Author(s)

A. Abdulgader & Y. Aina

Abstract

It has been recognized that urban design has a vital role to play in fostering sustainable cities as urban spatial structure and form have considerable influence on the social, economic and environmental processes in the urban area. Research works have focused on the development of appropriate guidelines and frameworks for making urban design sustainable. However, the studies have not explored the development of a holistic approach to sustainable urban design. This paper seeks to develop an integrated framework, in the local context of Saudi Arabia, for promoting sustainable urban design. The paper discusses the role of urban design in promoting sustainable cities and examines the sustainable development principles that should guide urban design. The paper also discusses issues pertaining to sustainable urban design in Saudi Arabia. It concluded that sustainable urban design could only be achieved if the procedural, substantive, institutional, policy and methodological aspects of urban design are interlinked and guided by sustainability principles. Keywords: sustainable cities, sustainable urban design, sustainability principles, urban management, land use planning, Saudi Arabia. 1 Introduction In recent times, the major challenges to urban management and development are the spate of rapid urbanization and the subsequent impacts of increasing human activities. The myriad of factors that influence urban development have made the task of taming urban problems enormous if not unachievable. The complexity of factors to be integrated by urban planners and designers in managing urban areas is compounded by globalization. Urban development is no longer mainly

Keywords

sustainable cities, sustainable urban design, sustainability principles, urban management, land use planning, Saudi Arabia.