Urbanization and agricultural land use changes in the city of Al-Qatif, Saudi Arabia

Due to rapid population growth and migration of expatriate workers seeking better employment opportunities, cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has seen massive expansions over the past several decades. While such growth is a sign of economic prosperity of the country, they have significant impacts on the environmental, social, and economic conditions of an urban area. They also deplete the natural urban resources and in agricultural cities, reduces the lands available for farming. In this study, the changes in the land use and land cover for the agricultural City of Al-Qatif in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia over the past two decades are examined. Using Landsat imageries from the years 1990, 2001, and 2013, it utilized ISODATA Unsupervised classification method and classified the Al-Qatif’s land use and land cover into four major classes: urban built-up area, soil, vegetation, and water. The results show that the urban areas expanded 300% during the past two decades. At the same time, the vegetation and agricultural areas reduced by 33%. If the urban expansion continues, the agricultural lands will continue to decrease and will have various impacts on the city.