The unity of all the countries of the world and their peoples to address the challenges of climate change is the shortest route to maintain the environment of the Earth we all share. Preserving the environment will remain a basic principle in our development programs, national projects and governmental policies. It is the right of the future generations to inherit a clean and healthy environment.
The implementation of several principles and tools is necessary for sound and sustainable urban planning for the planet on which we live. For instance, the new urban cities tend towards expanding and modifying larger areas of land resulting in a corresponding increase in the rates of heat, which in turn leads to increasing the green area, using some means for efficiently addressing the air circulation, and creating new attractive scenery.
Achieving the maximum green area in the city is part of the concept of sustainable development. This contributes to building a green city that provides a healthy and comfortable environment for its citizens and visitors. Moreover, preserving the architectural heritage is considered one of the pillars of urban planning not only for the originality of some historic areas and building but also for the values, ideas and civilizations they represent.
The principles of strategic concepts to maintain the environmental biodiversity and nature are considered among the elements of sustainable urban planning. Moreover, Dubai Municipality provides support for the desert activities and exerts efforts to protect wildlife.
The Environment
The environment is one of the main pillars of the sustainable development. Therefore, it is the governments’ duty to spread awareness among citizens and perform its role in projects that would preserve our environment; such as the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste in a way that guarantees preserving the environment in the present and future. This should be capable of treating the expected generated amounts of such hazardous waste. The governments should also raise awareness in respect to all types of pollution affecting the presence of humans on Earth. Most of the nations and countries have initiated the necessary steps to reduce the release of harmful gases and other toxic elements in the air that affect the planet and its inhabitants. Such countries have recognized the necessity of adopting empowering policies, plans and procedures, and allocating financial resources to transform their economies into sustainable green economies within a given period of time. This is done so that future generations do not face depletion of natural resources enabling their lives to depend on sustainable development.
Urbanism
The urban renaissance, taking place in the world, constitutes a significant pressure on natural resources, especially energy and water, resulting into the imposition of a strong pressure on the environment due to the pollutants and hazardous wastes produced by such exploitation. Thus, the rationalization of consumption of such resources has become among the priority issues in the governments’ strategic planning. Guaranteeing the sustainability of the economic growth cannot be achieved without preserving the environment, the biological systems and natural resources. Since urban activities and buildings have obvious effects on the environment. Sustainable architecture promotes and adopts the close association between the environment and the economy.
The installation of thermal insulation and energy saving systems in buildings is considered one of the global methods adopted to save electricity. Studies have shown that the thermal insulation system reduces up to 40% of electricity used in the air conditioning of buildings. The municipality has employed a civilized discourse of conducting research studies, as well as revising studies, research papers and applications in the field of thermal insulation in countries with similar climates. Moreover, within the process of implementing thermal insulation, the municipality has examined the construction and thermal insulation material used in terms of the global standards and their ability to apply efficient insulation. It highlighted the pros and cons of such materials, their availability, and their compatibility with the application. It also raised awareness among citizens promoting the idea of thermal insulation through explaining the dimensions and benefits of the system, including the elements of building and choice of material. The same modern method used in the application of the thermal insulation system was used for the application of the green building system.
Water
This refers to producing and supplying the necessary infrastructures to provide water. It also means the use of modern technologies to preserve water by reusing it and recycling wastes, as well as other refining technologies that meet the expected rise in the consumption and demand for water. Therefore, the green economy helps in developing the infrastructures and creating employment opportunities for both urban and rural areas on regular basis.
Agriculture
It is expected that the transition into the practices of sustainable agriculture would lead to great saving of up to 5-6% of the total local production in the Arab states reaching up to 114 billion dollars annually. This is due to the use of effective management for the increasing demand for water and natural resources. This leads to providing a thousand of employment opportunities in the rural areas, which in turn would provide a source of income for the population, thus reducing their dependence on government aid.
Energy
Investments in the production of sustainable energy leads to creating new employment opportunities. Moreover, reducing the per capita consumption of electricity through the adoption of energy-saving measures and the strategies for energy efficiency would lead to more savings and the reduction of expenditure. This enables the investment of such money in green energy projects, which provides a million job opportunities.
Transportation
Public transportation systems and fuel saving criteria should be established. If 50% of the Arab transport sector turned green, this would lead to saving billions of dollars annually, which could be used for research and development purposes.
Thus, it is important to activate such strategies for further social, economic and environmental advancement. This provides a possible solution for several tough social, economic and environmental challenges facing the world to benefit future generations.