Zawawi, Abdulrahman A.
(2024)
Activating the transportation potential of greenways in Saudi Arabia: a case study of Jeddah City.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
Since the early 1970s, auto-centric planning in Saudi Arabia (SA) has led to car-dependent lifestyles, resulting in health and environmental problems. In the past decade, ambitious policies (e.g., The Saudi Vision 2030), urban design manuals, awareness campaigns, city plans and projects have sought to address this problem by transitioning to sustainable urban mobility. Active transportation (AT) via networks of greenways is a dimension of such a transition and is currently being planned and advocated in Saudi cities. However, current walking and bicycling rates for transportation in SA are extremely low. Simultaneously, there is limited research on greenways in SA, and none has explored the influences on their usage as AT corridors (ATCs). An enhanced understanding of such factors is vital because academic journals found minimal effect on AT over the last thirty years from many greenway investments in various regions worldwide. Therefore, this PhD research aimed to explore the activation barriers and strategies of greenways’ function as facilitators for AT in SA, using Jeddah city as a case study.
The review and synthesis of existing literature built an understanding of the state of knowledge concerning the planning and usage of AT and greenways in SA. It also explained the events that evolved greenways’ forms and functions internationally while chronologically relating to urban and open space planning in Saudi cities. Lastly, it examined where and when greenways would be considered routes for daily commutes using a systematic review of published peer-reviewed journal articles from 1991 until 2021. Due to the multidimensionality of such influences, the case study of Jeddah used mixed research methods (web-based questionnaire, environmental audits, field observations, and interviews with experts and leaders of local walking and bicycling groups). Interpretations and inferences of such an empirical study combined the results of these methods thematically and linked them to existing literature.
Through (I) assessments of the physical environment at the city, neighbourhood, and site levels, (II) examining the preferences, behaviours, and opinions of users and non-users of greenways in Jeddah city, and (III) understanding the underlying causes to existing conditions, this thesis underscored key impediments that must be overcome. These include automobile-centric lifestyles, planning systems, outdoor temperature, social norms, long commuting distances, lack of AT infrastructure, bicycling skills and knowledge, proximity to greenways, and park facilities and amenities. Results also explained that religious and gender norms on women’s participation in bicycling can affect social support for policies advocating bicycle usage in Saudi cities and the effectiveness of any proposed greenway network in the future. Informed by the interviewed experts, existing literature, and global best practices, the proposed strategies to address the identified barriers stressed the importance of actions across social, environmental, technological, economic and legal domains. These strategies (e.g., improving stakeholders’ participation, integrating with public transit, increasing visibility and awareness, and implementing policies that enable AT) can accelerate the transition towards sustainable transportation in SA.
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