Toward sustainable urban growth: Spatial modeling for the impact of cultural and natural heritage on city growth and their role in developing sustainable tourism

Increased population density is mainly linked to urban and infrastructural expansion. This expansion leads to urban sprawl which is connected to land cover change and social and ecological transformation. Urban boundaries can expand towards cultural and natural heritage sites. This is an evaluation of how our culture and natural heritage affect urban growth and their relation to sustainable tourism which has become an urgent need. The study outlines the development of four cities in Jordan from 1996 to 2020. It also explores the impact of cultural heritage on natural heritage in the delivery of urban city growth and its role in developing sustainable tourism. ​Quantitative method has been used by employing GIS and qualitative method by using case studies. The study concludes with an exploration of the relationship between natural and cultural sites as well as the relationship of tourism and population density with cultural heritage site encroachment. This conclusion has contributed towards the provision of a model that consists of multi recommendations for decision-makers in order to preserve the cultural and natural heritage areas through developing sustainable tourism and creating sustainable communities. The significance of this study is that it is the first study that discusses the increase of encroachment on natural and cultural sites, and the impact of tourism on this. This study also enhances knowledge by providing a tool for evaluating the expected level of preservation for cultural and natural heritage sites, and the extent to which cities are transformed from tourist cities (with populations that pass through) to tourist accommodations cities