Citation: Alyousef, T.; Alshihri, F.; Abdellatif, M.; Alrawaf, T.; Abdellatif, R. Integrated Recreation Cities and Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: Contributions, Constraints, and Policies. Sustainability 2022, 14, 6182. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su14106182 Academic Editors: Zdravko Trivic, Vesna Kosori´ c, Siu-Kit (Eddie) Lau, Abel Tablada, Miljana Horvat, Milena Vukmirovi´ c, Silvia Domingo-Irigoyen, Marija Todorovi´ c, Jérôme H. Kaempf, Kosa Goli´ c and Ana Peric Received: 17 April 2022 Accepted: 16 May 2022 Published: 19 May 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Integrated Recreation Cities and Sustainable Development in Saudi Arabia: Contributions, Constraints, and Policies Tufail Alyousef 1 , Faez Alshihri 2 , Mahmoud Abdellatif 2 , Tareq Alrawaf 1 and Reham Abdellatif 3, * 1 Department of Landscape Architecture, College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia; talyousef@iau.edu.sa (T.A.); alrawaf@iau.edu.sa (T.A.) 2 Department of Urban and Regional Planning, College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia; fshihri@iau.edu.sa (F.A.); mlatif@iau.edu.sa (M.A.) 3 Department of Interior Design, College of Design, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam 34221, Saudi Arabia * Correspondence: rmabdellatif@iau.edu.sa; Tel.: +96-65-5863-0150 Abstract: Despite the importance of integrated recreation cities (IRC) to the wellbeing of individuals, families, and society, there is only one IRC which is under development in Saudi Arabia (KSA). This research aims to study the potential contributions of IRCs to sustainable development in KSA, the constraints facing them, and effectuation policies to support their applications. To achieve this goal, the research used a documentary inductive approach, which includes a review of related literature and an applied approach that includes field surveys of a random sample of 160 experts and officials. In addition to articulating the most significant contributions of IRCs and the most important constraints facing them, the research was able to provide a number of policies and measures useful in guiding the development of new IRCs in KSA and Dammam Metropolitan Area (DMA) in support of sustainable development. The contributions of this research are aligned with that put forward by the 2030 Vision of KSA, which considers the promotion of “recreational development” a necessary step to achieve environmental, economic, and social sustainability for the Saudi society. Keywords: urban land use planning; integrated recreation cities; sustainable development; Dammam Metropolitan Area; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2030 Saudi vision 1. Introduction Based on the authors’ comprehensive review of a number of large-scale recreation cities from around the world [1–7], a large-scale recreation city is an integrated multifunctional project with huge areas containing many of the most complex and creative establishments and the latest high-efficiency and quality games and attractions. Its purpose is to provide recreational and economic benefits through their integration into social, environmental, economic, planning, and administrative aspects. In this research, the term Integrated Recreation City (IRC), though not commonly used worldwide, is introduced, and used by the authors. 1.1. Research Problem Despite implementing IRCs in many countries of the world for their significant devel- opmental impacts, the regions of KSA lack large integrated modern recreation cities with global standards such as Disneyland in the USA, Europa Park in Germany, and other major integrated recreation cities (IRCs) around the world. This type of recreational development are attractions for tourists and residents alike, providing means of recreation and enjoyment to all ages. The only IRC in KSA is the “Qiddiya recreation city” located 45 km south of Riyadh, the capital of KSA. The Qiddiya project started in 2019 as a huge recreational Sustainability 2022, 14, 6182. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14106182 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability