article · Sustainability
Historic Jeddah, a UNESCO World Heritage site on the Red Sea, faces structural and decorative deterioration across its ancient buildings due to unplanned urban growth and shallow water depths. Different urban zones display varying risk profiles. The southern area has moderate risk owing to established rainstorm and sewage infrastructure. Conversely, the central zone is highly vulnerable due to dense populations, flat terrain, shallow groundwater, and infrastructure leaks from pipes and septic tanks, while the western and north-western regions experience severe pollution risks from permeable coralline formations and surface depressions. To evaluate these geo-environmental changes, multi-temporal remote sensing imagery spanning from 1966 to 2017, including Corona, Spot, Landsat, Orbview, Sentinel-2A, and SRTM data, was integrated with geographic information systems. Band combinations and spatial statistical analysis provide tools to monitor built-up indices and propose management models that support heritage conservation.
Uncontrolled urban expansion and rising groundwater threaten ancient architectural heritage. Integrating historical and modern satellite observations with spatial analysis enables planners to identify specific environmental hazards, such as pipe leakages and fragile geological formations. This approach helps authorities design targeted interventions to preserve vulnerable historical sites in accordance with international heritage standards.
The work supports applications in urban planning, cultural heritage preservation, and environmental risk assessment. Municipal authorities, heritage managers, and conservation bodies could use these remote sensing and GIS methods to monitor urban expansion and ground-level risks. The research presents an applied analytical framework tested on historical data, situating it at an early to intermediate stage of operational adoption before integration into standard municipal monitoring workflows.
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Historic Jeddah is located on the eastern shore of the Red Sea. Historic Jeddah was designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2014. The new urban development for the city of Jeddah has resulted in different spatial patterns. The southern part of Jeddah city falls within the moderate zone, because this area is well developed in regard to infrastructure with rainstorm and sewage networks. The middle area of the city falls within high vulnerability risk due to its high population, shallow water depth, flat slopes, and various incomplete network services (i.e., leakage from septic tanks and water pipes). The western and northwestern parts of the city are subject to very high pollution risk, due to the highly permeable area with coralline formation, very shallow water depth, and depressions. Unfortunately, historic Jeddah has been affected by the unplanned development and shallow water depth. Most of the construction and decoration of the ancient buildings are suffering from deterioration. The paper aims to detect the environmental changes, assessing the geo-environmental status, and creating some of the innovative solutions while using the integration between remote sensing and GIS techniques. The combination of SRTM, Corona 1966, Spot 1986, Landsat 1987, Orbview 2003, and Sentinel2A 2017 data will help in monitoring the changes around the study area. The Bands combination and the spatial statistical analysis are considered to be the most effective methods in the examination of the new built-up indices. GIS techniques and some models would be suggested as solutions to protect the archaeological area, according to UNESCO recommendations.
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DOI: 10.3390/su12010240
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