URBAN GROWTH AND TRANSPORTATION INDICATORS FOR SUB-URBAN AREA

Abstract

Transportation considered one of the main factors of urban growth. Quantify and analyze the spatial-temporal relationship between urban growth and transportation for Baqubah using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) approaches. Six urban growth and transportation indices are developed to analyze spatial-temporal urban growth and transportation changes and their relationship: 1) annual urban spatial expansion index, 2) land use change index, 3) population density index, 4) transportation infrastructure expansion index, 5) road density index, 6) road area density index. The results show that Baqubah has experienced a rapid population growth, a large spatial expansion, rapidly changing land use and expanding transportation infrastructure during the past five decades (1959-2014). The expansion in infrastructure has not been able to accommodate increases in travel demand, hence causing high levels of congestion. The population growth was accompanied by a population density increase from 80 p/ha for urban land in 1957 to 112.9 p/ha in 2014.Also, a gap between the transportation infrastructure expansion and residential area growth.