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Fostering Urban Sustainability through the Ecological Wisdom of Traditional Settlements

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  • Naji Akbar

    (Department of Interior Architecture, College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia)

  • Ismaila Rimi Abubakar

    (College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia)

  • Adel Saleh Bouregh

    (Department of Interior Architecture, College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 31441, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

Several African and Asian countries have embarked on building new towns to address urbanization challenges such as crowded cities, slums, and pressure on existing infrastructure. These projects have been criticized for being inadequate in fostering environmental sustainability. Based on a desk study, this article reviews the environmental sustainability challenges of these projects and recommends some ecologically embedded practices of traditional settlements that wonderfully survived for many centuries with little adverse social and environmental impacts yet offered opportunities for urbanism. The article discusses how the architecture, urban form, and green infrastructure of traditional settlements present excellent cases of ecological wisdom and embeddedness where the local ecosystems are respected, and every human activity, including the creation of the built environment, is defined by the ecological allowances, where resilience is part of the built environment at both micro and macro scales, and where humanity and nature are equal stakeholders living in unison. The article concludes that these instances of successful ecological embeddedness in traditional settlements can provide lessons for contemporary cities to ponder when envisioning more sustainable built environments for the present and future generations.

Suggested Citation

  • Naji Akbar & Ismaila Rimi Abubakar & Adel Saleh Bouregh, 2020. "Fostering Urban Sustainability through the Ecological Wisdom of Traditional Settlements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:10033-:d:454443
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Abdulaziz I. Almulhim & Ismaila Rimi Abubakar, 2021. "Understanding Public Environmental Awareness and Attitudes toward Circular Economy Transition in Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    2. Naji Akbar & Ismaila Rimi Abubakar & Ayesha Agha Shah & Wafa Al-Madani, 2021. "Ecological Embeddedness in the Maya Built Environment: Inspiration for Contemporary Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-29, December.
    3. Adel Saleh Bouregh, 2022. "A Conceptual Framework of Public Participation Utilization for Sustainable Urban Planning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Rosyi Damayanti T. Manningtyas & Katsunori Furuya, 2022. "Traditional Ecological Knowledge versus Ecological Wisdom: Are They Dissimilar in Cultural Landscape Research?," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Jinliu Chen & Haoqi Wang & Zhuo Yang & Pengcheng Li & Geng Ma & Xiaoxin Zhao, 2023. "Comparative Spatial Vitality Evaluation of Traditional Settlements Based on SUF: Taking Anren Ancient Town’s Urban Design as an Example," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.

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