IMPACT OF URBAN CITY SPRAWL ON THE IDENTITY OF SUBURBS AND RURAL AREAS

Abstract

Abstract Urban sprawl is the rapid expansion of the city towards the suburbs and the countryside, and it happens for various reasons. The first one is of residential nature, and is a result of growing population density while others are of political, economic, and social nature. There is no doubt that the city's encroachment towards the countryside and the emergence of new patterns of construction such as buildings and transportation networks have more drawbacks than advantages, in developing countries, especially in the absence of planning. This phenomenon causes the rise of real estate prices that leads to a change in the direction of its use while decreasing the green areas that are considered the lungs of cities and thus leading to environmental damage, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. This expansion also obliterates the identity and characteristics of the countryside, leading to the loss of its aesthetics and heritage. In addition, urban sprawl also threatens its original inhabitants and may force them to be displaced (force migration) due to the loss of their land, their lifestyle, and their work sometimes. The main aim of this research is: control or slow down the urban city sprawl, and preserve the countryside’s identity and its specificities. This urban encroachment can be controlled by administrative and legal methods, and in various sustainable ways, through planning based on academic and scientific studies including the issuance of laws to amend the investment ratio in the city and in the countryside. This strategy of this research will expose sustainable methods in order to develop and improve the economic return of rural areas by investing in a productive agricultural sector, or in a tourism sector that makes the countryside a destination for leisure and comfort for the city's residents. On this basis, we can stop or slow down the encroachment of the city and preserve the social, environmental, aesthetic, and characteristics of the countryside.