Critical Junctures in Sustainable Social Housing Policy Development in Saudi Arabia: A Review
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In the eastern part of Figure 2, the authors have written the name of the Arabian Gulf. If we refer to historical documents and old and valid maps, Its name is Persian Gulf. It is recommended that authors correct the figure 2 in their scientific article, away from prejudice and with due regard for trusteeship.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
1. In the eastern part of Figure 2, the authors have written the name of the Arabian Gulf. If we refer to historical documents and old and valid maps, its name is Persian Gulf. It is recommended that authors correct figure 2 in their scientific article, away from prejudice and with due regard for trusteeship.
Response: We thank the reviewer for the comment and recommendation. We understand this issue is controversial between many countries and organisations. However, the two names are used in many documents. The Arabian Gulf is used officially by the Arab League countries, as the United Nations use it in its Arab documents and Arab geographical societies. It is also used in many countries' official maps, and there is no objection to their use (The Arab League, 1945).
As for disputes over the name (The Arabian Gulf or the Persian Gulf), there is a scientific and political conflict, and there are different points of view. Indeed, there are several names given to this bay over the thousands of years. However, several historians refer to it as the Arabian Gulf because it surrounds by Arab countries. Also, two-thirds of the Gulf coasts are located in Arab countries, while Iran overlooks about a third (Al-Ghaz, 1959). Some historians who visited the region assert that it is called the Arabian Gulf. Among them is the English historian Roderick Owen, who visited the Arabian Gulf and issued a book on it in 1957 entitled The Golden Bubble, The Documents of the Arabian Gulf, in which he narrated that he visited the Arabian Gulf, believing that it was the Persian Gulf because he had only seen this name on the geographical maps. However, he hardly got to know him closely until he realized that it would be more correct to call it the "Arabian Gulf" because most of the inhabitants of its coasts are Arabs. He said: "The facts and fairness require that it be called the Arabian Gulf." (Sweet-Escott, 1958). Likewise, the French writer Jean Jacques Berreby (French: Jean Jacques Berreby) emphasized the Arabism of the Gulf in his book, in which he dealt with the events of the region and its strategic importance (Al-Ghaz, 1959). The German historian Carsten Niebuhr, who worked for Denmark and toured Arabia in 1762, says: "But I cannot pass by such silence, the most important colonies, which, though established outside the borders of Arabia, are closer to them. I mean the Arabs of the southern coast of Persia, often allied with the neighbouring sheikhs or subject to them. Various circumstances indicate that these tribes settled on the Persian Gulf before the Caliphs' conquests and have always maintained their independence. Based on the above references, we have decided to keep the original figure.
References:
Al-Ghaz, N. (1959) The Arabian Gulf, p. 98, translated book, Beirut 1959.
The Arab League. (1945). Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/arab-league
Sweet-Escott, B. (1958). The Golden Bubble: Arabian Gulf Documentary. In: Oxford University Press.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The authors have substantially improved the first draft of the paper. Content-wise, it can be accepted in its current form. My only remark is that I recommend the authors to do a final proof-read before its publication.
Author Response
Reviewer: 2
1. The authors have substantially improved the first draft of the paper. Content-wise, it can be accepted in its current form. My only remark is that I recommend the authors to do a final proof-read before its publication.
Response: We thank the reviewer for the comment. We have done further proof-read to address any issue.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
In its current form, this paper has very much the flavour of a discursive book chapter on policy development rather than an empirical paper providing the deep critical insights that it really ought to. The absence of research questions and rigorous argument, and indeed the broadness of overall aim of the piece mean that I cannot support publication in its present form. The treatment of the drivers of policy development is too scant to provide the insights that a journal publication should do. This is where I would suggest the authors focus their attention for the development of this paper.
Furthermore, given this journal's dedication towards sustainability issues, I would encourage the authors to frame the discussion of social housing provision under a wider discussion of social sustainability. On that note, I would also like to see the discussion of the development of social housing tightened. I was surprised by the absence of any discussion of the UK's social housing sector with some of the earliest and widespread measures to introduce public housing to minimum specified standards through the 1919 Housing and Planning Act.
Author Response
Reviewer: 3
1. In its current form, this paper has very much the flavour of a discursive book chapter on policy development rather than an empirical paper providing the deep critical insights that it really ought to. The absence of research questions and rigorous argument, and indeed the broadness of overall aim of the piece mean that I cannot support publication in its present form. The treatment of the drivers of policy development is too scant to provide the insights that a journal publication should do. This is where I would suggest the authors focus their attention for the development of this paper.
Response: We would like to reinstate that it is a review paper based on historical policy development. In this regard, the paper flows a structure from other published review works. We have followed several papers published from MDPI and other high-ranked journals who adopted similar structure and discussion for example:
Martín-Uceda and Rufi 2021 (Sustainability - MDPI)
Ahmadzai, Tutundjian & Elouafi, 2021 (Sustainability - MDPI)
Abdul and Yu, 2020 (Urban Science – MDPI)
Arku, 2009 (Housing Studies)
Khan and Swapan, 2013 (Habitat International)
Pugh, 1994 (Cities)
Thorns, 2000 (Housing Studies)
This literature helped us further to structure the current paper. This has now reflected in the title to avoid any confusion. The review on social housing policy development has a strong theoretical background that is reported through our literature review. This paper relied on an attempt to understand the historical development of housing policy and critical points and then investigate sustainability according to the Saudi vision 2030. We investigated historical policy development through this lens and identified how that has been shifted towards more neo-liberal practice which is a core principle of sustainable governance.
The article engages with a geographical area scarcely present in the current literature. So, it brings a much-needed comparative perspective for social housing policies from a country that is not part of the usual set of examples. According to the previous suggestions by the reviewers, the paper has been substantially restructured to reflect scientific presentation. It includes restructuring the entire paper to further establish the background, clearer research agenda and specific findings, lesson learned and recommendations.
2. Furthermore, given this journal's dedication towards sustainability issues, I would encourage the authors to frame the discussion of social housing provision under a wider discussion of social sustainability.
Response: We want to thank the reviewer for the comments and suggestions. We added new addition about the social housing provision under a wider discussion of social sustainability (page 1, lines 32-42).
3. On that note, I would also like to see the discussion of the development of social housing tightened. I was surprised by the absence of any discussion of the UK's social housing sector with some of the earliest and widespread measures to introduce public housing to minimum specified standards through the 1919 Housing and Planning Act.
Response: We want to thank the reviewer for the comments and suggestions. We added new addition about the development of social housing and the earliest UK's social housing sector (page 2, lines 75-87).
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
This manuscript is a resubmission of an earlier submission. The following is a list of the peer review reports and author responses from that submission.
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article does not follow a scientific and research framework. According to a report and description of the process of policy-making and social housing planning in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the article is not a research and does not follow the format of the journal, for example, the materials, methods and results of the findings are not seen in the article.Table 1 shows the total housing targeting 225,600, while the exact number is 198,600.Sources are also more documentary and new articles are less used. In general, innovation and novelty are not seen in the article and can not be approved as a scientific-research article.
Reviewer 2 Report
This is a well written piece of text. Nevertheless, it is not yet a scientific paper that can be published. Hopefully, the comments below will help the authors when revising the paper:
- There are some minor typos in the manuscript. Therefore, the authors are encouraged to proof-read the paper.
- In the introductory session, I am missing a clear paragraph indicating which is the 'research gap' that the paper is trying to fill.
- The authors are encouraged to include more figures and tables to improve the 'descriptive' content presented (at the moment there is only 1 table).
- Section 5 should be split into: 5. Further discussion and 6. Conclusions.
- In the concluding section, the authors should provide some additional text commenting on the 'lessons learnt' from their research that are applicable for other countries.
- In general, the link with the concept of 'sustainability' should be further developed.
Reviewer 3 Report
The article has a sound theoretical construction and engages with a geographical area that is scarcely present in the current literature. In this respect, it brings a much needed comparative perspective for social housing policies from a country that is not part of the usual set of examples.
The article follows closely the general outline of financial and policy planning for a variety of housing solutions that largely fall under the category of social housing. What is somehow missing is a comparison with other strongly centralized systems, like the ones in the former communist states. The resemblance is even stronger if one considers the five year plan (e.g. the Romanian cincinal, or the Bulgarian Pet Godini), which were typical for such regimes. The interesting issue is that in those countries that generated large housing estates, very typical for Bucharest, Sofia or Belgrade. This is rather well known and well documented, but it is less clear for somebody who is not familiar with KSA what kind of housing was developed in the country. Please add brief architectural and urbanistic considerations.
I would be very interested to get a bit more insights about the transition from a centralized planning system to a neoliberal one, in a way that would help the reader make a better comparison with, not only the Western housing regime, but also to the East European, slightly more similar historical development. My suggestion is that you should add brief descriptions of the type of housing that was produced during the time period that is analyzed, following the chronological pathway, and also open up the discussion in the final chapter for examples that might have a stronger resemblance with Saudi Arabia than the American sources that you primarily used. This makes even more sense with respect to the critical juncture postulate, that you would then follow a transition from an underdeveloped to a highly developed economy, and from a centralized to a liberal system, with, of course, all the variations and conundrums.
The article is somehow too much focused on the economical side of the policies, I suggest that the authors should include at least some spatial aspects, even a couple of pictures would help, illustrating architectural and urban planning issues, also it is worth mentioning if there is an impact of the green and just transition policies on the sustainability of the newer generation of social houses.
Reviewer 4 Report
Overall, my feeling is that this paper has the current form of a discursive chapter in an edited collection rather than a stand alone paper of sufficient empirical merit for publication in Sustainability. To be clear, the paper is interesting and highly topical. I would encourage the authors to further develop the work on a specific, theoretically-grounded angle, towards which the current paper makes several tantalizing connections - the emergence and development of the nation state of KSA, regional customs and practices (or their absence in relation to urbanization), contemporary sustainability challenges, for example.
Furthermore, if the Vision 2030 is to be the primary focal point, then the authors might wish to consider unpacking relevant elements of the vision in greater detail in the opening sections of the piece and using this early interrogation to establish clear lines of investigation / research question(s) that force more tightly focused, critical analysis of different aspects. In this way, the existing (and useful) historic overview is augmented by deeper analysis in relation to one or more key aspect.
