Modeling and Simulation of Greater Cairo Region Urban Dynamics Using SLEUTH

Abstract

Modeling urban growth has the ability to play an important role in the planning process—if not in aiding in policy decisions, then in processes such as visioning and scenario evaluation. Spatial urban models passed through many developed phases to define the responsible urbanization factors. As a result, many simulation applications and planning tools have been developed and successfully used in universities and research institutions to simulate the spread of planned settlements in developed nations.. This paper will use SLEUTH to assess the model capacity to generate realistic simulation and prediction of informal settlements in the context of unplanned areas, such as the greater Cairo region (GCR), Egypt. The results show that the successful application of a model in one particular geographical area does not necessarily imply its successful use in another setting where local characteristics, regional constraints, social habits, and situation properties of economic base ensure that different development trends have been followed.