Modern Technologies Use in Tracking Urban Changes in Sulaikha Neighborhood (Yalda Town) Between 2000-2015

Abstract

There is growing interest in urban studies and the use of modern technologies, especially remote sensing, geographic information systems and others in serving these studies.

This research focuses on the enormous potentials offered by remote sensing technologies to collect information on changes in the urban status changes during several times, which are difficult to acquire in other ways. Remote sensing offers a unique source for information about the land status during these times, which is hard to accomplish in traditional surveying methods due to the continuing large-scale changes, especially in slums. Due to the destruction caused by the war on Syria, the reconstruction planning process needs to gather information quickly to help make effective and critical decisions. Here comes the unique role of remote sensing technologies in providing preliminary studies of urban status through the identification of buildings and the distribution of rubble in the affected areas.

This research presents a qualitative experience for using multi-temporal remote sensing images from a free source (Google Earth) to investigate land use changes. Thus, costs can be reduced to the least possible under economic conditions that do not allow for the purchase of multiple archival scenes to acquire information on land cover changes and conduct urban planning studies.