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The purpose of this paper is to explore the people’s perceptions of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia using Riyadh as a case study. Riyadh was chosen as a case study for two reasons: it is the capital city of Saudi Arabia and the largest city in the country; and there are no major differences between the characteristics of people in Riyadh and other major Saudi cities.

The questionnaire survey technique was used in this study to achieve the main purpose. The study used descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage) with the aid of the Statistical Package of Social Science Software (SPSS) to analyze the data.

The findings reveal that there is a lack of people’s awareness about the sustainable housing. However, it shows a positive response regarding people’s willingness to live in sustainable housing in the future as well as to adjust their current houses to be more environmentally friendly houses.

The thoughts of stakeholders who are involved in the housing field, including policymakers and real estate developers, are very significant, however, due to the time limitation it has not been explored in this study. Therefore, future research is recommended to investigate the opinions of different stakeholders to have better insights for delivering sustainable housing.

The study contributes to exploring the people’s perceptions of sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia using Riyadh as a case study. Only a few studies have discussed this issue, so this study was conducted to bridge this research gap and build upon the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the housing delivery within the Saudi Vision 2030 through an in-depth reading of the Saudi Vision 2030 from the researcher’s point of view and to identify the most significant aspects that may affect housing delivery in the country.

In this study, the desktop study technique was followed to review the key related literature, collect the data and analyze secondary data. The content analysis technique was used for data analysis of gathered documents and secondary data.

The findings reveal that there are several commitments in the Saudi Vision 2030 from the Saudi Government to be an exemplary leading nation in all aspects, including the delivery of affordable housing. Housing shortage, housing cost, demographic changes and land scarcity are identified as significant reasons for the lack of providing affordable housing.

The opinions of policymakers is very important, but due to time limitation, it has not been addressed. Future research can assess the Saudi Vision 2030 based on the study of the policymakers, professionals and academics to have better insights.

The paper contributes to discussing the housing delivery within the Saudi Vision 2030 and identifying the most significant aspects that may affect the housing delivery from the researcher’s point of view. Only a few studies have discussed the housing issues within the Saudi Vision 2030.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the nature of gated communities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) focusing on the experiences of residents from different gated communities in the Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA). It seeks to assess the socio-economic background of such communities and find out why people choose to live in gated communities and their perceptions of such housing patterns.

The questionnaire survey technique was used in this study to achieve the main purpose. The study used the triangulation method, which includes both qualitative and quantitative techniques as the most appropriate approach to be adopted. Qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis, while statistical analysis was performed to analyze quantitative data.

The findings of the study highlight that although gated communities are physically closed by walls and gates, it is distinguished by good social relations not only among their residents but even with the external surroundings, which makes these communities more attractive. Of course, this contrasts to some extent with the prevailing thinking that such communities live in a state of social isolation.

The ideas of people who live outside gated communities are very important, however, it was not explored in this study due to time limitations. So, future research could focus on citizens’ perceptions of this type of urban settlement.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study assessing the nature of gated communities in KSA by focusing on the experiences of residents of different gated communities in DMA. Only a few studies have been done in this regard, so this research paper was conducted to bridge this research gap and build upon the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the obstacles to the availability of suitable housing units for various socioeconomic segments of society with an emphasis on single-family homes, which is the most preferred housing type in the Saudi society.

To achieve the aim of this paper, the Delphi method was used to explore the experts’ opinions on the most important obstacles.

The findings of the study underline 17 different obstacles affecting the availability of suitable housing units for various segments of the Saudi society. The most critical obstacle is the high cost of land followed by the low income of the families, high cost of construction, high interest rate of mortgages and shortage of suitable residential lands.

The study concludes with a number of proposed recommendations that can contribute to address the current shortage of suitable housing units.

The purpose of this paper is to study the housing delivery in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and to discuss the most significant government regulations and financial support that have been applied since the beginning of this century and especially during the past ten years, which constituted a qualitative leap in the housing sector in the country.

In this paper, the desktop study technique was used to review the key related literature, collect the data and analyze secondary data. This study used a mixed approach involving (1) literature search and review, (2) analysis of literature public documents and databases and (3) expert discussions. The content analysis technique was followed for data analysis of gathered documents and secondary data. This study used the three-step iterative process during the use of the content analysis technique.

The findings reveal that the demand for housing will continue to increase in the coming years with increase in population. The housing supply should not only match the demand but also should develop according to the social and economic characteristics of the population. Besides, the authorities have to both streamline and reinforce regulations pertaining to construction permits and building licenses. Nonetheless, the regulators are suggested to remain vigilant about potential fiscal and financial risks as the housing market develops.

The opinions of policymakers and stakeholders are very important, but because of the time limitation it has not been explicitly addressed. Instead, discussions with select experts were carried out to validate the findings. Future research can assess the housing delivery based on the viewpoints of the policymakers, professionals, academics and stakeholders to have better insights and broaden the boundaries of knowledge in this field.

Similar studies in this field are limited, which makes this paper one of the pioneering attempts to study the current housing situation in the KSA and shed light on the most significant government regulations and financial support for housing delivery in the country.

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a number of housing policies to address these two issues and meet the needs of Saudi families, in accordance with their social and economic characteristics.

The paper first provides a review of the housing policies in Saudi Arabia, highlights some of the global experiences in the field of housing and reviews the best lessons learned from those experiences. Then, the paper analyses the reality of the housing sector in Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA) and discusses the most important results reached.

Finally, and based on the main findings, the paper puts forward a set of policies and actions recommended to improve housing sector in DMA.

The paper analyses the reality of the housing in DMA.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the trajectories of the urbanization process in Saudi Arabia in its regional context from the unification of the country by King Abdul Aziz Al Saud in 1932 to the present time, and the urbanization impact on the status and management of cultural heritage in the Kingdom.

Our study design integrated a well-articulated theoretical frame of sustainability to gain a heuristical understanding of urbanization in Saudi Arabia, and its link to cultural heritage. The methodological approach was mixed in nature involving (1) literature search and review, (2) analysis of public documents and databases, (3) analysis of photographs and (4) expert interviews.

One of the most obvious findings reached in this study is that there is considerable trade-off between heritage site conservation, population and economic demand for increased urbanization. Hence, with increasing urbanization pressures, the value of the heritage site may be rethought based on Saudi Arabia's economic and cultural conservation perspectives.

Since our data are mostly of textual narrative in origin, precise predictions were difficult or impossible for many reasons such as non-linearity, and non-equilibrium dynamics, context and scale dependence as well as the historical exigency of urbanization. However, the same theoretical framework can be applied to appropriate longitudinal/ time series data for predictive analyses, which can be taken up as a future research agenda.

This paper analyzes the urbanization process and sustainability challenges of cultural heritage sites employing a mixed methodological approach, embedded in a holistic theoretical framework of sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the novel aspects of activation energy in the nonlinearly convective flow of Walter-B nanofluid in view of Cattaneo–Christov double-diffusion model over a permeable stretched sheet. Features of nonlinear thermal radiation, dual stratification, non-uniform heat generation/absorption, MHD and binary chemical reaction are also evaluated for present flow problem. Walter-B nanomaterial model is employed to describe the significant slip mechanism of Brownian and thermophoresis diffusions. Generalized Fourier’s and Fick’s laws are examined through Cattaneo–Christov double-diffusion model. Modified Arrhenius formula for activation energy is also implemented.

Several techniques are employed for solving nonlinear differential equations. The authors have used a homotopy technique (HAM) for our nonlinear problem to get convergent solutions. The homotopy analysis method (HAM) is a semi-analytical technique to solve nonlinear coupled ordinary/partial differential equations. The capability of the HAM to naturally display convergence of the series solution is unusual in analytical and semi-analytic approaches to nonlinear partial differential equations. This analytical method has the following great advantages over other techniques:

• It provides a series solution without depending upon small/large physical parameters and applicable for not only weakly but also strongly nonlinear problems.

• It guarantees the convergence of series solutions for nonlinear problems.

• It provides us a great choice to select the base function of the required solution and the corresponding auxiliary linear operator of the homotopy.

It provides a series solution without depending upon small/large physical parameters and applicable for not only weakly but also strongly nonlinear problems.

It guarantees the convergence of series solutions for nonlinear problems.

It provides us a great choice to select the base function of the required solution and the corresponding auxiliary linear operator of the homotopy.

Brief mathematical description of HAM technique (Liao, 2012; Mabood et al., 2016) is as follows. For a general nonlinear equation:

where N denotes a nonlinear operator, x the independent variables and u(x) is an unknown function, respectively. By means of generalizing the traditional homotopy method, Liao (1992) creates the so-called zero-order deformation equation:

here q∈[0, 1] is the embedding parameter, H(x) ≠ 0 is an auxiliary function, h(≠ 0) is a nonzero parameter, L is an auxiliary linear operator, u_o(x) is an initial guess of u(x) and u ˆ ( x ; q ) is an unknown function, respectively. It is significant that one has great freedom to choose auxiliary things in HAM. Noticeably, when q=0 and q=1, following holds:

Expanding u ˆ ( x ; q ) in Taylor series with respect to (q), we have:

If the initial guess, the auxiliary linear operator, the auxiliary h and the auxiliary function are selected properly, then the series (4) converges at q=1, then we have:

By defining a vector u → = ( u o ( x ) , u 1 ( x ) , u 2 ( x ) , … , u n ( x ) ) , and differentiating Equation (2) m-times with respect to (q) and then setting q=0, we obtain the mth-order deformation equation:

where:

Applying L⁻¹ on both sides of Equation (6), we get:

In this way, we obtain u_m for m ⩾ 1, at mth-order, we have:

It is evident from obtained results that the nanoparticle concentration field is directly proportional to the chemical reaction with activation energy. Additionally, both temperature and concentration distributions are declining functions of thermal and solutal stratification parameters (P₁) and (P₂), respectively. Moreover, temperature Θ(Ω₁) enhances for greater values of Brownian motion parameter (N_b), non-uniform heat source/sink parameter (B₁) and thermophoresis factor (N_t). Reverse behavior of concentration ϒ(Ω₁) field is remarked in view of (N_b) and (N_t). Graphs and tables are also constructed to analyze the effect of different flow parameters on skin friction coefficient, local Nusselt number, Sherwood numbers, velocity, temperature and concentration fields.

The novelty of the present problem is to inspect the Arrhenius activation energy phenomena for viscoelastic Walter-B nanofluid model with additional features of nonlinear thermal radiation, non-uniform heat generation/absorption, nonlinear mixed convection, thermal and solutal stratification. The novel aspect of binary chemical reaction is analyzed to characterize the impact of activation energy in the presence of Cattaneo–Christov double-diffusion model. The mathematical model of Buongiorno is employed to incorporate Brownian motion and thermophoresis effects due to nanoparticles.

The purpose of this study is to identify the preferred characteristics of buyers of single-family homes in Saudi Arabia with an emphasis on the city of Dammam.

Data were collected using face-to-face structured interviews conducted from November 2016 to May 2017 with 177 owners of single-family homes that were purchased between 2010 and the first quarter of 2017.

The findings indicate that homes can be divided into three types: villas, detached duplexes and semi-detached duplexes. Also, more than three-quarters of the respondents purchased their homes through mortgages from either lenders or the government. It seems we find that the advantages of the detached duplex, particularly its privacy level, over other types of single-family homes induce homebuyers to choose this home type.

In this study, the authors analyze housing preferences among various segments of the Saudi society, in the city of Dammam, to understand the housing supply in Saudi Arabia. Only a few studies have investigated the preferences of homebuyers in Saudi Arabia. Below the authors provide a literature review, discuss data and methods and results, as well as provide concluding remarks.

Jubail Industrial City is one of the largest industrial centers in the Middle East, offering potential opportunities for renewable energy generation. This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the wind resources in Jubail Industrial City and proposes the design of a smart grid-connected wind farm for this strategic location.

The study used wind data collected at three different heights above ground level – 10, 50 and 90 m – over four years from 2017 to 2020. Key parameters, such as average wind speeds (WS), predominant wind direction, Weibull shape, scale parameters and wind power density (WPD), were analyzed. The study used Windographer, an exclusive software program designed to evaluate wind resources.

The average WS at the respective heights were 3.07, 4.29 and 4.58 m/s. The predominant wind direction was from the north-west. The Weibull shape parameter (k) at the three heights was 1.77, 2.15 and 2.01, while the scale parameter (c) was 3.36, 4.88 and 5.33 m/s. The WPD values at different heights were 17.9, 48.8 and 59.3 W/m², respectively.

The findings suggest that Jubail Industrial City possesses favorable wind resources for wind energy generation. The proposed smart grid-connected wind farm design demonstrates the feasibility of harnessing wind power in the region, contributing to sustainable energy production and economic benefits.