Dynamics of Urban Expansion and Agricultural Land-Use Transformation in Bir Terfas, Libya: A Spatio-Temporal Study Using Remote Sensing and GIS (2000–2020)

Abstract

This study addresses the absence of documented quantitative measurement of land-use change in Bir Terfas, Libya, a 41.77 km² area dominated by agriculture and vegetation. It analyses urban expansion and land-cover change over 2000–2020 using area tables and previously classified maps for 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020. Using a descriptive-analytical quantitative approach, the tables were audited, absolute and relative change and compound annual growth were calculated, and the maps were visually compared with the tables. The tables show that built-up area increased from 200.79 to 281.13 ha (+40.0%) at a compound annual rate of 1.70%, and dense built-up land from 1.95 to 22.14 ha, while bare land declined by 64.24 ha and net vegetation remained almost unchanged (−16.22 ha), as medium vegetation partly shifted to the dense class. The maps confirm the growth of dense built-up land and its spread from a single service nucleus to scattered patches after 2010, but do not clearly show the growth of medium built-up land recorded in the tables. It concludes that urban expansion is present and accelerating in its dense class, and that the available data cannot measure direct conversion of agricultural land, owing to the absence of a distinct agricultural class and a transition matrix. It recommends reclassification with a separate agricultural class, field-based accuracy assessment and a transition matrix.