Integration of urban growth management and strategic environmental assessment to ensure sustainable urban development: The Case of Arabian Gulf Cities

The spate of rapid urban growth and its attendant environmental impacts have been the focus of urban planners and researchers in recent times. The key challenge is to reach a proper balance between urban development and environmental protection. Urban growth management has gained importance as a means of ensuring desirable urban development. Along the same line, strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has been adapted to ensure that plans, programs and policies are environmentally sustainable. This paper explores the link between urban growth management and SEA and proposes a framework for integrating them. In the light of the framework, the paper reviews some growth management strategies in countries in the Arabian Gulf region and elaborates on ways of fostering sustainable urban development in the region.