Preliminary Study on the Impact of Environmental Hazards on Quality of Life, Air Conditioning Performance, and Urban Real Estate Prices in Kuwait

The strategic geographic location, geological setting, topographic characteristics, and climate conditions of Kuwait made it more vulnerable to environmental hazards. Sand and dust storms (SDSs) possess a wide-ranging negative impact on various aspects, including navigation hazards, air quality, human health, and socio-economy. This present investigation seeks to examine the environmental crises’ impact -especially SDSs—on quality of life, air conditioning (AC) performance, and real estate prices in urban areas of Kuwait. In this study, a comprehensive methodology was employed, combining a public survey on the effects of sand and dust storms on quality of life and air conditioning performance with verified real estate sales data obtained from the Ministry of Justice in Kuwait. The results showed that approximately 66% of the respondents (n = 282) reported that their family members suffer from dust-related diseases during dusty days, while 67.41% expressed dissatisfaction with government strategies aimed at mitigating sand and dust storm (SDS) hazards. Furthermore, the findings indicate that SDSs significantly impair air conditioning (AC) efficiency; however, the majority of residents lack adequate awareness regarding the appropriate timing and frequency of AC system maintenance. In addition, it was observed that Al-Ahmadi governorate had the lowest real estate prices compared to other governorates, due to environmental issues that significantly impacted it. This study will raise stakeholders’ and decision-makers’ awareness about the impact of environmental crises on the real estate prices, life quality, and AC performance in existing urban cities.