Geomatics

Accessibility as a relative nearness of one place to another indicates easiness of reaching destination from origin. As a spatial analytic measure, it plays a vital role for decision makers in deciding where to locate public facilities or amenities so as to maximise their usability. More accessible public facilities like parks and open spaces improve social cohesion and interaction as more people patronise them. Better accessibility to facilities also ensures economic efficiency in the use of such facilities because when they service more people, they would be more cost effective. One of such places where the location of green areas is meant to serve the above-mentioned purposes is Doha district in Saudi Arabia. Doha is a new district in Dammam metropolitan region of Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It is designed in grid-iron pattern with some organised green areas in contrast with the old traditional organic settlements. The District is planned by Saudi Arabian Oil Company (ARAMCO) to serve as a model to the new and traditional settlements in the country. The green areas include parks and open spaces serving as public recreation centres. But are they accessible to their intended beneficiaries? Some of the ways by which the accessibility of the green areas can be measured is by using Space Syntax or GIS Network Analysis techniques. The Network Analysis technique is based on distance measurement between the green areas and the neighbourhoods they serve, while the space syntax technique evaluates the spatial configuration of the green areas. This paper, therefore, identifies the locations of those green areas and analyses their level of accessibility using both techniques in a comparative approach. Lastly, recommendations were made on how GIS network analysis and space syntax can help in the location of public infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.

The analysis of land use and land cover change is one of the steps in assessing spatial and environmental impacts of urban growth to foster urban sustainability. It is important to use accurate techniques and also to relate the result with theories of urban growth for effective urban growth management. This paper explores the use of a band ratio technique for land use change analysis and the linkage of the result with urban growth theory. The study uses multi-date and multisource satellite images to analyse the changing pattern of urban growth and land use change in Riyadh from 1972 to 2005. Two different techniques; -spectral angle mapping (SAM) and band ratioing -are applied for land use classification, also to compare the discrimination efficiency of these techniques in this arid environment. The classified images of different years are compared to analyse the changes in land use and spatial pattern of urban growth. Accuracies of classification results from SAM and ratioing methods are compared to ascertain the most suitable method for the land cover classification in this arid environment. The result indicates that the band ratioing method can be used to discriminate land features especially if a suitable threshold is used. However, the performance is not as promising as the SAM method in discriminating between vegetation and agricultural land. The land use analysis results indicate that urban growth management strategies in Riyadh have not been totally successful and the growth pattern corroborates the urban theory of diffusion and coalescence.

The effects of concentrations of fine particulate matter on urban populations have been gaining attention because fine particulate matter exposes the urban populace to health risks such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Satellite-derived data, using aerosol optical depth (AOD), have been adopted to improve the monitoring of fine particulate matter. One of such data sources is the global multi-year PM2.5 data (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) released by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). This paper explores the satellite-derived PM2.5 data of Saudi Arabia to highlight the trend of PM2.5 concentrations. It also examines the changes in PM2.5 concentrations in some urbanized areas of Saudi Arabia. Concentrations in major cities like Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah and the industrial cities of Yanbu and Jubail are analyzed using cluster analysis. The health risks due to exposure of the populace are highlighted by using the World Health Organization (WHO) standard and targets. The results show a trend of increasing concentrations of PM2.5 in urban areas. Significant clusters of high values are found in the eastern and south-western part of the country. There is a need to explore this OPEN ACCESS topic using images with higher spatial resolution and validate the data with ground observations to improve the analysis.

The first remarkable environmental initiatives in Bangladesh were taken because of the Stockholm Conference on Human Environment in 1972. The provision that requires Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for any new public and private project was first incorporated in the National Environmental Policy, 1992. Still environmental degradation is one of the major concerns in Bangladesh. Like some other developing countries, it

This chapter highlights the challenges of rapid urbanization in Saudi Arabia and the implications of its burgeoning urban population on urban sustainability. The first section of the chapter reviews the trend of urbanization in the Third World, and Saudi Arabia in particular, and the factors responsible for rapid urban growth. The second section critically analyzes major urbanization challenges in Saudi Arabia and their impacts on people and the environment. The final section assesses the extent to which some sustainability initiatives being implemented by the government are meeting the competing and sometimes conflicting urbanization challenges. The chapter concludes with some policy implications.

In order to promote sustainability in higher education institutions, different sustainable campus awards have been established to foster best practices and encourage networking among universities. However, the impact and engagement with the awards have not been similar especially between developed and developing countries. This paper reviews the major sustainable campus awards on two fronts; the coverage of different dimensions of campus sustainability and the spatial distribution of award winners. It also examines the impacts of the awards within the local context of Saudi Arabia as a case study of developing countries. The findings show the gap in the aspects covered by these awards and the spatial distribution of winners. This paper concludes with recommendations on how to improve both the engagement and networking of these award bodies with higher education institutions and the coverage of campus sustainability awards in developing countries.

Sustainability indicators and assessments are vital in promoting campus sustainability. Despite the plethora of indicator frameworks, campus sustainability assessment in developing countries encounters many challenges including lack of, or restricted access to, data and difficulties in measuring indicators. There is also a limited application of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in campus environmental sustainability assessment, although campus operations have spatial dimensions. This article proposes a GIS-based model for environmental sustainability assessment of campus operations and demonstrates its usefulness using King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia. The model applies spatial analysis techniques, including inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation, to statistically assess the various campus operational activities by using land use data to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from energy use, water consumption, solid waste, and transportation. The integration of spatial dimension in the model facilitates the collection and measurement of spatially related indicators, helps identify hotspots of campus operations, and provides better visualization of the existing condition and future scenario of campus environmental sustainability status. This model can assist decision-makers to construct strategies for improving the overall environmental sustainability of university campuses. The paper concludes by highlighting how the model can address some challenges of campus sustainability assessment in developing countries.

Urban heat island (UHI) effect is considered to be one of the key indicators of the impacts of urbanization and the climate changes on the environment. Thus, the growing interest in studying the impacts of urbanization on changes in land surface temperature (LST). The literature on LST indicates the need for more studies on the relationship between changes in LST and land use types, especially in the arid environment. This paper examines the spatial and temporal changes in land surface temperature influenced by land use/land cover types in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Multi-temporal Landsat images of the study area, 1985, 1995, 2002 and 2015, were processed to derive land surface temperatures. UHI index was computed for the different land use/land cover types (high-density residential, medium-density residential, low-density residential, industrial, vegetation, and desert) in the study area. The results indicate a trend of rising temperatures in all the land use types in the study area. This is probably due to climate change. The industrial area has the highest temperatures among the land use types. The lowest temperatures are found in the vegetation area as expected. There is a need to implement mitigating measures to reduce the effects of rising temperatures in the study area.

Understanding factors associated with flood incidence could facilitate flood disaster control and management. This paper assesses flood susceptibility of Perlis, Malaysia for reducing and managing their impacts on people and the environment. The study used an integrated approach that combines geographic information system (GIS), analytic network process (ANP), and remote sensing (RS) derived variables for flood susceptibility assessment and mapping. Based on experts' opinion solicited via ANP survey questionnaire, the ANP mathematical model was used to calculate the relative weights of the various flood influencing factors. The ArcGIS spatial analyst tools were used in generating flood susceptible zones. The study found zones that are very highly susceptible to flood (VHSF) and those highly susceptible to flood (HSF) covering 38.4% (30,924.6 ha) and 19.0% (15,341.1 ha) of the study area, respectively. The results were subjected to one-at-a-time (OAT) sensitivity analysis to verify their stability, where 6out of the 22 flood scenarios correlated with the simulated spatial assessment of flood susceptibility. The findings were further validated using real-life flood incidences in the study area obtained from satellite images, which confirmed that most of the flooded areas were distributed over the VHSF and HSF zones. This integrated approach enables network model structuring, and reflects the interdependences among real-life flood influencing factors. This accurate identification of flood prone areas could serve as an early warning mechanism. The approach can be replicated in cities facing flood incidences in identifying areas susceptible to flooding for more effective flood disaster control.

The recent transition from millennium development goals (MDGs) to sustainable development goals (SDGs) raises issues about the extent to which developing countries have been able to achieve the MDGs and how prepared are they for the challenges of meeting the targets of the SDGs. Nigeria, with a population of 182 million people (about half living in urban areas), is the most populous country in Africa and seventh in the world, and by 2050 the UN projected the population to reach about 400 million, thus becoming the third largest country in the world. This paper examines Nigeria's prospects of achieving the SGDs, especially SDG 11 that aims to 'make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.' This research employs desk study methodology where data were collected from secondary sources, including official reports. With examples from some Nigerian States, the paper specifically highlights the extent to which the country has achieved MDG 7, 'ensure environmental sustainability,' and the challenges it faced, and then provides an analysis of the level of Nigeria's preparedness in meeting the SDG 11, considering its current urbanization, financial and security challenges. The paper then concludes with some recommendations on the way forward.

For the past three decades, sustainable development (SD) at higher education institutions (HEIs) has been receiving increasing global attention based on the recognition of their vital roles in fostering sustainability teaching and practices on their campuses and influencing the larger society to embrace sustainable behaviors. As one of its key dimensions, an institutional framework is a fundamental step and indicator of commitment to advancing SD at universities. However, some universities, especially in the countries of the Global South, are either missing this dimension or have inefficient institutional frameworks due to the lack of standard practice or guidance. This study assesses the extent of establishing an institutional framework for SD in Saudi Arabian universities (n = 44). Data were from a desk study and a survey of university websites and analyzed using content analysis and descriptive statistics. The study found that 72.7% of the universities have shown a commitment to campus sustainability by having sustainability visions; 52.3% have established a dedicated office for SD governance, 68.2% are involved in community outreach and 63.6% collaborate with external agencies in SD efforts. Although there is no evidence of specific campus sustainability plans in the universities, 45.5% of them have SD coverage in their campus development plans or strategic plans. Sustainability assessment and reporting are generally lacking. The findings can improve our understanding of the extent of the commitment of the universities to SD and how they communicate their SD efforts through their websites, which can foster engagement in campus sustainability. The study concludes that a sound institutional framework is vital to implementing SD at universities.