Tlemcen Building Code Ignored Local Culture

As a young permit officer in Tlemcen, Algeria in 1965, Bertaud found that the French-derived Code de l'urbanisme prescribed large windows and setbacks suited to Parisian suburbs, while Algerian residents valued privacy and central courtyards better suited to the local culture and climate; applying the code would have forced people to build housing that made no sense for them, so he chose to use common sense instead of the regulation.