Investigating Environmental Design Principles to Optimize Saudi Arabia’s Unique, Transformative Vision 2030

Abstract

Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is built around three primary themes: a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation. Vision 2030 seeks to transform Saudi Arabia into an ideal sustainable society by constructing more sustainable structures and utilizing renewable energy resources. Stratigicly located on the coast of the Red Sea a futuristic mega-city is being planned which upon its completion will be powered 100% by renewable energy. Through the implementation of clean technologies and renewable energy Saudi Arabia aims to reach its projected 50% emissions reduction goals by 2030. This city project will also include cutting-edge innovative technologies and tourist attractions to enhance the lives of Saudi citizens while capitalizing on Saudi Arabia's geographic advantage. Environmentally sensitive building systems, urban development, and population growth in the near future will potentially lead to an extreme increase in energy consumption overall, therefore a thoughtful balance must be considered. In the forefront, the focus must consider a straightforward way to live a healthy lifestyle through walkable districts. Prosperous cities have the unique ability to reflect the importance of energy conservation and a healthy lifestyle. The design of a neighborhood influences lifestyle, physical activity, and, ultimately, human health. Walkability is a great way to incorporate human-centered strategies into renovations and retrofits of existing buildings because it makes them more adaptable and easier to utilize. This research will compare the walkability indices in Saudi Arabia’s THE LINE city and perceived neighborhood areas and investigate and examine the walkability and outdoor human thermal comfort (specifically, newer applications intended as part of Vision 2030). This study establishes walkability standards that implement sustainable design principles and meet outdoor human thermal comfort requirements in Saudi Arabia. The intent of this research is to explore the relationship between the impact of outdoor human thermal comfort on walkability and how walkability can aid in the implementation of sustainability design principles in new and existing structures in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, a neighborhood's walkability will be utilized as a guideline to create a unique rating system for Saudi Arabian criteria that measures pedestrian friendliness of the built environment. This criterion will include factors such as sidewalk quality, street design, and access to amenities, and will be applied to provide a standardized measure of walkability that can be drawn up to compare neighborhoods across the country. This research includes reviews and evaluates the current state of walkability systems to help understand and change the status quo.