ASSESSMENT AND ATTAINMENT STRATEGY OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IN EXISTING URBAN SPRAWLING EMIRATI NEIGHBOURHOODS

Social sustainability is a fundamental pillar of the sustainable urban form of neighbourhoods. Most of the existing Emirati neighbourhoods were planned with sprawling urban form that have adversely affect the attainment of the principles of sustainable urbanism including social sustainability. This research aims to propose a strategy for social sustainability redevelopment of sprawling urban forms of existing Emirati neighbourhoods. The research starts with assessing the degree of the consideration of the essential principles of social sustainability and indicators in the design of a model sprawling urban form that was repeatedly developed for Emirati citizens in different cities in the United Arab Emirates. The investigated main social sustainability principles are Density, Mobility, Accessibility, and Spatial Connectivity and Integration. Al Dhaher local community located in the city of Al Ain was selected as a case study. The research adopted both qualitative and quantitative investigation tools including field observation, map analysis, and Space Syntax analysis through DepthmapX simulation software. The research investigations have revealed that only one out of the four defined main principles of social sustainability in Al Dhaher neighbourhood is partially achieved, while the remaining principles are poorly achieved. Based on its results, the study presents a six-point strategy to improve the attainment of social sustainability in the redevelopment of not only the investigated case study but rather in local urban communities in the UAE in general which share more or less the same sprawling urban form.