Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have a significant impact on urban planning and environmental dynamics, especially in regions experiencing rapid urbanization. In this context, by leveraging the Google Earth Engine (GEE), this study evaluates the effects of land use and land cover modifications on surface temperature in a semi-arid zone of northwestern Algeria between 1989 and 2019. Through the analysis of Landsat images on GEE, indices such as normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference built-up index (NDBI), and normalized difference latent heat index (NDLI) were extracted, and the random forest and split window algorithms were used for supervised classification and surface temperature estimation. The multi-index approach combining the Normalized Difference Tillage Index (NDTI), NDBI, and NDVI resulted in kappa coefficients ranging from 0.96 to 0.98. The spatial and temporal analysis of surface temperature revealed an increase of 4 to 6 degrees across the four classes (urban, barren land, vegetation, and forest). The Google Earth Engine approach facilitated detailed spatial and temporal analysis, aiding in understanding surface temperature evolution at various scales. This ability to conduct large-scale and long-term analysis is essential for understanding trends and impacts of land use changes at regional and global levels.

Urban planning in arid climates must overcome numerous nonclimatic constraints that often result in outdoor thermal discomfort. This is particularly evident in Béchar, a city in southern Algeria known for its long, intense summers with temperatures frequently exceeding 45 °C. This study investigates the influence of urban morphology on thermal comfort and explores architectural and digital solutions to enhance energy performance in buildings. This research focuses on Béchar’s city center, where various urban configurations were analyzed using a multidisciplinary approach that combines typomorphological and climatic analysis with numerical simulations (ENVI-met 3.0 and TRNSYS 16). The results show that shaded zones near buildings have lower thermal loads (under +20 W/m²), while open areas may reach +100 W/m². The thermal comfort rate varies between 22% and 60%, depending on wall materials and occupancy patterns. High thermal inertia materials, such as stone and compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEBs), reduce hot discomfort hours to under 1700 h/year but may increase cold discomfort. Combining these materials with targeted insulation improves thermal balance. Key recommendations include compact urban forms, vegetation, shading devices, and high-performance envelopes. Early integration of these strategies can significantly enhance thermal comfort and reduce energy demand in Saharan cities.

This study proposes a sustainable multi-criteria optimization framework for the energy retrofit of collective residential buildings in Algeria, particularly those constructed between the 1970s and 1980s. Through on-site surveys, energy consumption analysis, and seasonal temperature measurements, the high energy demand of these buildings was confirmed. Using EnergyPlus simulations based on Meteoblue weather data, 16 retrofit strategies were assessed—incorporating various insulating materials applied internally or externally (via rendering or cladding). The ELECTRE III decision-making tool was employed, supported by the Simos Revised Framework (SRF) for weighting environmental, economic, and social criteria. Results demonstrate that all strategies significantly reduce energy demand—by up to 72.5%, with reductions reaching 94.4% in winter and 43.5% in summer, depending on insulation type and placement. Improvements in indoor thermal comfort were also observed, with exterior insulation beneath cladding offering the best performance during winter, while exterior rendering also proved effective in the summer. The ELECTRE III analysis identified rock wool and polyurethane with fiber cement cladding as optimal insulation solutions. The proposed approach supports national energy policies and aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), offering a replicable model for large-scale building retrofits in similar climatic and architectural contexts.

Le secteur du bâtiment et des travaux publics (BTP) est l’un de ceux dont la productivité repose essentiellement sur la main-d’œuvre, hautement et/ou moyennement qualifiée. Sur l’ensemble des logements (toutes catégories confondues) construits en Algérie de 2004 à nos jours, 80 % du parc a été réalisé par le secteur privé, avec moins de moyens que ceux accordés aux établissements publics et sans bénéficier d’aucun avantage (facilités administratives, financières, etc.). Nous voulons à travers cette étude examiner la réglementation en vigueur relative à la promotion immobilière privée, identifier les difficultés qui empêchent les promoteurs privés d’accroître leur production, de la diversifier et de la rendre plus accessible aux ménages à faibles et moyens revenus.

Lighting is a critical factor influencing creativity and productivity in educational environments, particularly for architecture students, whose work demands both technical precision and imaginative exploration. This study investigates the impact of architectural design and lighting conditions on creativity within eight drawing workshops at the Department of Architecture, Mostaganem, Algeria. The methodology combined architectural surveys to document spatial characteristics, photometric measurements to objectively assess natural and hybrid lighting quality, and the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) to evaluate students’ creative performance. Findings revealed significant disparities in lighting conditions across the workshops, with Workshop 2 exhibiting optimal illumination and Workshop 4 demonstrating critically insufficient levels. Improved lighting conditions were shown to significantly enhance creativity in geometric tasks, particularly in fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. However, for figural tasks requiring complex representational skills, lighting improvements alone had a limited effect, suggesting that higher-order creative processes depend on additional cognitive and instructional support. The study concludes that well-designed lighting is essential for fostering creativity in precision-based tasks, while more holistic approaches integrating environmental and pedagogical enhancements are necessary for advanced creative outcomes. These findings provide actionable insights for optimising educational spaces to support the cognitive and creative demands of architecture students.

Open-plan office research has paid considerable attention to physical comfort, interaction, and collaboration. Far less is known about how spatial configuration affects privacy in specific cultural settings. This study addresses that question through a case study of an Algerian company in Oran, where a layout developed by a foreign partner was later altered by local management. The research used a quantitative correlational design. A Building-In-Use (BIU)-based questionnaire was completed by 109 employees across 14 offices, and the same spaces were analysed using the space syntax measures of integration, control, entropy, and choice. Spearman's coefficients showed negative associations between privacy satisfaction and integration, control, and choice, but a positive association with entropy (r = 0.722, p < 0.001). A descriptive comparison of one office in its original and modified forms found a lower maximum integration value and a slightly higher maximum entropy value after modification. In this case, more differentiated layouts with less exposure were associated with better perceived privacy. Our contribution integrates a sociocultural perspective on user privacy into the space syntax analysis of Algerian open-plan offices. The results remain specific to one company, and the concentration of users within the same offices limits both generalisation and causal claims.