ABSTRACT
Sustainable development efforts typically focus on individual pillars of sustainability, with environmental aspects often taking precedence. While these are imperative in leading development towards a more environmentally sustainable future, they often result in the creation of parametrically modelled global designs that are socially and culturally dissonant when applied to local cases. Emphasizing better liveability of urban environments, this chapter argues that sociocultural and environmental features need to be coupled to develop comprehensively sustainable urban forms. Using the example of the traditional Arab-Muslim city form, it illustrates ways in which Emirati villa neighbourhoods in Abu Dhabi can be designed for environmental and sociocultural sustainability simultaneously. Sustainable development can no longer overlook the social and cultural contexts within which it exists. The ideas proposed provide starting points for designers to think about social and cultural factors comprehensively and relate them to environmental parameters to create resilient cities that are holistically sustainable.
