Initiatives of Sustainable Cities & Communities In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has worked hard to work on sustainability and keeping the environment safe while moving forward. some of Saudi Arabia's Initiatives are:

NEOM's THE LINE:

It is an environmentally friendly city that “will reimagine and revitalize the future of urban living.”

According to NEOM’s official website, THE LINE is described as a “never-before-seen approach to urbanization.” It is a 170-kilometer (kilometer) belt of re-imagined urban development with multiple, hyper-connected communities, with natural and walkable spaces.

THE LINE will be built around nature, as large areas of land will be preserved for conservation, supporting NEOM’s environment and heritage.

According to a press release, all energy in NEOM will be 100 percent renewable, including solar, wind and hydrogen-based power generation. This will ensure clean and pollution-free urban environments. 

(NEOM’s ‘THE LINE:’ An environmentally friendly, car-free city in Saudi Arabia, 2021)

(NEOM, 2021)

Another initiative is The Development and Rehabilitation of Wadi Hanifa:

To maintain the natural sources of water and natural life, the high authority for the development of Riyadh city completed its comprehensive plan for the rehabilitation of Wadi Hanifa, which runs from the heights of Al-Hayatiah to the south-east of Al-Haier, 120 kilometers long and 10 to 100 meters wide. To restore the environmental balance after the great urban development in the city of Riyadh as well as the importance of the location of the valley, which represents a natural drainage for about 4000 square kilometers. It is noteworthy that the valley began to suffer from environmental degradation since the nineties, due to the transport of the soil from the belly of the valley, and the spread of the crushers industrial activities.

In order to stop the deterioration in the valley, the authority decided to consider it as an environmentally protected area and a special development zone, and prepared a comprehensive plan for its rehabilitation. This plan is based on a number of policies, regulations and procedures and actions aimed at stopping environmental degradation. 

These include:

● Transfer of crushers and the soil transport projects from the valley to other areas outside the city

● Transfer most of the industrial activities outside the valley

● Reduce the establishment of new lines for trans-valley facilities

● Determine the streams of the flood of the main valley and the riverbeds

The project of the environmental rehabilitation of Wadi Hanifa is the basis on which the rest of the future development projects will be built. The project included the cleaning and removal of waste. The cleaning was completed of about 10 million square meters, with the removal of almost half a million ton of wastes. 

(Development and Rehabilitation of Wadi Hanifa, 2017)

Written by: Sarah Almansour

References:

ALARABIYA NEWS. 2021. NEOM’s ‘THE LINE:’ An environmentally friendly, car-free city in Saudi Arabia. [online] Available at: <https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/01/11/NEOM-s-THE-LINE-An-environmentally-friendly-car-free-city-in-Saudi-Arabia> [Accessed 14 April 2021].

Riyadh Environment. 2017. Development and Rehabilitation of Wadi Hanifa. [online] Available at: <https://www.riyadhenv.gov.sa/en/achievement/%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%AA%D8%A3%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%84-%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D8%AD%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A9/> [Accessed 14 April 2021].

NEOM. (2021, Febrauary 20).Dr. Paul Marshall, Chief Environment Officer, explains how #NEOM​ will be a model for sustainability. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCOZ51Ba2c4