The Arab Spring and recent popular uprisings that have taken place in many Arab countries since the end of 2010 highlight the urgent need for economic policy reorientation in these countries. This book addresses key issues relevant to the contemporary economic realities of the Arab economies; including policy space, generation of more productive and decent employment, social justice and poverty alleviation, regional integration and the common destiny of the Arab people, and the failure of the structural adjustment programs recommended by the Bretton Woods institutions and implemented in these countries in the last three decades. The volume explores, and makes recommendations, for deep pan Arab regional integration and alternative pro-poor, growth-oriented economic and trade policies capable of promoting social justice by reducing the incidence of poverty. It highlights the ways in which various types of economic and trade policies have affected the levels of employment and poverty in five Arab countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory and Sudan. Using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the book focuses on Arab trade integration, exploring the obstacles to its implementation in the past, as well as its potentials as a source of employment generation and enhancement of living conditions. The book also addresses the construction, interpretation and use of quantitative trade indicators for optimal policy choice at both the domestic and regional levels.

The Arab Spring and recent popular uprisings that have taken place in many Arab countries since the end of 2010 highlight the urgent need for economic policy reorientation in these countries. This book addresses key issues relevant to the contemporary economic realities of the Arab economies; including policy space, generation of more productive and decent employment, social justice and poverty alleviation, regional integration and the common destiny of the Arab people, and the failure of the structural adjustment programs recommended by the Bretton Woods institutions and implemented in these countries in the last three decades. The volume explores, and makes recommendations, for deep pan Arab regional integration and alternative pro-poor, growth-oriented economic and trade policies capable of promoting social justice by reducing the incidence of poverty. It highlights the ways in which various types of economic and trade policies have affected the levels of employment and poverty in five Arab countries: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory and Sudan. Using a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the book focuses on Arab trade integration, exploring the obstacles to its implementation in the past, as well as its potentials as a source of employment generation and enhancement of living conditions. The book also addresses the construction, interpretation and use of quantitative trade indicators for optimal policy choice at both the domestic and regional levels.

This book focuses on how to maintain environmental sustainability as one of its main principles, and it addresses how smart cities serve to diminish wastes and maintain natural resources by having clean green energy that is operated by new smart technology designs. Living in a smart city is not something of the future anymore, it is here, and it is being implemented all over the world. A smart city uses different types of electronic Internet of things (IoT) sensors to collect data and then use these data to manage assets and resources efficiently. The smart city concept integrates information and communication technology (ICT), and various physical devices connected to the IoT network to optimize the efficiency of city operations and services and achieve sustainable solutions to allow us to grow with proper management of our resources. Smart sustainable structures and infrastructures face the need of urban areas due to the growth of populations while in the same time save our environment. To achieve this, we need to revisit the conventional methods in design and construction and the conventional materials which are used now to optimize the design and provide smart solutions. In the past few years, the consumption of resources has been massive, and the waste produced from that consumption has been inconceivable. This is causing environmental degradation, which produces many environmental challenges, such as global climate change, excessive fossil fuel dependency and the growing demand for energy. As well as, discussing the challenges facing the civil engineering design and construction of smart cities components and presenting concepts and insight from experts and researchers from different civil engineering disciplines., this book explains how to construct buildings and special structures and how to manage and monitor energy.