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The concept of smart city has been adopted by various cities across the world. As urbanization is enlarging at a flying pace, the number of cities that engage the smart city concept is to rise, including in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This chapter discusses issues related to the development of (Islamic) smart cities in the GCC countries to create sustainable well-being through ecological and environmental resilience. This issue starts from the conflict between economic and human development on the one hand and ecological and environmental resilience on the other hand as one of the fundamental challenges of sustainable development. The higher the Human Development Index (HDI),, the higher the ecological footprint. Likewise, in the GCC region, all member countries are classified as Very High Human Development; however, all of these countries have a high ecological footprint. Therefore, through a literature study, this chapter focuses on investigating the development of (Islamic) smart cities in the GCC countries in reducing ecological footprints through a circular economy innovation with the support of technology and a digitally-enabled community in creating ecological and environmental resilience. This chapter provides valuable insight into the implementation of the (Islamic) smart cities in the GCC region in taking a global strategic role in green transition through the circular economy to transform their region toward sustainable well-being and become a symbol of sustainable smart global Islamic civilization.

This study investigates the factors influencing citizen attitudes toward e-government services and their effects on the adoption of e-government services in Saudi Arabia. It sheds light on the moderating role of citizen motivation in the relationship between factors influencing citizen attitudes in favor of e-government services and their adoption and usage behavior in the Saudi Arabian context. The study analyzes both the drivers propelling the uptake and the barriers impeding it.

A descriptive research design was employed in this study, which surveyed 487 respondents from Jeddah and Madina cities and the surrounding region. The research identifies key drivers, including cultural factors, digital literacy, government policy and interventions, privacy and security, technical infrastructure, support services and citizen trust, alongside barriers such as concerns about data security and digital literacy.

The findings reveal the complex interplay of these factors in shaping citizen attitudes toward e-government services and their effects on adoption in Saudi Arabia. The study indicates that citizen motivation toward e-government services moderates the relationship between, adoption and usage behavior.

This study contributes valuable insights for policymakers and practitioners by offering a nuanced perspective on e-government service adoption in the Saudi Arabian context. It enhances our understanding of the factors influencing citizen attitudes and their impact on e-government adoption, highlighting the importance of citizen motivation as a moderating factor in this relationship.

Digital health or digital healthcare, is a broad, multidisciplinary concept that includes concepts from an intersection between technology and healthcare. Digital health applies digital transformation to the healthcare field, incorporating software, hardware and services. The usefulness of digital health technologies such as digital contact tracing apps (CTAs) depends deeply on the acceptance to use them. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to explore the usage of CTAs by integrating the protection motivation theory (PMT) and technology acceptance model (TAM) in the Jordanian context.

Partial least squares structural equation modelling was employed to test empirically the integrated research model against data collected from 420 respondents, leading to the identification of the important determinants for the usage of CTAs.

The results reveal that perceived severity and perceived vulnerability have a significant positive impact on the perceived need for CTAs, which, in turn, affects the individuals’ intention to use CTAs. It also reveals that perceived trust in government, perceived privacy and perceived usefulness have a significant positive impact on individuals’ intention to use CTAs, which, in turn, affects the usage of CTAs. In contrast, perceived ease of use did not find any significant relationship, and hence hypothesis H7 was not supported. Lastly, social media awareness has a significant positive impact on perceived usefulness and ease of use.

This study is considered among the first studies in the Jordanian context that integrate the PMT and TAM to gain a better understanding of the critical determinants for the acceptance and usage of CTAs in the context of pandemics.

With increasing advances in emerging technologies including the metaverse and a continued rise in Muslim-friendly tourism, hospitality providers need to understand the opportunities and challenges involved in capitalizing on the metaverse phenomenon to design new service environments or servicescapes for their Muslim customers. This paper aims to develop a conceptual model of a servicescape in the metaverse that caters to the needs of Muslims and to advance a research agenda in this field.

The main methodology for this conceptual study is a multidisciplinary literature review. Accordingly, this study synthesized relevant literature on service environments and halal markets from the services marketing, Islamic marketing and computer science fields to advance a logical framework built on seminal servicescape models and the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework.

This paper provides several contributions. First, this study identifies the experienscape as a suitable foundational servicescape model for halal markets in the metaverse. Second, the authors introduce the “5 Ps halal metaverse component,” which elaborates on the associated opportunities and challenges in catering to the needs of Muslim metaverse travelers. Third, this study develops the halal metaverse servicescape model, which factors the relevant media metaverse components. Finally, the authors propose key managerial implications around four strategic areas and provide a comprehensive research agenda in the concluding section.

Given the conceptual nature of this study, further empirical research is required to ascertain the variables and key relationships proposed in the conceptual model.

The findings of this study highlight the multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary approaches needed to create a metaverse for halal markets. In addition, the insights help developers and managers to better understand the implications of the metaverse for halal markets and provide them with strategic considerations to better design service landscapes for Muslims in the metaverse.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first conceptual paper that develops a servicescape model in the metaverse in the context of Muslim consumers and comprehensively discusses its challenges and opportunities, thereby advancing the literature on servicescapes for the metaverse as well as service environments optimized for Muslim markets.