The Growth of Land Uses in the Medina Region of Saudi Arabia in Light of the Nordbeck Model

This study attempts to implement the Nordbeck model to test whether urban growth is balanced with population growth and main land uses in a case study of the Medina region of Saudi Arabia during the period 1986–2004. The study found that the dependent variables (population, residential use, use of the central area, commercial use, and agricultural use) increased between the beginning and the end of the study period, but the amount of these increases varies across dependent variables and among cities. Applying the least-squares model to the given data produced a constant value for the regression relationship between the independent variable (physical growth) and the dependent variables for the years 1986 and 2004; this relationship was stronger in 2004. However, growth rates were far from the balance for most of the land uses addressed in the study.