Analyzing Urban Growth and Management for the City of Tripoli, Libya By Almokhtar Mohmed Omar Attwairi Submitted to the graduate degree program in Geography and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Stephen Egbert ________________________________ Co- Chair Dr. Garth A. Myers ________________________________ Dr. So-Min Cheong ________________________________ Dr. Terry Slocum ________________________________ Dr. Peter Ojiambo Date Defended: 06/16/2015 The Dissertation Committee for Almokhtar Mohmed Attwairi certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Analyzing Urban Growth and Management for the City of Tripoli, Libya ________________________________ Chairperson Dr. Stephen Egbert ________________________________ Co- Chair Dr. Garth A. Myers Date approved: 06/16/2015 ii Abstract This study focuses on the urban growth and management of the city of Tripoli, Libya with an emphasis on the contribution of the economic, social, and political factors in urbanization. Despite the fact that urban planning authorities established and developed several projects and planning generation series, there have been such issues and challenges tackling the fast growth of urban centers, which resulted in population concentration and shortage of services such as housing. This has led to a massive and random expansion in urban areas, which has eliminated huge agricultural and green spaces in favor of new urban areas. Based on archival data, interviews, and very close knowledge of the study area, I argue that there have been constant difficulties in managing and controlling the urban expansion within urban centers in general and Tripoli in particular. In this study, I examined the role of each factor of urban growth and urbanization in the Libyan case compared to Africa in general in line with the theories of Myers (2011), Beall and Fox (2009), Forester (1998), and others. Furthermore, I addressed the question of whether the rapid growth of the city of Tripoli is related to the urban policy and planning strategies through the emphasis on laws and regulations. Planners have stressed reforming the urban planning system and developing a solid relationship with politica l power and enhancing the role of technology toward developing a modern planning system. Finally, I attempted to focus on the involvement of politics in the urban planning system, which was inspired by the deep and strong role of the social system. There has been a remarkable degree of social and political interference in planning, which has weakened the democratic process and resulted in very corrupt and disorganized urban planning practices, which will be a very important topic for further research. iii Acknowledgments At the inception, all praise and thanks to Almighty ALLAH, the Lord of Glory who inspired and endowed me strength and patience to complete this research; I ask ALLAH to make it purely for his sake and beneficial for our people and country. My thanks and appreciation to Professor Steve Egbert for his constant support since I joined the graduate program at the Department of Geography. He was present at all the times and provided me the guidance and assistance during coursework and the research toward obtaining my PhD, and for that, I am truly grateful. Sincere appreciation and gratitude to Professor Garth Myers for his support from the first day I have been at the University of Kansas until the completion of this research. He was patient and cooperative in all study periods at the Department of Geography, Kansas African studies Center (KASC), and even outside the university when we were playing soccer with colleagues and friends. He was not only a professor, but also a friend who provided me support with his experience to the way of success. I would like to express my appreciation to my committee members, Professor Terry Slocum, Professor So-min Cheong, and Dr. Peter Ojiambo for their guidance, support, and cooperation. Thanks and gratitude to the officials and staff members in various ministries and authorities who accepted to conduct interviews and provide me with the information and statistics related to this research during the field study in Libya. Deepest and sincere thanks go to all faculty, staff, and my colleague at the Department of Geography for their cooperation and support during my PhD program. iv Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my parents, brother, and sisters. They have been patient and supportive toward reaching this exceptional moment. Gratitude extended to my wife and children for their patience and encouragement during our stay at University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. v Dedication My father and mother, you have been patiently waiting for my successful return, without your support and supplication, this work would be much harder. To my wife, your support has been always a source of success during our stay in the U.S and taking care of our son Mohamed and daughter Ayah, who always wonder when I am going to finish; this day has come true dears. To our national heroes who sacrificed their lives towards justice and building our beloved county, Libya. vi Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1.1 Background -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 1.2 Literature Review ------------------------------------------------------------- 3 1.3 Urban Planning Policy and Management ---------------------------------- 8 1.4 Remote Sensing --------------------------------------------------------------- 11 1.5 Methodology and Research Questions ------------------------------------- 14 1.6 Archival Research -------------------------------------------------------------15 1.7 Techniques ---------------------------------------------------------------------16 1.8 Interviewing ------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 1.9 Content Overview ------------------------------------------------------------ 17 Chapter 2: Urbanization and Population Growth -------------------------------------- 19 2.1 Factors driving rapid urbanization------------------------------------------ 25 2.2 Internal Migration ------------------------------------------------------------ 37 2.3 Economic Development ----------------------------------------------------- 42 2.4 Agriculture and Food Sufficiency ------------------------------------------49 Chapter 3: The Growth of Tripoli ------------------------------------------------------- 56 3.1 Geographical settings of Tripoli --------------------------------------------56 3.2 The identity and structure ---------------------------------------------------62 3.3 Population Change------------------------------------------------------------64 3.4 Population Density -----------------------------------------------------------70 3.5 Urban Change ---------------------------------------------------------------- 75 3.6 Methodology ---------------------------------------------------------------- 75 vii 3.7 Data Collection ------------------------------------------------------------- 76 3.8 Image Processing ----------------------------------------------------------- 78 3.9 Image Classification ------------------------------------------------------- 78 3.10 Land Cover and Land Use Change -------------------------------------78 3.11 Change detection analysis ----------------------------------------------- 83 Chapter 4: Urban Planning Policy ---------------------------------------------------- 88 4.1 Urban Planning Establishment ------------------------------------------- 89 4.2 Urban Planning and Development--------------------------------------- 90 4.3 Urban and Regional Planning Strategies ------------------------------- 92 4.4 UPA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --- 99 4.5 Legislation and principles------------------------------------------------ 105 4.6 Policy and Decision Making Process----------------------------------- 108 4.7 Land Management and Administration--------------------------------- 114 4.8 The Role of Technology-------------------------------------------------- 117 Chapter 5: Postscript---------------------------------------------------------------- ----121 5.1 Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------- --121 5.2 Planning implications and challenges ----------------------------------124 5.3 The Political Culture and Development-------------------------------- 125 5.4 Further Research-----------------------------------------------------------130 References----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---132 viii List of Figures 1.1 Location of Libya and Major Cities --------------------------------------------- 2 2.1 African Urban Percentage and Agglomerations--------------------------------23 2.2 Population Density of Libya 2000----------------------------------------------- 27 2.3. Urban population Libya, North Africa, and Africa since 1950 ------------- 28 2.4 Urban and Rural Percentage 1950-2015 -------------------------------------- 29 2.5 Population growth rate 1973-2020---------------------------------------------- 34 2.6 The population growth of Libya------------------------------------------------- 35 2.7 Internal migration 1954-2006---------------------------------------------------- 39 2.8 GDP 1970-2013--------------------------------------------------------------------