An-Najah Staff

This study investigates the use of Geographical Information systems ( GIS ) in land use mapping of Nablus city. The study area lies on the latitude ْ14-ْ32 to the north of the Equator, and the longitude ْ15-ْ35 to the east of Greenwich. The importance of this study emerges from the use of the Geographical Information systems as an effective means that is used for data capture, Data storage , Data processing , Data Management and Data Analysis. The study aimed at the test of Geographical Information System in producing accurate land use and land use change maps for Nablus in different periods. It also aimed at studying land use patterns on the study area at the level of the city quarters. Arcview GIS software was used to derive quantitative data such as areas of land use types and length of roads for the whole city and its quarters. A large scale aerial photograph of Nablus (1/10000) taken in 1999 was used to produce the land use maps. The aerial photograph was georeferenced to the Universal Transvrse Mercator Coordinate System(UTM). The study area was then divided into nine strata (layers).The photo contents such as buildings, roads and land parcels were digitized. A 5% stratified random sample was selected to represent the study population. The field study was conducted for all land use types in the city depending on the selected sample, while a comprehensive survey for agricultural lands, rangeland roads, and cemeteries was adopted. Areas of different land use types and lengths of roads were derived and analyzed on both the city level and quarter level as well. It was found that the rate of residential use represents 53.53% out of the total land use in the city. The trading use came in the second place with a rate of 12.73%.. While the industrial use in the city came in the third place with a rate of 15.11%. The educational use (schools) came in the fourth place with a rate of 11.31%. The rate of the religious use (mosques) was 1.75%, the governmental use was 3.38%, the health use rate was 3.38%, the agricultural use rate was 3.60%, the rangeland use rate was 9.48%, and the transportation use rate was 10%. Upon what had been preceded , it is recommended that: 1-It is important for public and private institutions such as planning and educational institutions to use GIS technology as an effective tool in research work and planning. 2-It is recommended that the industrial activities to be removed from among the residential quarters for their negative effect on both environment and residents. 3-The city suffers from lack of roads. So, it is recommended to open new roads in order to ease the traffic inside the city.

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