Abstract
Interest in land use surveys has grown as it has become clear that many economic, social, and urban problems are directly and indirectly linked to land, such as environmental degradation. Land use surveys and planning have become the scientific method for overcoming these problems and finding appropriate solutions. Population growth and increased urbanization are hallmarks of Najaf, leading to numerous problems, most notably housing and the city's inability to provide housing for its growing population. With increasing congestion in the city center, urban expansion toward the outskirts has begun. This expansion in these directions has resulted in the loss of vast areas of agricultural land. This research aims to study the phenomenon of urban expansion and the resulting shrinkage of agricultural land, in addition to the negative effects that have begun to appear on the environment at a time when there is an urgent need to increase agricultural production. The research reached a set of results and recommendations that the increasing severity of contemporary environmental issues and the aggravation of their effects in recent times have drawn attention towards the interest in environmental research, study, analysis and evaluation, to identify the importance of the environment, its function and the system of its components, to uncover its secrets and learn how to deal with it in a rational manner that achieves its maintenance, protection and stability in order to ensure the future of the path of life. Due to the increasing danger of environmental systems, science has turned to focus on land use planning due to the urgent need for this type of planning that works to organize and control land uses and direct them to satisfy the needs of the population and overcome the problems they suffer from. Population growth and the increasing rate of urbanization are among the major environmental pressures that threaten the ecosystem. Overcrowding leads to the emergence of many problems, foremost among which is the problem of urban sprawl towards agricultural lands. This problem is limited to the city's inability to provide housing units for the increasing number of residents in terms of quantity and quality. With the increasing congestion in the city center, the process of expansion towards the outskirts began. This expansion in these directions caused the loss of large areas of agricultural land, and its repercussions began in an unsettling manner on agricultural lands. The changes that occurred greatly altered the appearance of the landscape, in addition to the negative effects that began to appear on the environment as a result of the disruption of the ecosystem and the elimination of natural resources necessary for agriculture, such as soil and water, at a time when there is an urgent need to increase agricultural production to meet the growing demand for food, which necessitated more attention and studies for planning rural and urban settlements.