  Citation: Al Mulhim, K.A.M.; Swapan, M.S.H.; Khan, S. Critical Junctures in Sustainable Social Housing Policy Development in Saudi Arabia: A Review. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2979. https:// doi.org/10.3390/su14052979 Academic Editors: Grazia Napoli and Maria Rosa Trovato Received: 19 January 2022 Accepted: 22 February 2022 Published: 3 March 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 Critical Junctures in Sustainable Social Housing Policy Development in Saudi Arabia: A Review Khalid Abdullah Mulhim Al Mulhim 1,2, *, Mohammad Shahidul Hasan Swapan 2 and Shahed Khan 2 1 College of Architecture and Planning, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam 34212, Saudi Arabia 2 School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Bentley 6102, Australia; m.swapan@curtin.edu.au (M.S.H.S.); s.khan@curtin.edu.au (S.K.) * Correspondence: kmulhem@iau.edu.sa or khalid.almulhim@postgrad.curtin.edu.au Abstract: Historicising social housing delivery approach is extensively carried out for Western countries, but studies of social housing policy journey are less focused on developing nations and examining the policy development within resource-abundant Middle Eastern countries is even rarer. Applying a critical juncture approach through the historical institutionalism lens, this paper seeks to understand the evolution of social housing policies within the Saudi Arabian context. An in-depth policy review suggests that the institutional response in this sector has transitioned from a public- welfare perspective to a more neoliberal vision in recent times. The study also indicates a time-lag in policy development regarding social housing within the urban development process in Saudi Arabia compared to global movement. During the past few years, the government has begun to focus on social housing under the developmental housing program with a commitment to link these strategies to the Saudi Vision 2030. While this is a significant policy-shift in the service delivery approach, such vision could be workable as long as sufficient room is built in for other non-government actors to work within their specific protocols and frameworks as they collaborate to provide affordable and appropriate housing for the neediest groups of the society. Keywords: social housing; critical junctures; housing delivery; public-private partnership; Vision 2030; Saudi Arabia 1. Introduction While two-thirds of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas by 2050, the housing challenge will be critical particularly for low-income urbanites [1,2]. Housing is one of the key determinants of sustainable development, which constitutes the critical focus for the well-being of people. Therefore, sustainable social housing initiatives seek to provide standards that achieve the desired goals for developing communities in the longer term [3]. Social housing reforms focus on housing sustainability and its efficient practice [4]. Furthermore, one significant aspect of social housing is to ensure guaranteed access for the needy, which is their fundamental right [5]. Countries across the globe are conscious that housing is one of the key elements in the formation of cities; it has a significant impact on socio-economic status, politics, security, and other aspects of people’s lives [6]. Addressing the poor and neediest groups in the society through social housing also helps to maintain social justice and resist further illegal encroachment of public lands that could contribute to an unsustainable urban landscape (Kellett, Christen [4,7,8]). Furthermore, according to the United Nations Development Programme [9], urban equity increases social development. In other words, social cohesion is an issue of funda- mental importance when building new communities for greater social sustainability [10]. It is noticeable that the most significant and fastest-growing construction and real estate markets are in the developing world; however, despite the vast number of projects, the demand exceeds the supply, which causes a problem for the most vulnerable groups. Sustainability 2022, 14, 2979. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052979 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability