Study the Urban Expansion of Taif City Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques for Decision Support System

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.