Developing an Integrated Analytical Framework for Sustainability Assessment: Focusing on Selected Projects in Riyadh

Abstract

Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is now presenting itself as one of the most attractive capitals in the Middle East, with a number of ambitious expansion projects that aim to develop the city and align its urban development with the goals of Vision 2030. This urban renaissance requires researchers to adopt evaluation approaches (BSAMs) based on comprehensive sustainability criteria represented by environmental and cultural sustainability, community engagement, and economic feasibility. This research relies on the ETE methodology to determine evaluation criteria and their weights, which is a systematic and interactive method of prediction based on the opinion of a group of experts, or what is known as the Delphi method. Experts answered questionnaires to determine the weights of the criteria in three rounds where they received an anonymous summary of the experts’ predictions from the previous round with the reasons they provided for their judgments. The responses were then analyzed to identify recurring and converging themes and contradictions using the top-of-priority similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) technique, thus deriving an integrated evaluation model. The model was applied to evaluate architectural practices in Riyadh through three major projects: the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, the King Abdullah Financial District, and the King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station. Data sources included comprehensive site visits, detailed project documentation, and expert evaluation through structured questionnaires to gain a realistic view of attitudes towards architectural needs and sustainability. This adds to the knowledge on how globalization interacts with the urban renewal landscape in Riyadh and encourages us to continue proposing effective evaluation models by drawing attention to the multidimensional nature of sustainability. This in turn points to the need for continuous re-evaluation of architectural activities in Riyadh through project evaluation results that attest to their compatibility with international standards and local cultural contexts. Overall, the proposed evaluation model has proven successful in testing projects at the local level by providing a sustainable framework. The results showed that projects adhere to varying levels of sustainability requirements, but, more importantly, these evaluation models were developed to rationalize accelerated construction processes.