Page 9 - U4SSC Factsheet, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, June 2020
P. 9
• For public transport, Riyadh has invested heavilty in expanding its public transport network, with
the Riyadh Metro project becoming operational in 2020 and state-of-the-art ICT-enabled and
enviromentally friendly buses planned. The city could encourage more usage and incentivize vehicle
sharing services and carpool programmes as alternatives, along with a greater use of electric
vehicles. In the meantime, traffic anti-congestion measures, including adaptive traffic control or
prioritazation measures, are in the process of being employed by the city.
• In urban planning terms, Riyadh has reportedly implemented four of five principles (compactness,
integration, social inclusiveness and resilience to climate change), which makes it a sustainably
planned city, although there is still a high reliance on cars and the city could benefit from spatial
assessment identifying existing places with high connectivity and plan for more within the city.
Creating more pedestrian zones will also help optimize Riyadh’s urban planning results. Urban
planning can be optimized by creating pedestrian zones and deploying measures to encourage
foot traffic.
• An integrated approach to climate change and air pollution should be considered to reduce the risks
of applying climate change measures with significant negative impacts on air quality. Riyadh could
utilize ITU Recommendations such as ITU-T Y.4207: ‘Requirements and capability framework of
smart environmental monitoring’ and ITU-T Y.4700/F.747.2: ‘Deployment guidelines for ubiquitous
sensor network applications and services for mitigating climate change’. In particular, GHGs can
be reduced through following Recommendations such as ITU-T L.1450 on ‘Methodologies for the
assessment of the environmental impact of the information and communication technology sector’
and Recommendation ITU-T L.1460: ‘Connect 2020 greenhouse gas emission guidelines’.
• Across the KPIs for public space and nature, environmental quality, green area accessibility can
continue to be improved as part of the city’s sustainability strategy.
• In water consumption, the city can reduce its rates by following water conservation best practices
and through the use of conservation technologies and public awareness-raising.
• All cities should prioritize solid waste recycling in a regulated facility, or solid waste incineration
that leads to energy production, over all other forms of disposal. Increasing recycling rates
can form an important part of the city’s future sustainability strategy. Best practices such as
enhancing, reinforcing public communication and outreach, evaluating contracts, recycling
markets and pricing levels, modifying collection techniques, legislating/funding smart recycling
and leveraging lessons learned regionally can help optimize waste recycling as can following
ITU-T Recommendations such as ITU-T L.1030: ‘E waste management framework for countries’,
amongst others.
• All cities should optimize use of sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal,
hydropower and ocean energy to meet their energy consumption needs and to track their progress by
reporting these KPIs. Best practices in energy management can be encouraged through appropriate
policies, incentives and procedures. Standards that guide the modernization and optimization of
various public energy use sources can be utilized, including, for example, Recommendation ITU-T
Y.4458 ‘Requirements and functional architecture of a smart street light service’.
• Within the Society and Culture dimension, KPIs are widely reached thanks to a high adult literacy
rate, positive health-related outcomes and a wide range of national, government-funded cultural
offerings. Still, Riyadh can enhance the ICT use in classrooms, and track future progress as part
U4SSC Factsheet | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | June 2020 3