Urban Planning - Smart and Sustainable Cities

Smart and Sustainable Cities

Background

Urbanization is a broad terminology describing the process through which rural, underdeveloped and undeveloped regions transition to major cities. Despite the rich history of urbanization, Doheim, Farag and Badawi (2019) noted that most urban centers have not yet attained the level necessary to satisfy all human needs. Urban areas are typified by an increase in population and infrastructure developments. Irrefutably, a huge proportion of the current global population lives in urban areas. This proportion is expected to grow by 68% over the next thirty years (Mutiara, Yuniarti & Pratama, 2018). Notably, the rise in population requires social, economic and environmental sustainability. Therefore, major cities must implement interventions that promote growth and sustainability without introducing new social and economic problems. Urban developers and local councils must join forces to create smart, sustainable cities.

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The smart and sustainable city describes an innovative city that utilizes modern technology to improve urban operation’s efficiency, competitiveness and quality of life of residents (Mutiara, Yuniarti & Pratama, 2018). Writers depict a smart and sustainable city as the only initiative that could wholly support the present and future socioeconomic, cultural and environmental needs of the people. Smart cities are considered complementary to conventional public policy and urban planning objectives including improving the residents’ quality of life, optimizing service delivery, and facilitating access to resources (Castelnovo, Misuraca and Savoldelli, 2016).

Many countries acknowledge the importance of smart and sustainable cities. The Saudi government, for instance, recognizes smart city initiatives as a reliable intervention to improve the lives of its people. Under the Saudi Smart City initiative, the government is determined to develop at least ten smart cities by 2030 (Doheim, Farag & Badawi, 2019). Unfortunately, creating smart cities is a complex project marred with challenges. Poor governance is one of the critical challenges facing the smart city initiative. Governance in this context describes the way different levels of government, including regional, national and local, manage urban areas. Governance also involves the stakeholders’ activities in planning, financing and managing major cities.

Saghir (2019) clarified that the smart city initiative might crumble if the government and the stakeholders fail to implement suitable communication mechanisms besides withholding the resources needed to accomplish major smart city projects. Further, the smart cities initiative might also run into problems if it promotes social discrimination. A lack of technical knowledge to navigate the smart city might limit some people’s access to certain resources. Non-educated people might not fit in smart cities, indicating that these cities will not resolve all challenges people face. Proper governance is, therefore, necessary to promote inclusivity, participation, decision-making and policy development at all levels. Saghir (2019) noted that besides providing direction, proper governance defines crucial procedures and offers the metrics necessary to validate processes.

Problem Question / Statement

Proper governance is critical to the effective implementation and management of smart and sustainable cities. Innovators and stakeholders are determined to establish effective governance models to ensure the smart city initiative does not crumble. Unfortunately, with numerous governmental parties within the country focusing on developing and managing modern cities, these projects might run into serious management issues. A lack of proper governance modalities hinders the sustainability of smart cities (Saghir, 2019). Leaders and stakeholders need to address the issue of overlapping responsibilities and create mechanisms for proper governance. This approach would streamline critical processes for implementing smart, sustainable cities. Managing smart cities is nonetheless a complex task that requires effective organizational structures. These structures must support the broad participation of stakeholders in governance. Regrettably, there are no clear-cut interventions that innovators can implement to enhance governance in smart cities. Potential solutions to poor governance include integrating traditional municipal models and alternative governance platforms into smart city management.

Objective

This paper investigates the importance of proper governance to smart cities and develops recommendations for Saudi smart cities' governance. The paper explores the policies, approaches and interventions that could enhance governance at all levels and boost the sustainability of Saudi smart cities. The investigation will help identify governance interventions that have proven effective in other cities. Essentially, it will unearth information on governance models applicable to the Saudi context. This investigation is relevant since it will improve the understanding of different governance principles, including integrity, transparency, technology, responsiveness, accountability, effective policies and integrity. These issues are worth investigating considering poor governance might cripple all investments in smart, sustainable cities. A focus on technology, in particular, will contribute to the Saudi Smart City initiative by generating more information on how to reshape the social and physical character of urban regions, shaping the cost and distribution of resources, influencing the quality and quantity of services besides improving the efficiency of service delivery.