Applications of gis in urban planning and transportation : the case study of Al Kaakiyyah in the Holy city of Makkah

Abstract EN

Makkah has a unique respect and value in the Muslim world.

It hosts the Holy Mosque and welcomes every year millions of visitors and pilgrims from all over the world and t his number is increasing incessantly.

The high density of inhabitants is also increasing despite topographical and climatic constraints.

This increase of resident and occasional population of pilgrims and its incessant movement cause huge traffic congestion in many places.

Enlargement of Al Haram suburbs and displacement of population, central buildings and transportation network were the main planning responses to this crucial issue.

But these measures reveal insufficient to solve the problem of accessing the Holy Mosque and the downtown.

In this research, the authors consider the case study of Al Kaakiyyah intersection, one of the most crowded places of Makkah.

It aims to improve road traffic fluidity from and towards the Holy Mosque and other places by using this central focal crossroads It is also conducted in several steps : collecting data and organizing (transportation data, maps, statistics on users, studies and published works about Makkah and its network) ; examining the current situation of Makkah and AlKaakiyyah ; implementation of simulations scenario to measure to what extent the traffic cab be improved at this place.

Results of the study yield important changes improving the fluidity of traffic, especially during the rush hours.

Of course, solutions for the long term must be global and imply radical modifications in land use, roads trajectories, and transportation network and management, but at the short term, enhancing circulation by rethinking and redesigning