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
   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14