Monitoring rural-urban transformation in the coastal region of Rabat-Sale-Kenitra, Morocco

Worldwide urbanization drives rural-urban transformation (RUT) which has major consequences in many countries of the Global South where there is an urgent need to better understand and manage the underlying processes and consequences for ecosystem services. To fill existing knowledge gaps on the extent and time course of RUT in Morocco, this study focused on (i) analyzing the spatial patterns of rural-urban transformation in the Rabat-Sale-Kenitra (RSK) region from 1972 to 2020, (ii) identifying key mechanisms of change, and (iii) defining the main driving forces behind the spatial transformation patterns. To this end, we processed data of the Landsat free archive, historical grayscale Corona images, and nighttime lights datasets on Google Earth Engine (GEE) using machine learning classifiers and LandTrendr spectral-temporal segmentation algorithms. With an overall accuracy (OA) ranging from 88–95%, the results revealed that during the study period the RSK region experienced a 473% growth of horizontal built-up reflected in an area increase from 63.4 km2 to 299.9 km2. The main changes occurred along the Kenitra-Rabat-Temara axis and in central cities connected to the main road network. The horizontal expansion of large and medium-sized cities led to the formation of a Rural-Urban Interface (RUI) on the outskirts. The urban sprawl of some cities has affected the surrounding rural lands within the RUI. Environmental, social, economic, and political forces have interacted in shaping the changes in rural-urban landscapes.