This study aims to show the land use changes during the period 1970 – 1991.
The study includes the city of Homs and the surrounding areas, with total
surface area of 9686 ha. To carry out this study, aerial photographs were used
where sets of diff
erent periods were taken, one was taken in 1970 with a scale of
1/20000, and the other set for the year 1991 with a scale of 1/15000, the two sets
of aerial photographs were interpreted and analyzed after the delineation of the
targets, and two maps were prepared after unifying the scales and selecting the
proper legend.
The results indicated obvious changes in land use, for example, the area of
cereals crops was in 1970 about 32.9 % of the total area and decreased by 11.8
% in 1991. In the area of gardens a reasonable increase was recorded, while in
the area of vineyards an increase of about 1 % was noticed.
But the big issue is the urban expansion at the expense of arable lands, the
expansion area of housing has been increased from 8% in 1970 to 24% in 1991,
and the area of civil establishments was increased from 2.27 % in 1970 to 5.47
% in 1991, in the new concept of desertification urban expansion at the
agricultural land means a permanent desertification, this matter should be
considered seriously and the necessary measurements must be taken into
account.
