Investigation into land-use change in two contrasting areas in the Nile Delta, Egypt
type: CreativeWork
description: Understanding land-use change in developing countries, particularly those situated in environmentally vulnerable and and semi-arid zones, is crucial given the considerable pressures arising due to rapid population growth, climate change and desertification. The purpose of this research was to investigate the main drivers affecting land-use change in the eastern part of the Nile Delta, Egypt in the last two decades. Two contrasting cities in the region were selected for detailed analysis. Almansourah is an ancient settlement relatively close to the Damietta branch of the Nile whereas Alzaqazig is a recent development and the surrounding area was reclaimed from the desert. The DPSIR (driving forces, pressures, state, impacts and responses) model was adopted as the conceptual framework for organising and categorising the factors affecting landuse change in these two areas. It is a linear, `formulaic' approach, based on the concept of causality chains which connect human activities with environmental information. The case study approach was used as the main methodology, although both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed throughout. A range of sources were consulted throughout the investigation to ensure that the evidence was internally consistent: remote sensing data, questionnaire data, interviews, participant observation and census data. More than 180 farmers were interviewed in the two study areas and the majority of these (71%) farmed less than 2ha. Using remote sensing data it was found that crop patterns had changed considerably in the two areas both with regard to their geographical distribution and extent. In the Almansourah study area, the key changes during the past two decades were the increase of cotton area and the decrease in rice, maize and other crops. In contrast, the Alzagazig study area experienced an increase in cotton and rice area with minor increase in maize fields. There was also an expansion of urban and rural-urban settlements …
abstract: Understanding land-use change in developing countries, particularly those situated in environmentally vulnerable and and semi-arid zones, is crucial given the considerable pressures arising due to rapid population growth, climate change and desertification. The purpose of this research was to investigate the main drivers affecting land-use change in the eastern part of the Nile Delta, Egypt in the last two decades. Two contrasting cities in the region were selected for detailed analysis. Almansourah is an ancient settlement relatively close to the Damietta branch of the Nile whereas Alzaqazig is a recent development and the surrounding area was reclaimed from the desert. The DPSIR (driving forces, pressures, state, impacts and responses) model was adopted as the conceptual framework for organising and categorising the factors affecting landuse change in these two areas. It is a linear, `formulaic' approach, based on the concept of causality chains which connect human activities with environmental information. The case study approach was used as the main methodology, although both qualitative and quantitative techniques were employed throughout. A range of sources were consulted throughout the investigation to ensure that the evidence was internally consistent: remote sensing data, questionnaire data, interviews, participant observation and census data. More than 180 farmers were interviewed in the two study areas and the majority of these (71%) farmed less than 2ha. Using remote sensing data it was found that crop patterns had changed considerably in the two areas both with regard to their geographical distribution and extent. In the Almansourah study area, the key changes during the past two decades were the increase of cotton area and the decrease in rice, maize and other crops. In contrast, the Alzagazig study area experienced an increase in cotton and rice area with minor increase in maize fields. There was also an expansion of urban and rural-urban settlements …
author: Echtaie, Rawad S.
language: eng
date published: 2008-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:49:27Z
provider: University of Plymouth
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Plymouth