An Ecological Planning Method on Urban Green Infrastructure Typology in Arid Environment

Abstract

It is well known how climate change affects the global temperature and water cycle, especially in arid and dry environmental cities, which affected the natural environment and human civilization. One of these arid and dry cities is Muscat, the capital city of Sultanate Oman, with a population of 4.6 million, facing very high temperature, which could reach up to 50 C, and low precipitation with long hours of sun heat, which makes it intolerable for the people living there to be outdoors. This thesis is addressing three major issues which are results in producing this thesis discussion and purposes. The first issue is extreme heat temperature, which Muscat is facing due to the arid conditions, high temperatures and low precipitation. Due to the outdoor conditions exposed to strong solar heat, Muscat's population naturally adapted to a car-dependent society and became active indoors. The second issue is water scarcity, because of the lack of water resources, and the low annual precipitation that can cause water shortages due to water demand and consumption increase with population growth. The third issue is the fluctuation of the oil revenue, where Oman is largely dependent on oil production around 82 per cent of its total income, which has lost $1 million worth of oil since 2014 which resulted in leaving the people into crisis. Nevertheless, the ecological planning methods of urban green infrastructure typologies are proven to be some of the many solutions to respond to these major issues. It offers ecological benefits by reducing the impact and high temperatures of climate change, regenerating ecosystem and solving water scarcity. It provides social benefits by providing recreational opportunities and improving the quality of health and provides economic benefits by reducing energy and water costs and providing other alternatives to the country's revenue. Thus, the purpose of this study is to produce ecological planning methods and climate response designs through urban green infrastructure typology through urban parks, green streets, green roofs, and private gardens to help respond to climate change. The research main questions are i) what are the environmental and social benefits of urban green infrastructure? ii) How can urban green infrastructure address arid urban conditions? Iii) How can other successful world experiences with similar climate condition be replicated in Muscat? The methodology used in the research is based on qualitative resources through collective literature reviews and case studies of existing projects which are explained more in chapter three. The research is focused on ecological, social and economic benefits of urban green infrastructure and addressing the arid environment through their typologies’ mechanism and design to implement them in the study area in Al Mawaleh South. The result of this paper is coming up with climate responsive design and mechanism to deal with the environment quality and the society’s lifestyle in the arid environment