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Greater Cairo (GC) is the seventh-largest metropolitan city globally. In recent decades, GC has witnessed massive urban expansion, which has yet to be empirically measured or characterized. This research seeks to explore the patterns of urban growth and changes in urban form in GC from 1973 to 2021 using remote sensing and geospatial metrics. Six Landsat images in 1973, 1984, 1992, 2003, 2013, and 2021 were used to explore urban growth in GC. Urban Land Density Function (ULDF), Landscape Expansion Index (LEI), and Fractal Dimension Index (FDI), were utilized to analyze various aspects of urban expansion. Additionally, the ratio of Land Consumption Rate (LCR) to Population Growth Rate (PGR) was calculated to assess the correlation between urban expansion and population changes. Our results reveal a substantial addition of 203 thousand hectares of urban areas over the last half-century. The ULDF highlights GC’s transformation from a condensed to a scattered urban landscape, particularly with the establishment of the New Administrative Capital in the vicinity. Edge expansion emerged as the principal type of urban growth throughout the research duration. The consistent increase in FDI from 1.44 in 1973 to 1.75 in 2021 signifies the fragmentation of the urban landscape. Moreover, the progressive rise in LCR from 0.023 in 1984 to 0.050 ​ha per person in 2021 suggests a steady expansion of low-density urban areas. Notably, the LCR-to-PGR ratio escalated from 0.878 in 1984 to 2.428 in 2021, indicating that urban expansion surpassed population growth. These results will help further understand the characteristics of GC’s urban expansion and may offer a scientific foundation for policymakers to reconsider the current horizontal expansion policy in GC.

The peri-urban area (PUA) of the Greater Cairo Region (GCR) in Egypt has witnessed a rapid urban expansion during the last few years. This urban expansion has led to the loss of wide, areas of agriculture lands and the annexation of many peripheral villages into the boundary of the GCR. This study analyzed the driving factors causing the urban expansion in the GCR during the period 2007–2017 using the logistic regression model (LRM). Eight independent variables were applied in this model: distance to the nearest urban center, distance to the nearest center of regional services, distance to water streams, distance to the main agglomeration, distance to industrial areas, distance to nearest road, number of urban cells within a 3 × 3 cell window and population density. The analysis was conducted using LOGISTICREG module in Terrset software. This research showed that the population density and distance to the nearest road have the highest regression coefficients, 0.540 and 0.114, respectively, and were the most significant driving factors of urban expansion during the last 10 years (2007–2017). Moreover, based on the results of the LRM, a probability map of urban expansion in the PUA was created, which shows that most urban expansion would be around the existing urban areas and near roads. The relative operating characteristic (ROC) value of 0.93 indicates that the probability map of urban expansion is valid.

The increasing threat of transportation energy insecurity, environmental issues and public health issues have led to a growing body of research that looks at the potential contribution of urban planning in reducing travel energy consumption. The sustainable planning strategies aimed at reducing travel energy consumption need to understand the relationships between urban form, travel behavior and energy consumption. This study provided additional insights into the relationships between urban form, travel mode choice and energy consumption via mode-wise (non-motorized, motorcycle, car, bus and rail) stratified models and travel energy consumption model by applying the multiple linear regression model based on 108 zones of Fukuoka city, Japan. This study suggests that urban form makes a major contribution towards conserving travel energy in cities. This study shows that the provision of bus stops and rail stations are essential alongside an increase in road connectivity, otherwise increasing only road connectivity encourages people to use private modes of transport, which is not good for travel energy conservation. The findings suggest that better transit accessibility promotes public mode use, and reduces private mode use and travel energy consumption even where travel distance is longer. Higher density with greater land use mix and better transit accessibility has a more profound influence on increasing use of the non-motorized mode.