International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR) ISSN: 2319-7064 ResearchGate Impact Factor (2018): 0.28 | SJIF (2018): 7.426 Volume 8 Issue 12, December 2019 www.ijsr.net Licensed Under Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Paper ID: ART20203236 10.21275/ART20203236 219 Review of the Nile Delta Conditions since 1984 under persistent Urbanization Abdulmoneim Alfiky 1 , Mohamed Salheen 2 1,2 Urban Design & Planning Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, 1 Sarayat St., Abassia, Cairo, Egypt Abstract: The Nile Delta- the last stretch of the world longest river and home of one of the oldest and most fertile agriculture regions of the world- has suffered in the past five decades great losses to its agricultural mass. This loss was induced by massive urban sprawl movement and land-use transformation. Though various legal and regulatory tools were used by the different Egyptian governments to combat this issue and preserve the existing priceless agricultural land, the sprawl has persisted through the decades at a varying pace. Currently the Nile Delta is suffering from massive fragmentation to its fabric by the extensive and condense urban network spreading over it along with an obvious soil deterioration and loss of agricultural productivity brought upon by the considerable influx of pollutants generated from this network. This paper presents a review of the status of the Nile Delta in all its natural & man-made aspects the amount of urban growth since 1984 till 2018: monitoring the rates of urban growth, their patterns and its overall perceived effects on the region. Keywords: Nile Delta, LUCC, Agricultural Fragmentation, Change Detection, Urban Expansion, Expansion Patterns, Land ownership, Envi, ARCGIS. 1- Introduction Deltas are unique fragile existences on the face of our planet. They are the preferred human habitat worldwide with rich biodiversity, high productivity and ease of transport. They carry a lot of potential both ecologically and economically. And they face many dangers due to over exploitation of our planet. [1], [2] River systems and coastal regions are considered favored human habitats. About 60 % of the world population is concentrated along them. And while globally deltas only cover 0.56% of the total area of the world, they house 4.1% of the global human population, estimated at around 300 million in 2017 and projected to reach 322 million by 2020 with a population density of 422 inhabitant/km2 as compared to the projected world population density of 60 inhabitant/km2. [3]–[5] In Egypt most of the population reside around the fertile lands on the Nile Valley and Delta – which forms only 7.8% of the total area of the country -with an alarmingly high population density reaching 1,218 inhabitants/km2. Around 58% of the population live in rural areas although a relatively small percentage of the working force are employed in the Agriculture sector. [5]–[9] The agriculture land is divided into arable lands and permanent crops with 74.6 % & 25.4 %, respectively (2016). It consumes 86% of available water in irrigation as compared to 3% for industry and 11% for municipal use (2010). And despite Egypt’s large rural population, as of 2016, only 25.6% of the active working force works in the agriculture sector that accounts to 11.13% of the GDP and with 50% of agricultural holdings being less than 1 feddan (0.42 hectares). [7], [8], [10], [11] With the high population density, high demand for land for residential & service uses, and the shaky economy of the agriculture sector, the appropriation and conversion of fertile agricultural land is understandable. Based on the land consumed by urbanization in the past decades, some studies projected that before end of the 21st Century all prime agricultural land in the Egyptian Valley & Delta will be lost.[8], [12]–[17] Based on the State of the Environment Reports by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency EEAA –from unpublished records of The General Directorate for the Protection of Land– the agricultural land loss from 1983 till 2016/2017 was measured at 403,900 Feddan, and could be categorized as; 45% illegal encroachments, 14% legal appropriation for public & private use, and 41% expansion of the urban boundaries of cities & villages. [18] 2- Review 2.1- Basic Geomorphological Structure The Nile River is the largest river system in Africa with a drainage basin that spans an area of ~ 3.03 million km 2 . It starts at Lake Victoria in east central Africa, continues north into Egypt till it drains in the Mediterranean Sea after crossing 6645 km in its journey. The Nile Delta (Fig 1) is the last stretch of the river. It is one of the oldest deltas of the world. The shoreline is cuspate at the mouth of the distributaries; with shore-parallel beach ridges and 3 large lagoons occurring between them which are from west to east; Lake Idku, Lake Burullus, and Lake Manzala respectively. It has two distributaries: the Rosetta and Damietta branches. [19]–[23] The delta stretches for 160 km from south to north and 240 km at the coast from west to east. It covers an area of ~ 22000 km2. The terrain is flat with a very gentle slope with a variance of only 12 m from Cairo in the south to the Mediterranean coast in the north. The silt soil of the delta is considered the most fertile in Africa. And while globally the fertile topsoil is measured at just few centimeters, the topsoil