PAVING THE WAY TO SMART SUSTAINABLE CITIES: TRANSFORMATION MODELS AND CHALLENGES

ABSTRACT Rapid urbanization and globalization make the move toward Smart Sustainable Cities (SSC) a must. Achieving successful transformation towards SSCs constitutes a significant challenge for policy makers. One area that is not well covered in the literature is the application of SSCs in specific regions, such as the Arab region. This paper draws upon examples of SSCs initiatives and existing SSC transformation frameworks to more fully articulate the challenges of achieving successful SSC projects across the Arab region. One of the interesting emergent themes is the emergence of two main approaches to SSCs transformation, Brownfield and Greenfield approaches.