildings of three provinces in Northwest China have been selected for investigation, and mass data have been obtained. Upon analyzing these data, it has been found that there are problems in five aspects of rural residential buildings in Northwest China: architectural style and functional space layout, energy utilization and dissipation, design, construction, as well as structural safety and seismic measures. Valid solutions are proposed to address these problems, which can also provide a reference for the government and enterprises engaged in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry in rural areas.