Using the integration of GIS and RS in the initial selection of the site for the construction of the new Al Diwaniyah city and its alternatives in Iraq

Sustainable development has the highest priority in all parts of the world and developing countries, and one of the most important issues in the field of urban planning is the correct and proper planning for urban expansion and the establishment of new cities and the correct use of land use in these cities and obtaining the best sustainable situation. As Al Diwaniyah Governorate in Iraq suffers from a severe shortage of urban and residential areas, with a significant increase in random growth and encroachment on other lands. From this logic, the integration of both remote sensing (RS) and geographic information systems data and the overlap of these programs between them and the production of analyzes, images and results in this work was made to propose a new city in the Al Diwaniyah governorate for the governorate center with an area of 129 km2. Where more than one area has been studied according to criteria, the most important of which is the lack of transgressions and encroachments in the proposed area and taking into consideration not to overtake agricultural areas, as Al Diwaniyah Governorate is one of the agricultural governorates and it was important to choose areas with the least vegetation cover, and through geographic information systems, an area was chosen Northeast of the old city, with an area of 49 km2, which represents 38% of the area of the old city. And use vegetation indicators to map and define vegetation cover and cultivated land versus urban and barren areas. This indicator is the Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), The results obtained indicated that the area of the proposed area is 49 km2 and about 5 km2 of green and cultivated lands are 10.2% of the total area of the proposed area. The size of the proposed area, which constitutes a suitable and good proportion for a new city. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.