Developing a GIS model for the assessment of outdoor recreational facilities in new cities : case study : Tenth of Ramadan City, Egypt

Abstract: With population that exceeds 90 million inhabitants, Egypt is one of the large Arab developing countries where the government policies headed towards constructing new urban communities to absorb the vast increase in population. Although the physical planning of the new urban settlements took into consideration the existence of outdoor recreational services and facilities, the quality and adequacy of these services cannot be measured only by their presence. The study develops a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) model that acts as a decision support tool for the assessment of recreational facilities in new urban communities based on the dimension of physical geography. The model focuses on: sufficiency, accessibility and equity as indicators on their quality; Sufficiency (Ratio Model) based on national and international standards; Accessibility (LCPA Model) through pedestrians and mass transportation routes; and Equity Analysis Model based on the different residential classes. The study uses the capabilities of GIS especially the network analysis tools that enable measuring the pedestrian and mass transportation accessibility areas from a realistic approach. The model is applied on Tenth of Ramadan City, one of the first generation of new communities with a population of 430,000 inhabitants and can accommodate up to more than one million. The results show that the city suffers from lack of recreational facilities where the recreational facilities are sufficient for only one sixth of its population. The accessibility model implied that the number and distribution of recreational facilities in Tenth of Ramadan City (10RC) is inconvenient for users in addition to the high concentration of uses other than the residential use within the service areas of recreational facilities. The equity model implied that there is inequity in the distribution of the recreational facilities and that the low residential class buildings are in high need of new mass transportation routes in order to access the recreational facilities. The findings highlight a serious need to consider aspects of sufficiency, accessibility, and equity in the planning of future recreational facilities in Egypt’s new cities.