Coastal public realms and housing livability in Saudi cities: developing a comprehensive waterfront development index (CWDI) for Jeddah

Abstract

Introduction – Urban waterfronts in Gulf cities are strategic public assets crucial for environmental risk management and enhancing the livability of surrounding residential and national housing areas, yet most existing urban evaluation indices are city-wide and lack the sensitivity required for hot–arid coastal environments. This study responds by developing a context-specific performance metric to evaluate coastal public realms and examine how waterfront performance can be conceptually linked to housing-community welfare, while acknowledging that household-level housing outcomes are not directly measured in this study. Methods – We developed and applied a novel Comprehensive Waterfront Development Index (CWDI) tailored to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate coastal public realms across sustainability, resilience, and cultural and social integration dimensions aligned with Vision 2030. The CWDI uses a mixed-methods design that integrates global urban evaluation frameworks (Tier 1 indicators) with context-specific indicators reflecting Jeddah’s climate and culture (Tier 2 indicators). Dimension weights were calibrated using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) with input from residents, business operators, and planning professionals. The index was applied to three major waterfront zones, North Corniche, Central Waterfront, and the Historic Waterfront (Al Balad), using a combination of field surveys (n = 312), spatial datasets, and administrative records. Results – Findings reveal a “two-speed” waterfront: newly redeveloped zones perform relatively well in Public Spaces and Amenities (3.5/5) and Accessibility (3.1/5), offering improved spatial amenities for adjacent housing communities. However, Resilience and Climate Adaptation (2.1/5) and Environmental Sustainability (2.7/5) are the weakest dimensions, with low scores for solar adoption, cooling infrastructure, and flood risk mitigation. The historic Al Balad waterfront consistently underperforms, exposing heritage communities to environmental risks and poor public-space provision. Discussion – The analysis demonstrates that while public investment has successfully enhanced amenities in new zones, critical resilience and environmental gaps remain, particularly impacting vulnerable and historic communities. The study makes three key contributions: (i) it offers a transferable, waterfront-specific, stakeholder-informed index suitable for hot–arid Gulf cities; (ii) it empirically examines the spatial interface between coastal public realm quality and social housing livability; and (iii) it provides actionable policy recommendations for integrating CWDI scoring into municipal governance and the planning of future coastal housing projects to drive performance toward Vision 2030 goals.