Assessing urban sprawl by remote sensing and GIS techniques

In the context of mega sustainable urban development projects, this research was commenced with the impartial of assessing urban sprawl (i.e., land use versus land cover variations) during 2000-2016 by remote sensing and GIS techniques, where GCR “Greater Cairo Region” was taken as a case study. Primarily, literature in the field of remote sensing and GIS technologies were assembled and scrutinized. In addition, data regarding build zones, agricultural areas and bare soil regions so as water were assembled from different resources (i.e., Ministry of Agriculture). Remote sensing and GIS techniques were implemented. Results were obtained and analyzed. Finally, conclusions were deduced and recommendations were suggested. The research flagged-out that the GCR designated a drastic agriculture land loss of 10%. In addition, the research confirmed that built-up areas increased by 10% during 2000-2016. On the other hand, the results indicated that Giza and Qalyubia Governorates recorded the largest agriculture land loss by 8.72 and 7.88%, respectively, which is equivalent to 47 and 77 km2, respectively. The research prioritized the importance of defining the most affected zones within Giza and Qalyubia Governorates by correlating GIS data versus governmental files, where a difference of 50% was designated. The research portrayed the priority of modifying the government assessment approach in order to control urban sprawl.