Sustainable cities: an integrated strategy for sustainable urban design

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.