Sustainable attractive cities and national prosperity all around the world, wealth is being generated mainly in cities; and people by the millions are moving to cities for improved social and economic opportunity. To build a successful national economy, countries in MENA must create competitive, attractive and sustainable cities that investors, entrepreneurs and employees want to live and work in.

Housing is a huge net consumer of energy. As noted by Khaled Awad, the Founder of GRENEA and Chairman of ACTS in the UAE, too much building is done cheaply, using cheap materials, and electricity and water are subsidized. This is putting huge demand on natural resources that could be sold on the international market to generate national income.