Assessment of urban expansion with land use and land cover vegetation for al-refaie district, dhi qar governorate using GIS techniques

Al-Refaie district in Dhi Qar Governorate has witnessed a remarkable development in land use over the years, as it has been affected by the various economic and social transformations in the region. The study used Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 8 OLI images and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques to analyze changes in Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) and calculate the Normalized Difference Vegetation-Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Water-Index (NDWI) indices for 1990, 2000, 2013, and 2024. Based on the principles of urban planning and sustainable city expansion, this data is examined and its function in planning and designing residential areas and communities in the Al-Refaie district is examined. According to the findings, Al-Refaie's urban areas grew dramatically between 1990 and 2024, growing from roughly 21 km² to 65 km². In contrast, changes in LULC and human activity had a detrimental impact on agricultural land and water resources, causing agricultural lands to decrease from 540 km² in 1990 to 343 km² in 2024 and water to shrink from 304 km² in 1990 to 73 km² in 2024. Water and agricultural regions have decreased in favor of urban areas due to ongoing urban expansion. Land usage in Al-Refaie has been greatly impacted by demographic shifts, as is visible in both urban and residential regions. Decision-makers can effectively examine future patterns of urban expansion in keeping with the anticipated population growth in Iraq in the upcoming years by using long-term urban planning, which is based on land use and cost analysis.