KKKA6414KKKA6414 sustainable urban planningsustainable urban planning

the sustainability of my small home town the sustainability of my small home town

SamawaSamawa

By : haydar abd al razaq jasim By : haydar abd al razaq jasim

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SamawahSamawah or  or As SamawahAs Samawah (Arabic language) is a city in Iraq, 280 kilometres  (Arabic language) is a city in Iraq, 280 kilometres (174 mi) southeast of Baghdad. The city of Samawah is the modern capital of (174 mi) southeast of Baghdad. The city of Samawah is the modern capital of the Al Muthanna Governorate. The city is located midway between Baghdad the Al Muthanna Governorate. The city is located midway between Baghdad and Basra, at the northern edge of the governorate. The province was and Basra, at the northern edge of the governorate. The province was established in 1975; prior to that date it was a unified province along established in 1975; prior to that date it was a unified province along

with Qadissiya (Diwaniya) and Najafwith Qadissiya (Diwaniya) and Najaf. .

Introduction

The city is built on both sides of the Euphrates river; there are four The city is built on both sides of the Euphrates river; there are four bridges in the centre of town for crossing between the two sides. The west bridges in the centre of town for crossing between the two sides. The west bank of the city contains the commercial heart of the city, and includes bank of the city contains the commercial heart of the city, and includes the old town .The west bank is the site of the covered market the old town .The west bank is the site of the covered market Suq Al Suq Al MasgoofMasgoof, which dates to the Ottoman period. The area surrounding the , which dates to the Ottoman period. The area surrounding the market is the old city with its Byzantine maze of crowded markets and market is the old city with its Byzantine maze of crowded markets and streets. . streets. .

 The eastern side of the city including 'Qushla' has a more modern feel and contains a number of estates of apartment blocks built during the 1970s and 1980s, As Samawah Stadium, which is home to the local Muthanna football team Samawa FC, as well as technical colleges and the polytechnic. There too is Al Qushla, the historic "OttomanBarracks".

The most famous attraction of Samawah is the ruins of the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk which dates to 4000 BC. This was the largest city in Sumer, extending over 2 km². Uruk was not only the largest city of the first urban civilisation on earth, but it is also the place where the first written script was discovered, the oldest dating back to 3300 BC.

Samawah is built on both sides of the Euphrates and is surrounded by hundreds of palm groves that give it a tropical feel, especially in the southern and northern suburbs. These groves provide cool respite from the scorching heat of Mesopotamia and were the inspiration for the famous Iraqi folk song "The Palm of Samawah"

Green space

Samawah has a large Samawah has a large salt lakesalt lake called  called Lake SawaLake Sawa, which once had a tourist , which once had a tourist village that has since fallen into disrepair. The lake is located 25 km (15 village that has since fallen into disrepair. The lake is located 25 km (15 mi) to the north of the city centre and is accessible by road. The lake has mi) to the north of the city centre and is accessible by road. The lake has no obvious source, neither river nor ancient link to a sea. The water is no obvious source, neither river nor ancient link to a sea. The water is extremely salty due to heavy evaporation in the searing heat of extremely salty due to heavy evaporation in the searing heat of Mesopotamia and supports no marine life. A unique feature of the lake is Mesopotamia and supports no marine life. A unique feature of the lake is that the water is above ground level surrounded by natural that the water is above ground level surrounded by natural leveeslevees. Due to . Due to the high levels of salt in the lake, the levees heal themselves if a break is the high levels of salt in the lake, the levees heal themselves if a break is

made in the levee, stopping the water from flowing made in the levee, stopping the water from flowing down to ground level to ground level . .. .

Samawah's medical facilities have improved greatly since 2003. The renovation of the central hospital with the aid of Japanese development funds has resulted in an improvement in medical provision for the residents of the province. New facilities, such as anMRI scanner, have been added to the existing medical units.Samawa has six hospitals and 12 public medical clinics. In 2003, there were 140 general practice medical doctors in the province

Health and healthcare

Al samawa is a large producer of dates and various types of salt, which can be utilized to produce cement. The largest cement establishment in Iraq is located in this province,

although today operating at a reduced capacity. Considerable amounts of poultry are also raised in the province. Also samawa has over 140 poultry farms with various kinds of plants

fruit,vegetables .

Ecoomic base

Education

samawa has 61 secondary schools, five vocational schools (commercial and industrial), and three teacher training institutes. Al Muthanna University is an Iraqi university located in Samawah, It was established in 2007 have many departments such as medicine , law ,engineering and a lot of departments .

Samawa has a hot desert climate  like the rest of the surrounding region. During the summer months, from June to August, samawa is consistently

can be considered as basra one of the hottest cities on the planet, regularly exceeding  45 °C (113 °F) and may approach 50 °C (122 °F)during July. During the wintersamawa experiences mild weather with average high

temperatures around 20 °C (68 °F). In few winter nights, minimum temperature lows below 0 °C (32 °F) .

Climate change

Transport

Samawah is served by a highway for road traffic from Baghdad and Basra. The railway station has passenger services from both Baghdad and Basra and is the cheapest form of transport. The railway station is located approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) to the west of central Samawah. Samawah is also accessible via the Euphrates River.

The Samawah can be considered as quiet city if we compare it with other cities Especially where security situation in Iraq is unstable in, so the Samawah attracts a large number of the population at the moment. The latest statistics for the year 2010, the population had reached 250,000 and in growing so government decided to implement projects houses and apartments to meet the needs and control population groth in the city.

Population growth

In terms of agriculture, the staple Mesopotamian produce is grown in Samawah, such as dates, wheat, barley, citrus fruits, and tomatoes. In addition, Samawah is home to the small and rare trade in wild truffles,

which grow in the desert regions of Muthanna province ..

Food

Air quality

Samawah had the largest cement factories in the Middle East during the 1970s, with a total production capacity of 2.85 million tonnes a year. the southern cement factory, the oldest, reopened in 2005. As of 2007, the four existing plants are producing a total of just 0.8 million tonnes a year due to the shortage of electricity. Five new cement factories with a capacity of 9 million tonnes a year are under construction on the outskirts of Samawah and will provide employment for several thousand skilled and unskilled workers as well as filling. thes factories are causing severe air pollution And that affects on the quality of the air in samawa,thegovernment stepped in and took charge of pollution management reduce dust particles from production of cement. . 

 

EmploymentThe unemployment rate is high, though agriculture and mining are active. The city, in spite of the lack of high-value natural resources such as oil and gas and a lack of central government investment, has managed to maintain lively small-scale industrial, agricultural and alternative sectors.

Waste and recycling

Works are underway to build a waste-recycling plant in al-samawa at a cost of $151 million [177 billion Iraqi dinars], The project stands over an area of 30 donums [7.5 hectares] and should be finalized in 13 months . The plant, which would offer jobs for many unemployed persons, will treat different types of waste, namely those from residential and trade areas, the state departments, hospitals and industrial organizations.

In samawa and surrounding areas are many problems which affect negatively on the Biodiversity such as: poor, rains,global

warming .watee scarcity of euphrates river recently minimized the number of fishes and natural plants and the existance of pollution factors that difficult to control such as radioactive pollution due to

depleted uranium in war.

Biodiversity

Spider chart for samawa