Urban Sustainability and the Role of Islamic Wealth in Mega-OIC Cities: Implications for SDGs

Abstract

This chapter first raises some fundamental questions pertaining to the sustainability prospects of mega-OIC cities: How urban sustainability can be defined in the context of fast-growing megacities in our modern world and what is the sustainability performance of the largest mega-OIC cities? In the second section of the chapter, the main dimensions of the problem to possibly reverse the unsustainable development path of megacities in OIC countries are discussed. Land use and transport are identified as the two primary dimensions of the problem and the range of instruments available to tackle the issue are discussed. An estimation of the funding requirements for different types of cities is also discussed. In the third section of this chapter, the authors discuss the role of Islamic Ethical Wealth in addressing the urban sustainability challenges identified in the first two sections. Some lessons are briefly drawn from best practices of ethical wealth in funding megacities development and addressing sustainable development needs of large cities, across four main channels of intervention. The review also discusses urban planning considerations of Islamic cities in the history and the role played by ethical wealth in supporting the development of these cities. A brief comparative analysis with other historical setups is discussed. In the final section of this chapter, more practical considerations of the findings for the realization of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda are discussed and areas for future research are proposed.