Abstract
In the modern era, population and economic growth have accelerated urban sprawl in Saudi Arabia. This has placed tremendous pressure on the country's natural resources, including water, energy, and raw materials. Hence, the conventional means of expanding the built environment is no longer appropriate, as it has been found to be one of major causes of climate change and global warming. In the early 1970s, the principles of sustainable development emerged in developed countries, in order to remedy this global issue. During this period, Saudi Arabia experienced dramatic development in all of its industries, but the principles of sustainable development were, to a large degree, overlooked. However, there is now an ambitious Vision 2030 for Saudi Arabia, one of the purposes of which is to promote greater sustainability in the country. This study seeks to assist decision makers to identify the challenges and opportunities of the current Saudi practices of city design, and their related operational aspects, and to enable the adoption of effective measures for implementing sustainable development principles. Employing an ethnographic research methodology, the fieldwork concerned includes a public perception survey, followed by a site inspection, in order to develop an insider's view of the current level of sustainable practice in the city of Najran. A public survey is distributed to well-informed citizens, with the goal of obtaining their insights, and to assess their willingness to embrace green city practices. This is followed by a site inspection visit that seeks to obtain in-depth information regarding site design and operational practices. A checklist of sustainable criteria is adapted from well-known systems. The major outcomes of the study reveal that many challenges are encountered the application of green city principles. The paper offers effective approaches and strategic actions for overcoming these challenges.
Highlights
Developed counties are currently striving to transform their cities into green and sustainable metropolises [1], [2]
The findings demonstrated that the city centre and the urban area were more polluted than the other locations, the concentration of the heavy metals present was below the average of that found in major polluted cities
This enabled a generalized evaluation of the current level of sustainable development in Saudi Arabian cities, with a particular focus on the design and operation of downtown areas
Summary
Developed counties are currently striving to transform their cities into green and sustainable metropolises [1], [2]. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia launched an ambitious vision, known as the Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to transform the country from its traditional state into a sustainable and environmentally responsible country [3]. Adoption of a sustainable and green city model for the country’s metropolises. This paper seeks to illuminate the current practices in Saudi Arabia, and to explore the opportunities and challenges involved in creating a suitable green city strategic plan for the Saudi Arabian context. Since there is currently a lack of sufficient research in this area, the present study seeks to provide developers and decision makers with a critical view of the Saudi Arabian context, and to offer a strategic plan for its future city development.
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