Urbanization Rethought: On Planning and Resilience in Saudi Arabia

Urbanization in the Middle East is entering a new phase of global importance. As climate change pressures intensify and environmental limits become more visible, cities built under conditions of heat, water scarcity, and rapid transformation have become increasingly critical to debates on urban sustainability and resilience. Urbanization Rethought: On Planning and Resilience in Saudi Arabia offers a critical examination of urban development in one of the world’s fastest-transforming desert regions. Moving beyond planning models derived from temperate and resource-rich contexts, the book explores how aridity, extreme heat, water scarcity, and megaproject-led development reshape the governance and practice of urbanization. Drawing on conceptual analysis and empirical cases from across Saudi Arabian cities, the book examines key dimensions of contemporary urban transformation, including the urbanization–environment nexus, climate change adaptation, green infrastructure, megaproject planning, and the evolving role of urban governance in building resilience futures. Rather than treating planning as a purely technical exercise, the book positions it as a mediating practice between development ambition and ecological limits. The book presents Saudi Arabia as an analytically generative context, and contributes to broader debates on urban resilience, sustainable development, and planning in climate-stressed regions. The insights developed here transcend the Gulf region to cities worldwide confronting urbanization under conditions of environmental constraint and uncertainty. This book is of interest to scholars, planners, policymakers, and students working on urban planning, climate resilience, urbanization, and sustainable development.

Abdulaziz I. Almulhim is an internationally recognized scholar in urban sustainability, urban resilience, and climate change. He is Associate Professor of Urban Sustainability at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. His research critically examines urban planning under conditions of rapid urbanization, climate stress, and environmental constraint. He has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles and is recognized among the world’s top 2% of scientists (Stanford University). He serves as a Lead Author for the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Cities (2027) and sits on the editorial boards of leading international journals. He has led and edited major scholarly volumes published by Springer, Palgrave Macmillan, and Elsevier. His research focuses on climate change adaptation, sustainable smart cities, and the transformation of rapidly urbanizing regions toward climate-positive futures. His work integrates theory, policy, and practice to advance resilient and sustainable urban transitions globally.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8IoEehUAAAAJ&hl=en&citsig=AMD79oouXW5CoT4onVGtU-zZiIjCjquZ2g

Patrick Brandful Cobbinah is an Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Melbourne and a leading academic commentator on urban planning in Global South. Recognized among the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University for three consecutive times (2023, 2024, 2025), and as a national rising star of research in 2021 by the Australian Research Magazine, his research focuses on urban planning and climate change in Global South and the outcomes of inappropriate planning practices and theories on Global South cities. His work continues to unsettle and challenge the existing geo-politics of knowledge production in planning and climate management by providing a deeper understanding and enriching Global South-focused theorization on planning and climate change. He is the Senior editor of Journal of Urban Affairs and the editor of four flagship books: Handbook on Planning and Climate Change Adaptation (Edward Elgars), Reimagining Urban Planning in Africa (Cambridge University Press), Sustainable Urban Futures in Africa (Routledge), and The Geography of Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Africa (Palgrave-MacMillan). He is a lead member of the OECD’s Working Group on ‘Accelerating Africa’s built environment towards a sustainable and resilient future’.
https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=t4Bd9eMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2522-9293