Advisor: Prof. Yahia Al-Zoubi

Abstract:
This study concentrates on the most important problems that face our traditional Jordanian villages in general and south of Jordan in particular, since there is a lot of deterioration in traditional ekistics tissues and a change in the contemporary rural character towards the urban character. That is caused by various forces: planning (organization), social cultural and economic forces because of political change in general, this deterioration and change affected the ekistics, architectural character (traditional and contemporary rural tissue), and the social tissue which is comm. on in the villages during the previous periods. This problem will be studied with reference to the village in south of Jordan "study region" since those villages exposed to a rapid change in its ekistics character as a result of organization procedure, some traditional villages its tissues bad been removed completely, some of them part of its tissues had been removed, and some of them its tissues had been deserted and never used totally, and then with reference to the case study which is Rakeen town in Karak governorate as a model for the remaining villages that its traditional tissues subjected to the modem organizational procedure, a considerable ratio of that tissue is removed.

By studying the villages in study region and the case study, the factors that lead to deterioration and change in ekistics tissues will be recognized, especially the factors that are related to the contemporary organizational and planning side, finally, the results will be concluded to help in drawing general policies and recommendations to treat and solve the problem in continuous, effective and comprehensive manner for all villages.

Conservation process is considered as the correct attitude to solve the problem through placing policies and recommendations relating the development and conservation for the rural settlements in south of Jordan and us process is necessary for the cultural, social, environmental and ekistics aspects.

The study is divided into four primary parts: first part consists of the first chapter covers the introduction. Second part consists of two chapters both of them cover the village in south of Jordan (study region) in general. The third part consists of two chapters; both of them cover the town of Rakeen in Karak (case study). Fourth part is chapter six which covers the results and general policies and recommendations
First part (first chapter in sequence) covers the introduction which includes the importance of the study, special motives behind choosing study region and the case study, hypothesis, objectives, methodology, and the efforts exerted in conserving the contemporary and traditional built environment in the rural area.

Second part (chapter second in sequence) contains two titles:
First title includes the historical side of Jordan and the study region by giving a short account about the history of development of the region, and administrative development since the late period of ottomans and type of the administrative categorization.Second title includes the history of village in south of Jordan including the origin and development, and names of the old villages.

Second part (third chapter in sequence) contains two titles:
First title includes the factors that form the village: political, economic, social, cultural environmental and ekistics factors, ekistics tissue, and finally, the conclusions.
Second title includes the contemporary changes that affect the formation of the village: political, economic, social, cultural, and ekistics changes, and the conclusions.

Third part (fourth chapter in sequence) consists of two titles:
First title includes the general background of Karak governorate, including geographical position, climate, and geological structure. Second title includes the past of Rakeen village including general background of the village, origin and development special factors affecting the formation of the village (economic, social, and cultural), built environment, and conclusions.

Third part (fifth chapter in sequence) contains three titles and the conclusions:
First title includes the methodology used to attain the factors and forces that caused the deterioration and changes factors that lead to problem statement of the study. Second title includes the contemporary situation of the village since 1975 and until 1995 including the social and economic system for the population of the town and ekistics environment after the modem ekistics organization. Third title examines the modern ekistics organization in the traditional village (town root) including movement, land uses, rules of building and organization, and land categorization (division).

Fourth part (sixth chapter in sequence) clarifies and suggests the general results, general policies and recommendations and the intervention and the procedures in Rakeen traditional village (case study).