ANALYZING URBAN GROWTH AND MANAGEMENT FOR THE CITY OF TRIPOLI, LIBYA

Abstract

This study focuses on the urban growth and management of the city of Tripoli, Libya with an emphasis on the contribution of the economic, social, and political factors in urbanization. Despite the fact that urban planning authorities established and developed several projects and planning generation series, there have been such issues and challenges tackling the fast growth of urban centers, which resulted in population concentration and shortage of services such as housing. This has led to a massive and random expansion in urban areas, which has eliminated huge agricultural and green spaces in favor of new urban areas. Based on archival data, interviews, and very close knowledge of the study area, I argue that there have been constant difficulties in managing and controlling the urban expansion within urban centers in general and Tripoli in particular. In this study, I examined the role of each factor of urban growth and urbanization in the Libyan case compared to Africa in general in line with the theories of Myers (2011), Beall and Fox (2009), Forester (1998), and others. Furthermore, I addressed the question of whether the rapid growth of the city of Tripoli is related to the urban policy and planning strategies through the emphasis on laws and regulations. Planners have stressed reforming the urban planning system and developing a solid relationship with political power and enhancing the role of technology toward developing a modern planning system. Finally, I attempted to focus on the involvement of politics in the urban planning system, which was inspired by the deep and strong role of the social system. There has been a remarkable degree of social and political interference in planning, which has weakened the democratic process and resulted in very corrupt and disorganized urban planning practices, which will be a very important topic for further research. The three GIS data layers used for this research is included in the supplementary files.