ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the challenges and limitations of planning for sustainability in its most comprehensive sense. It addresses a number of concerns relevant to sustainable urbanism in Doha. The chapter analyses the impact of current intensive construction activities on urban morphology. The chapter discusses the economic consequences of contemporary urbanism. It focuses on environmental and ecological issues and also discusses the social component of sustainability. The rapidly growing real estate market has shaped contemporary Doha into an emerging investment hub in the Arabian Gulf region. Public investments in large-scale developments, in combination with recent liberalisation strategies, have caused rapid and accelerated urban growth in Doha. Rapid urban growth fuelled by the expanding real estate market has given rise to new economic circumstances in Doha. Doha is currently on the cusp of becoming an international investment hub thus economic diversification will be essential but primarily dependent on sustaining an attractive investment climate.
