Visualizing urban sustainability using ESDA study case (Al Laith City - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

In our world the population increasing day after day and governments should be worried about this issue. They should take the necessary actions to address this steady increase and its impact on development processes which affects the universe in general. Thus sustainability is a core issue for today. However, sustainability entails more than green architecture or re-using building materials. A city should for example also be an attractive place to live with economic potential for its inhabitants. The practice of spatial planning greatly influences our environment. Given the importance of cities, we argue that sustainability is a necessary mindset of planners. In today’s network society geographic information has an increasingly important role to support this mindset. In this study explores how spatial information may spur the discussion on planning sustainable cities. This is done by analyzing urban survey forms and environmental, socio-economic from the questionnaire. Yet, the careful interpretation of geographic data into spatial information is essential for the quality of the final result. By means of a case study area (city of Al Laith - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), this study shows how GIS and ESDA can be used to describe the sustainability of the city. Six indicators (public space, educational level, average income, employment status, carbon dioxide emissions and building density) are used to visualize the sustainability of the study area. There are some aspects need to be considered in order to achieve a sustainable development of the city of Al Laith. We can conclude from this study there are some problems that a necessary solution to achieve sustainability of the city of Al Laith. This will be achieved through some strategies and policies to make this city more sustainable for current populations and for the next generations.