TITLE:
Study the Urban Expansion of Taif City Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for Decision Support System
AUTHORS:
Bader Alharthi, Tarek A. El-Damaty
KEYWORDS:
Remote Sensing, Land Use and Land Cover (LU/LC), Landsat Image, Image Classification, Urban Growth, Taif
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Remote Sensing,
Vol.11 No.1,
March
1,
2022
ABSTRACT: The goal of this study is to spatially portray Taif’s urban expansion and
determine for last 30 years, from 1990 to 2020. It is only including the
residential neighborhoods approved by the Taif Municipality, which is
responsible and organized for urban planning in the city. The geographical
location of the city of Taif is a vital crossroad between eastern and western
parts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which made
it a tourist destination, as well as commercial and agricultural preference for
many years, as it was considered the summer capital of the KSA. Moreover, it
serves as the entrance to Makkah city from the eastern side. The proposed study
has necessitated because the lack of recent scientific studies that dealt with
the spatial analysis of urban expansion and its trends in the city of Taif and
follow the stages of expansion during periods of time by relying on remote
sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) techniques. The many
development projects in the city of Taif, such as Taif International Airport,
the new Taif project, and other projects, which will cause an increase in
demand for residential, commercial, industrial and service units have also
prompted the proposed study. This was investigated using a multitemporal
Landsat data for the years of 1990, 2002 and 2020, as well as census data from
1990 to 2020, along with Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System
(GIS) techniques. The results revealed that over the last 30 years, urban land
cover has increased by 20,448 (ha) whereas other land covers, such as green area, have decreased
significantly by 14,554 (ha). The results also indicate that the increase in urban areas
amounted to 114.8% during the period from 1990 to 2020. The locations of new
developments such as Taif airport, Taif university, Ministry of Housing
projects, etc. were located to the North and Northeast. This is due to the
area’s topography, which played a major role in determining the direction of
urban expansion. According to the study, multiple urban centers, rising
low-density dispersed communities, and leapfrogging growth were all hallmarks
of urban expansion in Taif. The study demonstrated that Taif is at risk of
ecosystem loss as a result of continued urban expansion. To ensure
environmental sustainability, the current effort asks for actions that will restrict
urban sprawl and prepare the city for future growth.