The future of Saudi Arabia moving towards Green mobility: implications for increasing the capacity for renewable energy, and reducing carbon emissions

The urban population worldwide is increasing rapidly which is 55% of the world’s population at a rate of 1.9%. There is going to be a double in the urban area population over the next 40 years. In 2025, it is imagined that 70% of the world's population is going to live in cities. With an increase in population there comes negative effects such as automobiles increase and adverse effects such as health, social and environmental impacts. 

Urban population and the need for a greener transition

In combating the urban population there are means in building more roads and expanding the city to overcome urban transportation to meet the demand for accessibility in travelling. In building extra infrastructure however,  this will lead to more people owning cars, resulting in traffic congestion, pollution and environmental degradation. With an urban population on a rise there is a need to have urban sustainability in place - in achieving smart cities, eco-cities, zero-energy cities, sustainable cities and low carbon cities. There is a notion that cities need to be involved in “Green Mobility”, “Sustainable Mobility” and “Green Transportation” in order to be user friendly for living, and a design for healthy living purposes. Green mobility is defined as efficient, flexible and responsive with less traffic and travel whilst achieving environmental sustainability. There has been a trend in increasing green mobility in cities where cities deal with significant challenges such as economic losses, congestion, air pollution, and the emission of greenhouse gases. Mostly in the developed countries the cities are striving for green metro policies that are sustainable. Green mobility is defined as developing safe, responsive, efficient, and flexible mobility in cities whilst striving for environmental sustainability.

Saudi Arabia is ticking the Green Mobility box

The most urbanised country in the world is Saudi Arabia and around 80% of people live in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has a vision for 2030 and this is to change the city from a traditional city to a sustainable city. The solution for moving to a more sustainable city is through the use of products and green mobility being a major requirement, which is currently adhered to in the industrial sector. Air pollution is a major issue in Saudi Arabia and through reducing mobility, air pollution can be decreased or even prevented. The study by Khalid Mohammed Almatar looks into the advantages of green mobility in Saudi Arabia.

In adapting green mobility there is a need for policy changes and becoming more competitive in the market. The Saudi Arabia Government needs to be involved in making a safer and greener environment. 

An overview of the literature review

In order to be a green mobile city there are components that need to be worked on such as: innovative building design, water management, green mindset, green supply chain, green energy management, biodiversity, and waste management. Currently, Saudi Arabia is facing the following issues - there are tons of carbon emissions being released from transport which is contributing to greenhouse gases and evening leading to climate change. This also results in air pollution and has negative health implications. This is where green mobility becomes precious as you are using natural resources which are not getting depleted and are not harming the environment as with fossil fuels.

Visioning green mobility

Green mobility involves climate protection, air quality benefits, incremental investment, time savings, reduction in traffic congestion, having a diversified energy supply and improving the air quality. These are all environmental benefits just in transitioning to green mobility. 

Concluding statements in the study

Green mobility is envisioned to be the future of cities. There has been a positive connection between environmental benefits and green mobility in Saudi Arabia mostly in a future city such as Riyadh. Diversified energy is needed urgently, especially the transition towards renewable energy. More studies are needed on a national level and different stakeholders need to come together to discuss their actions on green mobility in order to improve the quality of life and the environment.