As a result of climate change, we are witnessing a crisis that cannot be ignored. Our environment is rapidly degrading as we fail to battle climate change by any meaningful measures. Scientists worldwide agree that humans and urban developments are heading in the wrong direction. In this respect, Kuwait and other GCC countries’ urbanism faces two major challenges: lack of public transportation and rising temperatures.

Sudden wealth led to the rapid development and expansion of Kuwait’s urbanism in an attempt to fulfil the demand for larger single-family housing and other amenities. And, as the city grows and attracts more residence, the urban fabric sprawled outward — supported by wide networks of streets that encourage the population to rely on private vehicle travel. With severely limited transportation alternatives, we are trapped in an endless loop of cars, networks, and sprawl.

The wealth of the country and its residents resulted in the reliance on technology to address the harsh weather of Kuwait and other GCC countries in the design and construction of buildings. Further, conventional technologies have a high financial and environmental cost. We spend substantial money to make our buildings habitable, even though we cannot survive in them for two hours or more without electricity and HVAC systems.

In Kuwait and other Gulf countries, we have had an exceptional circumstance, whereby we feel that energy is cheap, as we enjoy high government subsidies for electricity and oil. This level of government support misleads the market and the general public and gradually influences our lifestyle and commercial practices.

Throughout the last fifty years, we have witnessed a strand of buildings that ignore any reference to the local environment and/or energy consumption. We see buildings in Kuwait and other Gulf countries that do not belong and can be erected anywhere in the world. Buildings are responsible for 72% of electricity consumption, and carbon emissions mostly come from the use of private cars and building energy consumption.

Our role as architects and planners shall be to focus on raising awareness. Architects should promote developments and buildings that aim to reduce carbon emission. We must demonstrate that saving energy is cheaper than buying it. For future sustainability, passive design approaches, high quality envelops, proper insulation, and smart responsive buildings technologies are key. Additionally, climate should shape our developments and buildings, not the other way around. Governments need to take steps to limit sprawl and make the general public realize the actual cost of energy and environmental consumption. Otherwise, we will never escape this loop, facing a catastrophic result.