With the fall of the Communist Regimen in the Western Balkans Region, governance politics regarding urban and spatial planning processes led to significant changes in several territorial aspects. In this regard, several scientific studies and researches have put forward significant regional differences in urban development between cities of the Balkans that have followed very similar trajectories after the collapse of the “communist empire,” considering their willingness and desire to meet European standards - Tirana, Podgorica, Sarajevo are just some examples. Between the several disparities, these territories represent compared to Central and North European regions, massive and uncontrolled urban growth has been verified – catalyzed by liberal governance politics and private companies, without planning experts, and jeopardizing the need to include public participation in the development processes. This situation has led to significant uncontrolled planning and, consequently, to several negative social-economic impacts driven by it. For this reason, the development of a detailed review study considering spatial planning perspectives in the Western Balkans Region is seen as pivotal to understanding the existing planning disparities that affect the sustainable development of this area. Through an exploratory methodology – using both case study approach methods and territorial impact assessment (TIA) - it will be possible to understand how these events occurred and evolved, enabling the development of specific tools and approaches which might help to minimize the cumulative impacts of these processes. Therefore, the outcomes will define guidelines regarding urban planning processes for the main actors responsible for developing new governance measures toward achieving European standards.

Many developing countries as well as some developed countries suffer from the problem of slums. They constitute a real defect in the economic and social development plan of the concerned countries. The methods used to finance development projects in countries vary according to the different social, economic, and legislative influences. The process of providing the expenses required for these projects is one of the most important problems that governments face. The study aims to establish some rules and principles in a proposed theoretical framework and to document some of the experiences of supporting cities globally as well as in the African and Arab countries, by using a general analysis model that includes Egyptian experiences to understand the most important problems related to sustainable development and how to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in the development of urban planning and management. An analytical study is conducted to the experience of participatory development of Manshiyet Nasser is presented and the proposed development programs to determine their advantages and disadvantages. The study concluded to identifying several recommendations for dealing with slums and setting an integrated urban development model for low-income areas that can be replicated in other similar sites. The study also concluded that in development projects, focus is placed on popular participation and decentralization in decision-making, seeking to solve existing problems in society and taking the initiative to experiment new methods from which the government refrains for fear of failure.

Buraydah, a small Saudi Arabian city, has transformed rapidly in the last few decades. This transformation has occurred due to economic growth, population growth, infrastructural development, and environmental factors. The urban identity is shaped by cultural patterns and the regional diversity within its fabric. Historical sites that retain architectural traits from their respective eras play a significant role in transmitting urban identity to future generations. However, when individuals disregard traditional identities in search of modernism and urbanization, dramatic changes occur in the physical structure, social-spatial pattern, socio-economic structure, and socio-cultural structure of the city. All of these have dramatically altered the city’s identity, which historically took a long time to develop. While the historic sites in the city that have been demolished for expansion and development, also cause the city to lose its identity. This study's objective is to investigate the cause of the changes in identity in Buraydah city. For this purpose, relevant literature was reviewed to identify and address the research objectives and examine the urban and architectural identity concepts, while the comparative study of archival materials with site investigation and survey was conducted in the practical aspect. The result of the study identifies certain factors that contributed to the loss of identity of the city.

Quality of Life is important but often neglected, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health and economic aspects are currently getting more attention. Therefore, this study tries to measure the Quality of Life of the community during a pandemic, especially when physical distancing is implemented. To measure Quality of Life, the data was collected using a survey conducted electronically using the Google form application. The instrument used in data collection was adapted from WHOQOL instruments. Data collection began after one year of the adoption of a physical distancing policy by the Indonesian government and carried out for one month and collected 370 respondents after filtering. This study shows that the Quality of Life of the community in general is not different from the aspect of the characteristics of the respondents. Family income, age and length of time for physical distancing are domains that affect several Quality of Life domains. Strengthening of religious values, subsidy schemes to maintain family income levels and length of physical distancing can be used as policies taken by the government related to the Quality of Life due to global pandemic disasters.