Unfocused design of community space

[Developing countries] The use of available land in the rural communities of many developing countries is restricted by tradition, ownership and settlement patterns, although there is a growing realization of the need to design the space of a community to ensure that the needs of all the people are met. The design of many rural villages emphasizes isolated family dwellings rather than the public space of the entire community. Locations for people to gather for the transaction of business, convenient use of educational facilities, electrical services, common clean water sources and corporate grazing land for animal raising are scattered and do not convey a sense of a well-ordered community. Many people must walk over miles of dirt pathways, occasionally very steep and often made muddy and slippery by abundant rains, to reach farms, stores or schools. The difficulty of transportation through the many narrow pathways does not easily allow the transport of material to build more secure or larger homes. This is further complicated by the fact that isolated families barely make an income from farming so that the purchase of building materials is beyond many families, abilities. The isolated pattern of village housing results in the continuing of a subsistence life style and prevents participation in the conveniences of modern life.