Open AccessEvaluation of the sustainability of the urban development sector in Iraq
Author(s) -
Raed Fawzi Mohammed Ameen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/1067/1/012064
Subject(s) - likert scale , sustainability , urban planning , stakeholder , business , sustainable development , environmental planning , quality (philosophy) , scale (ratio) , public sector , environmental resource management , environmental economics , geography , engineering , civil engineering , political science , economics , public relations , mathematics , ecology , philosophy , statistics , cartography , epistemology , law , biology
Aim: Sustainability is now considered an important consideration of the urban development sector in terms of reducing undesirable impacts on human life and environment. This has led to the development of best-practice patterns and integrated elements of urban planning and design and the implementation of sustainable technology scenarios. Furthermore, urban development projects to promote unique solutions for various urban fields, as well as access to the potential inherent in urban development projects, whether existing, planned, or under construction, have been identified as extremely important. Identifying local urban challenges to existing development projects by investigating stakeholder perceptions can help determine the actual situation and offer an accurate view of the size of the challenges faced by such projects. Furthermore, measuring such projects’ quality, performance, and applicability in different urban environments, particularly in developing economies, such as Iraq is necessary. Methods: A national survey was conducted to identify and investigate crucial challenges faced by the urban development sector in Iraq. Several important statistical tests were then applied to investigate the relationships between the identified items and the demographic characteristics of respondents, as well as to evaluate the sustainability of study indicators in terms of availability, public acceptance, and quality from stakeholders’ perspective in Iraqi cities. Results: The survey achieved a response rate of 59.4% (n = 1,496) across all Iraqi regions. An 18-item scale related to the main topic was thus presented, with stakeholder’s perceptions on each item evaluated on a 6-point Likert scale. Public awareness of the importance of sustainability was reflected in the fact that about 42%of the respondents were highly concerned with urban development, and well informed about sustainability issues. This offers an optimistic take on people’s interest in sustainable urban projects in Iraq. About 71% of the participant were prepared to pay extra fees to live in a sustainable city in the future. However, the “Use of renewable energy” (mean = 1.77) was ranked lowest, based on it being generally “not available” for use. Conclusion: the urban development sector in Iraq faces numerous challenges, both in terms of service quality and availability. This reflects an urgent need for the immediate development of sustainable practice in urban development projects.