Bhzad Sidawi

The Impact of Built Environment on Diabetic Patients: The Case of Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

At present, Diabetes mellitus is considered as one of the main threats to the human health in the 21st century. It may lead to severe conditions such as blindness, end-stage of renal disease, limb amputation and a variety of debilitating neuropathies. Previous researches indicated that diabetes is caused by a complex interaction of patient’s genetics, life-style and environmental factors. They also highlighted that providing quality and healthy built environment to citizens including diabetic patients would prevent poor and unhealthy condition. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is one of top ten countries in the prevalence of diabetes. Little researches though were conducted in KSA in regards to the effect of environmental conditions of the built environment. In 2011, the present researchers have carried out a pilot survey on a number of diabetic patients to find out the possible impact of built environment settings on the patient’s lifestyle. The research explored whether diabetic patients use smart tools in their daily life to overcome the daily life’s difficulties and perform their life as normal as possible. The results showed a close link between a poor home and environmental settings, the patient’s lifestyle, and the patient’s health status. It also highlighted the absence of smart tools and systems use. The paper argues that certain changes to the built environment must be done and to provide a healthy and safe environment for diabetic patients. This would help these patients to abandon their bad habits and adopt healthier lifestyle.

Diabetes, built environments and (un)healthy lifestyles

Purpose – Diabetes mellitus is the most common non-communicable medical condition worldwide, yet little is known about the relationship this disease has to the built environment. The purpose of this paper is to throw some much needed light on the matter by shifting attention away from the epidemiology of the medical condition and towards the anthropology of the unhealthy lifestyles whose habit-persistent practices are associated with the spread of the disease. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the delicate relation between diabetes, unhealthy lifestyles and built environments. It discusses the potential of smart city technologies to promote healthy lifestyles, particularly for diabetic patients. Findings – Smart cities currently being developed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) do not highlight the health-related benefits of their design and layout and there are currently no plans for the community to address the unhealthy lifestyles of existing neighbourhoods as part of a sustainable urb...

The potentials of and barriers to the utilization of advanced computer systems in remote construction projects: case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BackgroundAn extensive body of knowledge indicated the positive impact of the Advanced Computer based Management Systems (ACMS) on various aspects of project management, while highlighting barriers that hinder adoption, diffusion, and utilization of the ACMS by the construction industries around the world. Remote projects have their unique management problems and these are caused mainly by the remoteness of the project. Little research was undertaken concerning this issue, particularly in the Persian Gulf region, and it has highlighted few unique communications and management problems such as the loose control, lack of human resources, infrastructure and experience.MethodsThis research investigated the use of ACMS by large companies in the Eastern province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and how it would help these companies sorting out a number of present projects’ management problems. Subsequently, a field study i.e. a questionnaire survey and interviews was carried out.ResultThe field study revealed significant association between frequent management problems with little use of ACMS and the domination of use of traditional communications and management systems. This paper argues that the use of traditional systems and the traditional way of sorting out construction problems limit the applicability of ACMS.ConclusionThe present researchers recommend the use of customized ACMS associated with the application of lean and sustainable management principals as these would help overcoming barriers and providing intelligent solution for the strategic, technical, and social issues of the remote construction sites.

Creating a healthy built environment for diabetic patients: the case study of the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Many studies worldwide have demonstrated the negative impact of an unhealthy built environment on citizens. In the case of diabetes, studies have concentrated on the environmental impact and accessibility issues of a place i.e. the home and neighborhood, whereas few studies have addressed the comfort of the type and spatial arrangement of a household and linked it with the prevalence of diabetes. Also, little research has tackled the place’s impact on diabetic patients and their views concerning their environments. This paper demonstrates the outcomes of survey that was carried out on diabetic individuals who usually visit the King Fahd teaching hospital of the University of Dammam, Al-Khober, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The patients were surveyed and physically examined. The present researchers found significant links between patients’ diabetes symptoms such as reported paresthesia and blurred vision, and medical investigations results such as lipid profile, blood glucose and blood pressure with the environmental conditions of their homes and neighborhoods. The paper shows that the prevalence of the disease is not only caused by an unhealthy lifestyle but also by an unhealthy built environment. Moreover, it illustrates that unhealthy built environment promotes unhealthy life styles. It makes recommendations on how to improve the built environment in the KSA to be healthier for all citizens including the diabetic patients.

Assessment of the Role of Training and Licensing Systems in Changing the Young Driver's Behavior

ABSTRACT Young driver crashes are over represented in any countrys crash statistics. This problem is more acute in developing countries where the law enforcement is not strict and the licensing structure is not well developed. According to World Health Organization (WHO) road crashes are the single greatest cause of death for men aged 15-29 years old. More than 8500 young drivers die each year in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and the death rates for young drivers are doubled than the older aged drivers. Young driver crashes and deaths cause great economic, social cost on individuals, families and societies. Many research studies have been conducted to find out the causes of crash and deaths. These found that the conventional youth training schemes help young learner to develop their driving skills and knowledge, meanwhile they do not help to gain real road driving experience. Research shows that the lack of driving experience, higher order perception and maturity increase young driver crash exposure. To this end, Graduated Driver Licensing System (GDLS) have been developed. GDLS helps young drivers to focus on road driving experience and it divided the whole licensing process into different phases. It also helps the young drivers to get supervised driving experience which help them to accumulate driving hours to get the provisional license. The GDLS helps not only in gaining experience in driving but also in developing the higher order perception (hazard perception) which is very much needed during driving. This paper discusses a number of drivers licensing systems and training programs and highlights the need for a licensing system that focus not only on the development of better hazard perception and understanding the road environment for young drivers but also on some other factors that affect road safety. It is argued that the consultation of community concerning the development of a licensing system is essential to minimize road crashes in the youth group as it would guarantee that the young drivers are fully aware of various driving risk factors at training stage rather than the practicing stage.

An evaluation of the performance of the housing finance system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to find ongoing socioeconomic needs and how they affect the built environment and how they should be financed. Design/methodology/approach – A field survey was undertaken in 2011 in the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to find the citizens’ views about the initial and ongoing financial support of banks and the real estate development fund. Findings – The survey’s results showed that the majority of the respondents did not manage to take up mortgage and own a property. There is also serious lack of financial support for the population’s socioeconomic needs. Research limitations/implications – The research is carried out in the KSA. The findings, however, can be generalized to other Gulf and Islamic countries as well. Practical implications – The research would enable the policymakers and financing bodies to consider future socioeconomic needs of low-income citizens and set proper financial resources to meet these needs. Originality/value – Few researc...

The place-based impact of built environments: Diabetes, living conditions, homes and neighbourhoods:

Many studies have demonstrated the adverse effect of the built environments on health and differentiated between their direct and indirect impacts. In the case of diabetes and other chronic diseases, such studies concentrate on the direct impact of built environments on the living conditions of citizens either at home or in the neighbourhood. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), little research has tackled the indirect and so-called place-based impact of the built environment. This study reports on the findings of surveys carried out on 76 diabetics who usually visit the King Fahd Teaching Hospital of the University of Dammam, Al-Khober in the Eastern province of KSA. It investigates the relationship between the place-based impact of the built environment, diabetes and living conditions. The working hypothesis is that: living conditions found in the homes and surrounding neighbourhoods of those suffering from diabetes do aggravate the symptoms of the disease, which in turn have an adverse impact on the medical condition. The study provides evidence to support this hypothesis as the findings reveal there is a positive correlation between the place-based impact of built environments, diabetes, living conditions, homes and neighbourhoods and these jointly aggravate the symptoms associated with the medical condition.

The role of healthy social interaction and communications in provoking creativity in the design studio

Abstract Design is a social phenomenon and researchers suggest that negotiations and communications between designers are essential to initiate creativity. Within the design studio environment, a number of factors affect the healthy social interaction and design negotiations, such as the teaching style of tutors and the culture that governs a design studio environment. This may, in turn, affect the utilisation of the outcome of negotiations in the design project. Design studio students from the third to fifth years at the College of Architecture, UoD were surveyed to find out how far the design studio culture and communications would impact on the production of innovative design projects. The results show that democratic communications and establishing common grounds are essential to develop knowledge and would influence positively the design outcome. On the other hand, the research found that negative personal and design studio environment’s qualities would hinder students’ creativity. However, to develop students’ design/innovative abilities, the researcher recommends that certain measures should be considered. These would include shifting the focus of architectural design pedagogy from the production of solution-based to innovative-based design projects, transforming the design studio into an interactive and friendly learning environment and the development of interactive and communications skills of tutors.

Traffic Safety: National Partnership and Corporate Social Responsibility

ABSTRACT The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that road accidents worldwide cause the death of 1.3 million people annually, and injure 50 million people with a number of them suffering extremely serious injuries, in addition to enormous financial losses. The WHO indicated that road accidents would become the third cause of death among the fifteen primary causes of death in 2020 [ 1 ]. Traffic accidents in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pose a serious concern for officials and the Saudi society. It is one of the most common dangers that exhausts human and material resources, and approximately 6,596 young die each year with additional 38,000 seriously injured; the fatal traffic accident rate in the youth group is of 240 per million, which is the highest in the world [ 2 ]. Traffic accidents are also the main cause of death in the age group 18 to 30 years old [ 3 ]. Addressing this problem is significantly essential. Many countries around the world have realized the importance of traffic safety as a broad concept as well as the mutual relation between traffic safety and economic and social growth. Traffic safety has also become a social and corporate responsibility that requires cooperation and coordination between various parties. Although the principal responsibility falls on concerned authorities such as the ministries of interior, transportation, and health and municipalities, this should be a social and corporate responsibility, as well as a national issue that all segments of the society have to be involved with [ 4 ].

Potential Hindrances to the Utilization of e-Learning System in Architectural Courses

The core of Architectural education is the design studio where-face to face-social interaction, negotiations and communications happen between tutors and students. These communications are essential for development of the design concept and initiation of students creativity. Laboratory and theoretical courses are considered as backup or supportive to the design studios education. At the University of Dammam, an ambitious e-learning system plan was initiated and the system was gradually installed during the year 2012. The faculty have been encouraged to use it and integrate it with their traditional teaching methodologies. However, it is reported that the system is of little use by the faculty of college of Architecture. So, a survey was launched in early 2013 and it targeted the faculty at the department of Architecture. This is to find out why the faculty are reluctant to utilize the system and the hindrances to possible utilization. The surveys results showed that the faculty appreciated the qualities of the e-learning system. However, they felt that the e-learning system is still under development and it has not been tailored to respond to the requirements of architectural education. They said that it can be used, to a certain extent, for theoretical courses but it would not be beneficial for design courses. This paper argues that potential shortages of the system should be dealt with during the implementation of the e-learning system at the college of Architecture, otherwise, the present e-learning system, as it is, will not respond to the architectural educations needs and would have negative impact on architectural education.