Page 142 - IJES Special Issues for AIEC2016
P. 142
42 © Sherif, Shalaby, and Altan 2016 | Towards the Second Sustainable City
b. Socially: host workshops for residents, investors,
consultants, and contractors to introduce the
The social aspect of sustainable development is development objectives and how all the
different from place to place and people to stakeholders should work together to achieve it.
people. The social practices applied in Abu In the case of Abu Dhabi, the UPC launched nine
Dhabi can still be applied in RAK but with design manuals to control any building activity
caution. Social sustainability addresses the even that takes place in the city. Moreover, the Abu
distribution of physical human assets, human Dhabi municipality generalized the use of the
rights, social justice, the need to preserve international building codes (architectural,
cultural and environmental heritage, promotion structural, plumbing, mechanical, electrical) and
of education and creativity, and finally, the firefighting code and made them mandatory
achieving harmony between citizens and other codes.
residents in the emirate.
c. Economically:
Raising the Awareness of the Public
Economics is the motive for any development,
Education is the key for any developed and and sources of income in a city are always
successful nation. A good educational system limited to the private and public sectors, as they
produces aware, educated generations that are the soul of any development strategy. A
benefit their societies and communities. RAK, as successful development plan is the one that
a part of the UAE, follows the federal education attracts investors from around the world to
system that is designed for the whole country. invest in a particular city. The private sector can
Despite this, there is still a lot to be done to be directly responsible for many projects that
raise public awareness of the importance of shape a city’s future in all fields, including
sustainability. Some people think that it is the education, health, tourism, commercials, and
government's responsibility to take care of recreation. Yet the government is largely
these matters. However, this is wrong. There is responsible for development projects.
a lot that must be done on an individual scale,
and each resident in this society should have his Securing Resources: Water and Energy
or her share of responsibility. These ideas and
concepts can be easily corrected through Securing natural resources through the
national campaigns that address the public solutions proposed above costs a lot. The
directly. Training seminars and workshops for solutions suggested that individuals should
all development stakeholders make the process undertake are: using certain water fixtures and
much easier to accept by the public. Also, social appliances with lower flow rates, adding extra
campaigns to schools, universities, and other meters to monitor the exact water consumption,
educational institutions will help raise using certain materials that have predefined u
awareness. Finally, some commercial campaigns values and were approved by the local
can be undertaken, such as road signs and municipalities, using solar panels and lights, and
media advertisements. installing certain conditioning equipment. All
these practices will certainly raise a building's
Governmental Legislations initial cost by 20% to 30%. However, looking
only at the short-term is a very limited perspec-
Rejection of change is a natural human tive. Over the long term, the yearly utility bills
behavior. The public in a certain society will will be reduced by 15% to 20%. These savings
initially reject any changes to their lifestyle. This are considered to be more valuable to the
is where the government should interfere to economy than the initial increase in cost.
help the public make the necessary changes.
The government should issue design manuals to On a wider scale, and in addition to the
control the developments proposed to take practices mentioned above, investors are
place in the emirate as well as new rules, required to undertake more costly practices like
regulations, and building codes that delivers the adopting onsite water treatment plants.
goals of the development plan. It should also However, the government should introduce
Science Target Inc. www.sciencetarget.com
