**Ecosystems and Urban Environment**

126 Urban Development

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**7** 

*Saudi Arabia* 

**Assessing Hydrological Elements as Key** 

Mohamed Tahir Hussein and Faisal Kamal Zaidi

*SGSRC, Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh,* 

**Issue for Urban Development in Arid Regions** 

In search of better livelihoods and facilities more people are moving towards urban centers. At present approximately half the world population resides in cities. Cities provide greater social and economic benefits to their inhabitants as compared to rural areas and this has resulted in massive demographic shift especially in the developing world which in turn has

According to the UN Reports, 2008, roughly 75 percent of the population lives in urban areas in the industrialized nations and will continue to grow at a rate of less than half a percent in the coming twenty years. On the other hand cities in the developing world will see about 95 percent growth in urbanization in the coming twenty years mainly due to migration, population increase and conversion of rural settlements into urban areas. A combined increase of this urbanization in the developed and the developing world will be

Though cities occupy less than three percent of the world area, the high density of population and industrialization has resulted in severe environmental degradation. The worst environmental issues are faced close to the homes in the developing nations. They include inadequate domestic water supply, excessive waste accumulation and lack of proper hygiene and sanitation. The main reason for these environmental issues is that the infrastructural development has not kept pace with the increasing population. Other environmental issues associated with urbanization include severe air pollution, ground and surface water pollution,

Arid regions of the world, especially those of middle-east Asia are not far behind as far as this demographic shift from rural to urban areas are concerned. The petroleum based economy of these regions have led to the springing up of major urban centers in countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain,(Bonine, 2009). With proper planning and management cities can actually reduce pressure on the natural resources and increase energy efficiency. Innovative building designs, better waste management and improvement in transportation infrastructure can help in building sustainable cities. However often hydrological and climatological parameters such as the

that about 60 percent of the world's population will be living in cities by 2030.

habitat loss, soil erosion, loss of bio-diversity and ecological disruption.

**1. Introduction** 

threatened the environmental stability.
