This paper presents and illustrates planned urban projects in the Al-Baha region with the potential to contribute to developing a sustainable local environment and economy in alignment with Saudi Arabia’s 2030 national vision and future needs. Al-Baha is characterized by a wealth of renewable energy, a cooler environment relative to many other Saudi regions, as well as multiple heritage villages and wildlife habitats set amid mountainous topography. The approach used here is the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), which employs an expert consultation analysis to identify the best future projects for the Al-Baha region. About 52 experts were invited, each selected according to specific criteria to include decision-makers, developers, and academics in the fields of the built environment, engineering, and investment. The findings of the study are evaluated and culminate in suggestions for future projects in the tourism; renewable energy; agriculture and farming; health and education; and wildlife and forest protection sectors. It has been found that the most important future projects are those related to the tourism and agricultural and farming sectors. The other projects proposed are unique to the Al-Baha region due to its location and traditions. The study concludes with key recommendations for developers and decision-makers.

This paper investigates the strategies and priorities to identify the critical indicators for the protection of the environment and ecosystem in the mountain regions of southwest Saudi Arabia, considering the natural resources, renewable energy potential, local economy, urban development issues, and compatibility with the Saudi Vision 2030. The southern region of the country is characterized as having cooler climatic conditions than the other regions of Saudi Arabia and is rich in natural resources and renewable energy potential. It also has potential in the sectors of agriculture, forests, and animal production, and the region’s heritage is valuable for its tourism industry. During the past years, the region is experiencing a misbalance in its resources and population due to a quick increase in urban development. It is seen that there has been no strategy in place for the management of development. Hence, it is important to establish a framework designed to manage urban planning and sprawl that considers the topographical conditions, wildlife and forest protection, and investment in natural and renewable resources. This study employs a focus group approach to investigate these issues. Different expert panels were invited to Al-Baha University in December 2019 to discuss the sustainable development priorities of Saudi Arabia’s southern regions. These included decision-makers from governmental sectors, and academics from the university’s faculties of engineering, economics, sciences, and social sciences. The study highlights the issues of urban sprawl management in cities that impact the environmental conditions and wildlife habitat, concluding that the agriculture and tourism industries are the most important factors that should be targeted by developers in the southwestern regions of the country.

In recent decades, conflicts between hamadryas baboons (Papio hamadryas) and the rapidly growing human population in the mountainous areas of Western, Southwestern, and Southern Saudi Arabia have accelerated. This conflict, historically occurring mainly between farmers and baboons, has now moved to the urbanized areas in the baboon range and is mainly caused by the common use of spatial and other resources by baboons and humans. The goal of this study was to describe the spatial distribution of baboon groups and to estimate the population size of baboons in the Al-Baha region. The results indicate that baboons are present in all administrative areas of the Al-Baha region with a concentration along the mountain chain running from northwest to southeast and the western part of the region. As expected, rubbish dumps constitute baboon hotspots due to the large amounts of human-derived food. However, the baboons also travel into towns for foraging. The prevention of baboon accessibility to human-derived food would be an important step to reduce causes of conflicts between humans and baboons.

This paper’s primary goal is to propose a methodological strategy to document and protect modern heritage buildings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is essential because these structures are part of the cultural heritage and identity of Saudi Arabia, considering the rapid urbanization and development taking place. Protecting modern heritage buildings is also essential to increase public appreciation and understanding of modernist architecture and valuable resources of the city’s culture and identity. This study’s objectives fall into two categories: it aims to provide a review of the relevant literature to develop a theoretical framework to examine and document Riyadh City’s significant modern heritage buildings, and it aims to provide an examination and documentation of these structures. To ensure systematic and structured project documentation, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, inductive and deductive approaches, a chronological approach, data management techniques, workshops, and fieldwork methods are utilized. Over 1300 potential modern heritage buildings were identified and categorized into typological groups and building types that historians, architects, planners, designers, and policymakers can use to document and present Saudi Arabia’s rich modern heritage effectively. Of the 1300 buildings, this study was able to identify more than 170 buildings, which were later recognized as the primary modern heritage buildings for Riyadh City in the study timeline (1950–2000).

Due to an increasingly complex mixture of different types of public spaces and their functions in cities, the role of public spaces can be enhanced to serve users under certain circumstances. This paper examines Carmona’s classification of urban spaces in Al-Baha, Saudi Arabia. Carmona introduces a classification that uses aspects of function, perception, and ownership to distinguish between space types. Twenty urban space types are recognized in four groups, representing a variety from clearly public to private space. The classifications of public spaces will be discussed to arrive at classifications for public spaces based on how public spaces are managed. The article builds an understanding of how such classifications relate to how real public spaces are provided today. In this case study, a Geographic Information System (GIS) map is created for Al-Baha Central District and includes the resulting classifications. From the 119 urban spaces selected to represent this study equally distributed across the study area, there are 12 types that public spaces match Carmona’s classification. The classification of urban spaces for this case study revealed the complexity of public spaces’ nature and the difficulty of distinguishing what is public. Public spaces tend to change and develop over time through other uses and activities. However, the classification of public spaces is a valuable tool that policymakers and planners can use to set comprehensive development plan programs and plan open space strategies.