Free space

Real estate sustainability

Dr. Mahmoud Al-Burai

01 November 2020

What is the relationship of health to real estate sustainability?

This is what we are trying to answer in these lines.

First of all, we must admit that the planet Earth was waiting for this compulsory rest from its inhabitants, as it is indisputably the only beneficiary of "Corona", after decades ago it had suffered human encroachment by polluting it and wasting its resources.

Where biologists have indicated that half of the diseases are transmitted to humans from animals, and their cause is mainly the damage that we humans inflict on the environment.

There is a remarkable relationship between diseases and climate change, as diseases that did not exist before appeared.

For example, China annually contributes to 30% of carbon dioxide gases globally, so it is no wonder that Corona started there and spread to this most polluted place in the world.

And other studies have shown that more than 4.6 million people die annually from global air pollution.

Diseases are not only a tax on human damage to the environment, but climate change threatens entire cities. Jakarta, for example, will not be the capital of Indonesia after several years, as this country tries to build a new capital for it due to the drowning of coastal cities that this coastal country suffers from. It is classified as the fastest in the rates of drowning of coastal cities in the world, as the city sinks into the sea at a rate of 10 cm annually, and Venice will disappear after less than 50 years. These are simple examples of the painful reality that awaits half of the world's major coastal cities.

But when the engines temporarily stopped to deal with this pandemic, the earth breathed a sigh of relief, after people sat in their homes as precautionary measures to deal with this pandemic.

In China, where Corona began, and during the month of February, air quality increased by more than 21%, carbon dioxide gases decreased by 25%, and nearly 500 deaths that occurred every month due to this air pollution were saved, according to global reports in this regard. the side.

All the evidence indicates that the time has come for change and the creation of a new reality in the behavior of human beings. Work from home is supported by modern technology and its efficiency and productivity has been proven, so why should it not be adopted in the future to reduce congestion and the use of means that pollute the air .. other than its social benefits?

Is it not time yet to develop healthy, real estate and environmentally sustainable cities that target human health?

Is it not time yet to invest in sophisticated population centers that include large green areas, places for walking, sports, and cycling, and to reduce dependence on means that pollute the environment?

It is certain that Corona will completely change the rules of the game, and the planet after Corona will be completely different from what came before it.

Countries should strengthen their investments in public health and advanced research.

And it must also change its real estate development system to make cities more sustainable and healthy for people, just as humans themselves have to start a healthy life, in which there is rationalization and economy in consuming environmental resources and using clean means.

Finally, we have no choice now but to discuss how to implement sustainability in what we build from new cities, by providing a new healthy life for millions of people away from pollution, by harnessing the role of technology, innovation and partnerships between different sectors.

This can only be achieved by linking culture (awareness), place and technology in building these sustainable cities, and maintaining large green areas in light of overcrowding and growing urbanization.

One of the examples worth mentioning here is the Dubai model, which is a unique model for a happy, smart and sustainable city, as it embraces large green areas and adopts a strategy for a total shift towards clean energy mainly, evidenced by the increase in the rates of use of this energy in its buildings.

Vice President of the International Union of Arab Realtors