Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• ebrahim sami
• omid mobaraki ¹
• amer shahaze lahib ²

¹ Faculty member, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Maragheh

² دانشگاه مراغه maragheh university

Abstract

Objective: The city of Erbil, as one of the oldest and most historic human settlements in the world, has experienced significant changes in the last few decades, which has been mainly affected by rapid urban and economic developments caused by political and social factors. This research analyzes land use changes and assesses the sustainability of the urban landscape of Erbil using multitemporal satellite images, and specifically identifies the urban growth trend and its effects on spatial structure and land use in the period 2000 to 2024.
Methods: The research was conducted using Landsat 5, 8, and 9 satellite images, and after preprocessing the images with ENVI software, the object-oriented analysis (OBIA) method and eCognition software were used to classify different land uses. The classification results were transferred to Fragstats software and landscape analyses were performed based on different metrics. The classification accuracy was also evaluated using random reference points and calculating the overall accuracy and kappa coefficient indices.
Results: The results indicate significant changes in the spatial structure and land use of Erbil city during the period 2000 to 2024; the urban built-up areas increased from 89.12 km² (equivalent to 6.18% of the total area) in 2000 to 347.81 km² (equivalent to 24.11%) in 2024. In contrast, agricultural lands and forests decreased, such that agricultural lands decreased from 86.59 to 46.94 km² and forests decreased from 27.13 to 17.19 km². Also, although green spaces have increased, they still constitute a small share of the spatial structure of the city. The analysis of landscape metrics shows that CLUMPY and COHESION indices have continuously increased in human uses, while a decrease has been observed in natural uses.
Conclusions: These changes indicate the trend of environmental instability and unplanned urban development, which highlights the need for smart land use management and restoration of natural covers.

Keywords

• Sustainable development
• urban management
• landscape metrics
• urban natural resources

Main Subjects

• Geography and Urban Planning