Monitoring Random Urban Extension in Wadi Al-Qattara at Benghazi City Libya.

Abstract

Benghazi city has recently suffered from the phenomenon of random construction, resulting from the increase in the population, which increased the demand for residential, service and commercial lands, which contributed to the increase in urban expansion in the city. Therefore, this study aims to study the spatial and topographical characteristics of the Qattara Valley Basin in Benghazi to identify the urban expansion on the stream and the valley basin., and high satellite images were used in this study and the digital elevation model of the study area, in addition to the digital data in the Open Street Maps database through the application of geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques. The study also showed the presence of urban growth in the Wadi Al-Qattara basin represented in a group of buildings and roads, where the number of buildings reached 35,042 with various activities, and their area is 219.3 km², or 1.2% of the area basin, and random expansions were monitored on both sides of Wadi Al-Qattara. with a Buffer of 100 meters, and these expansions amounted to about 1,006 km² with a number of 3338 buildings; The study recommended not to exploit the area located within the main stream of the valley in order to ensure the natural flow of its water and deporting the residents who live near the main stream of the valley to other places to avoid flood damage, while not throwing waste in the main stream of the valley and creating new neighborhoods in areas unsuitable for agriculture to accommodate the population increase in the city and limit the overexploitation of vegetation areas.