SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF ARAB CITIES WITH REFERENCE TO RIYADH

1、sustainable development of arab cities with reference to riyadh mohammed a. al-sahlawi, professor of economics department of finance and economicscollege of industrial management king fahd university of petroleum & mineralsthe sustainable development, according to the brundtland report (1987), is a

2、process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are potential to meet human needs and aspirations. according to the south commission (1990) the process of development is explained as follow

3、s: it is the process which frees people from the fear of want and exploitation. it is a movement away from political, economic, or social oppression. through development, political independence acquires its true significance. and it is a process of growth, a movement essentially springing from withi

4、n the society that is developing.we begin by the present state of economic indicators of sustainable development in selected arab cities. from this examination we will then point out the relevance of sustainable development in its practical and normative policy and institutional concepts for arab ci

5、ties. we will also point out the policies that can be mobilized and the change in attitude to human and social preferences that need to be transformed to bring about a better semblance of sustainable development in the arab cities.our benchmark for the study of sustainable development indicators and

6、 their use in bringing about the balance of development and human well-being will be a general systems approach. in this systems perspective, according to the underlying substance of interactions and interrelationships among variables, relations, institutions, communities, sectors and the individual

7、 as a subset, the understanding of sustainable development will be explained.sustainable development indicators in general, the following types of problems with sustainable development have been found: waste management is an area that has not been attended to in arab cities. solid wastes in arab cit

8、ies come in the form of industrial and chemical waste that are both of the hazardous and non-hazardous types. they emanate from the rapid expansion of the urban sector and the industrialization of the agricultural and the producing sectors. solid waste does not only cause environmental problems, but

9、 it is also a social cost due to high depletion of the existing resources and subsequent clean-up that is needed. in general, arab cities have lagged behind in the knowledge of recycling solid waste efficiently by the adoption of appropriate methods and devices.poor air quality is another environmen

10、tal problem found in many arab cities. this is caused by the sharp increase in ground transportation causing high levels of carbon dioxide emission. the indiscriminate pollution caused by factories, desalination plants, power stations and oil refineries has contributed to poor air quality. there are

11、 no effective policies to regulate such environmental problems.the depletion of fresh water supply is also feared with the increasing population, a high level of usage and wastage. in saudi arabia, for example, much of the fresh water come from aquifers and fossil water deposits. these sources of su

12、pply are increasingly depleting due to higher levels of consumption and contamination by chemical wastes. along the marine coastline as well aquatic life is endangered. consequently, the livelihood that depends upon fishing and coastal economic life is threatened.even in the midst of increasing envi

13、ronmentally problems engendered by economic expansion, undue consumption levels and wastage of precious conservable resources, there exists poor data and information to quantitatively address the sustainable development problems of arab cities. the need for maintaining environmental and health stand

14、ards has thus not been achieved among arab cities due to the lack of statistical information on sustainable development indicators. the problem of desertification is found to arise from an unplanned way of managing land. no particular attention is given to zone land use by its types across agricultu

15、re, pasture, forests, industry, recreation, conservation and preservation of biological diversity. there also exist problems of overgrazing in arable land and over-cutting of trees. in some places, excessive use of pesticides has also caused contamination of ground water and soil as well. these inef

16、ficient ways of land use have caused a general depletion of productive lands and misallocation of land across appropriate sectors for use.sustainability in arab citiesthe general impression on problems of sustainability in arab cities is one of delinked economic expansion among sectors following the

17、 sudden outburst of urban sector growth. privatization, demand driven pressure on services and inappropriate planning of the urban and rural sectors so as to address a balanced economic change and technological advancement. these problems have thus left a critical conflict between development and gr

18、owth on the one hand and human well-being and long-term balance in resource conservation on the other hand. the picture of development in the absence of such sectoral linkages and balance resource use is contrary to sustainable economic development.equally sustainable development requires proper gui

19、dance of human resources in understanding responsible consumption and commodification of life. the underlying preference changes in this respect have to do with the infusion of ethics and values as endogenous forces in economic production and consumption, behavior and political uplift of social well

20、-being. it also importantly calls for a common attitude to sustainable choices of goods and services by the household and the community at large. such choices are inevitably formed by inculcating a collective way of determining economic and social possibilities.riyadh, saudi arabiawith a high popula

21、tion growth rate of 8 per cent annually, riyadh stands a heavy pressure for service demand comprising fresh water supply, proper land zoning, air quality and environmental pollution. with this phenomenal growth in population resource use, wastage and depletion are also expected to remain high. this

22、is despite the high levels of dwelling and institutional constructions that are now on in riyadh. market expansion itself will cause economic unsustainability by means of high demand fuelling profit-push and demand-driven inflation, whereas the growth of the service sector in tandem with market expa

23、nsion will cause an unproductive use of resources. the sectoral allocation of gdp for riyadh points out a heavy concentration on industry and services. in the absence of adequate institutional safeguards against environmental pollution, there exists the fear of unsustainable development caused by th

24、e concentration of economic expansion and resource pressure in riyadh city.of late there has commenced certain activities for attending to the adverse effects of economic expansion of riyadh city. for example, there are now committees examining the ways and means of handling and controlling hazardou

25、s material and waste. this will compromise handling, storing and disposing of radioactive materials, responding to emergencies such as chemical spills and leakages, monitoring of private sector activities in relation to over-consumption, waste control and sealing, waste disposal of hazardous materia

26、ls.the government of saudi arabia has also taken up several steps in sustaining the air quality in riyadh city. the project on dissociating sulfur emission in the production of natural gases and crude oil has made sulfur into an exportable commodity while the air has been cleaned of this emission.co

27、nclusion: policy perspective in the light of the human ecological and sustainability question of sustainable development, the enactment of appropriate policies and environmental laws must be developed in a concerted way with the conscious participation of civil groups, farmers, businesses, city plan

28、ners and government servants. the objective would be to seek mutually agreed upon possibilities to develop ecological habitats in well-planned cities and restricted zoning areas exclusively for industry and agriculture. such a design of a planned approach to human habitation can come about if each p

29、articipant is enable to reconstruct preferences along ethical lines of balanced ecological realization. an environmental law can then be framed for the establishment of such integrative preferences out of the interactions among participatory groups. knowledge flows of ethical balance are thus formed

30、 and put into action through appropriate rules for specific functions.the nature of environmental law for the benefit of the citizenry and the future conservation of water and land resources will thus evolve as a complementary artifact with human well being. on the one hand, the conscious realizatio

31、n of health standards will increase awareness for adopting such a well-directed ordinance. on the other hand, the planning of sectors and producing areas will be able to manage their eco-systems in effective ways through recycling and reusing activities. this can lead to biodiversity development and

32、 consequently to cost reduction and many institutional cooperation among entrepreneurs and government sources.the net result of knowledge formation through the interactive and integrative medium of perpetual learning by discourse among the participants in environmental law making and decision-making

33、 is achievement of complementarity among physical resource conservation and human resource development in terms of health, living standards and future progeny. at the same time, the industrial sector through its specific development zones can manage these well enough to gather cooperative mechanisms

34、 of biodiversity. it is noted that a proper policy perspective within the framework of an environmental law needs a systems approach to the understanding of feedback between economics sectors, the urban and rural sector, the labor market and households, the private sector, government, public authori

35、ties and the community. changes in any one of these sectors and points will bring about a change in all other ones. it is therefore very important to maintain harmony and balances among all the sectors. indiscriminate economic expansion leads to resource depletion and de-stabilization of prices, causing waste and over-consumption. such depletions will inevitably cause private and public cost outrun. the long-run social cost is burdened on the community and society. the growth of the consumer cultu