Assessment of Land Use/Cover Change and Urban Expansion of the Central Part of Jordan Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Abstract

This paper presents the temporal and spatial patterns of land use/cover change and identifies the process of urbanization for the major cities at the central part of Jordan using multi temporal remotely sensed data from 1987 to 2005. Land use/cover statistics revealed that urban/built up areas have increased by 220 km2 over the study period. The output land use/cover maps showed that urban expansion has been associated with loss of agricultural land and urban sprawl. The urban expansion was mainly attributed to the high growth rate, large number of immigrants from neighboring countries and other socio-economic changes. These results can provide city planners and decision makers with information about the past and current spatial dynamics of land use/ cover change and strictly urban expansion towards successful management for better planning and environmental monitoring.