Identifying Main Driving Forces Affecting Urban Sprawl in the Vicinity of Cultural Heritage Sites in Egypt

Abstract

In 2021, reporting trends of World Heritage Committee indicate urban development is one of the challenges threatening theintegrity of Egypt's cultural heritage sites (CHS). Urban sprawl (US) is one of the concerns affecting the integrity of Egypt's cultural heritage monuments. The aim of this research is to identify the main driving forces (DFs) in three locations (Giza zone, Sakkara zone and Thebes zone). The amount of US growth was measured and a survey was conducted to identify the main DFs affecting US in the vicinity of CHS in Egypt. Responses were weighted using AHP method to achieve the impact ranking of DFs. To measure the US, three images for each case study were used from Google Earth in 2003–2013–2022. The results showed that from 11 DFs, availability of basic services in the vicinity of US areas has the highest impact ranking DF with 15.85%, while flat land nature, free of topographic variations has the lowest impact factor DF with 0.38%. The amount of growth from 2003-2022 in Giza, Sakkara and Thebes zones was 96.80%, 164.63%, and 81.23%, respectively. This research can be used by decision-makers as a decision support system in managing the development areas in the vicinity of CHS in Egypt.