Detection of Land Use and Land Cover Changes for New Cairo Area, Using Remote Sensing and GIS

New Cairo district, Egypt, is one of the main regions undergoing extensive development. Identifying and describing the urban sprawl in this region over the past development periods is essential for any future planning through implementing policies to optimize the use of natural resources and accommodate development whilst minimizing the impact on the environment. In this work the change between land cover components in the area have been analyzed, focusing on the expansion of the urban patterns and rock units between 1984 and 2014 using Landsat satellite image. The relationships between the geomorphology, natural resources and anthropogenic influences (human activates) have also been considered. Ground survey data and field observation are used to investigate the environmental changes in the area. Three Landsat satellite images acquired in 1984, 2013 and 2014 have been analyzed. Results from this study indicate that the urban area had expanded to forty times its 1984 size. The sedimentary covered decreased during the 30-year period from about 918, 821 to 655 Km for the years 1984, 2003 and 2014 respectively.