Will the Saudi's 2030 Vision Raise the Public Awareness of Sustainable Practices?

Public awareness on the concepts of sustainable practices has been the main challenge in the way of better, healthier, affordable and environmentally sound urban projects. Lack of public awareness fueled by the lack of interest by stakeholders developed a vicious cycle, hence delaying the gears of the sustainable development in Saudi Arabia. In the other hand, societies that adopt the sustainability concepts succeed in many ways to accomplish their national development plans. This paper will focus on the current status of the public awareness levels after an initial study that showed that more than 52 percent of the sample from Saudi public doesn't know what is the meaning of sustainable cities. The research method will be of a qualitative nature utilizing on-line surveys to collect responses from a wide range of the Saudi society. The outcomes show that in the past five years (2010-2015), the level of awareness has increased but at a discouraging rate. It is the main recommendation of this paper to further increase the collaborative efforts from all Saudi stakeholders; authorities, universities and civil society following the new 2030 Saudi vision to help raising the public awareness on the importance of leading and applying the core means of sustainability within their cities in design, construction and life style itself while Saudi Arabia is undergoing huge development. (c) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.