| The growth of cities and the population explosion in Saudi Arabia during the last decades increased the environmental and climate challenges.The tremendous pressure on the Earth's natural resources and environment led to an infinite resources depletion,and to a permanent change in climate patterns over time.Additionally,the conventional methods of burning fossil fuels including oil,gas,and coal release CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming,which in turn affects Earth's eco-system and human health.Eco-City concept aims to preserve the natural environment and climate,recycle waste in order to reduce consumption and impact,provide a healthy life for individuals,and adopt innovative land-use planning and alternate modes of transport systems in order to reduce CO2 emissions.Therefore,this research provides a design framework for Eco-City establishment in Saudi Arabia,including an Eco-City concept overview that is compatible with the sustainable development objectives,Saudi Arabia's future plans and projects,as well as contributing to the achievements of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030.The design framework includes a suggestion of evaluation guidelines and indicators for the optimal and appropriate Eco-City site location position.The formulation of the Eco-City Key Performance Indicators(KPIs)and the development of the Eco-City strategic objectives are also compatible with the sustainable development objectives;And contribute to the achievements of Saudi Arabia Vision 2030.Furthermore,this research provides adoption,determination and application of the appropriate sustainable technology applications for the Eco-City,which are compatible with the KPIs objectives and that define the input and output materials flow for Eco-City residents.Thus,the research presents 4 evaluation guidelines that help in defining the appropriate site location for Eco-City establishment in Saudi Arabia,as well as presenting developments of 10 strategic objectives in various sectors that formulate 40 targets for the Eco-City KPIs in Saudi Arabia,during a specific time frame from 2017 to 2050.The research also adopts and determines the initial appropriate sustainable technologies for the Eco-City residents' material flow in several sectors including energy supply,primary water,food production,waste management and transportation systems.It utilizes a number of simulation tools to develop,design and optimize sustainable technology systems,including PRT-Hermes,T*SOL(?)2018(R1),PV*SOL(?)premium 2018(R9),HOMER Pro(?)and STOAT(?)5.0 dynamic;In addition to design and optimize simulation tools in order to determine specific requirements for each system,and provide system performance.The utilization of sustainable technologies contributes in supplying a renewable energy resource,with 63.08%reduction of main energy consumption per capita,in addition to the energy required in transportation sector due to the utilization of sustainable transportation,as well as providing renewable primary water resource,with 54%reduction of domestic water consumption per capita.It also contributes in reducing human impact by minimizing 75%of the total Municipal Solid Waste(MSW)generation per capita,as well as reclaiming and recycling the wastewater to provide a secondary water resource for 44%of total water consumption per capita.Furthermore,it produces a 349,114 kWh/year of energy overflow,2,206 m3/year of secondary water,and 26.507 million m3/year of biogas.The Eco-City aims to utilize several sustainable technologies in order to preserve natural resources,reduce the environmental impact and develop a healthy environment that provides balance with nature. |
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