The Center of Urban and Regional Planning for Postgraduate Studies at the University of Baghdad discussed the master’s thesis entitled (Changing the course of rivers and its impact on real estate ownership), by the student Yasser Sami Abdullah, and supervised by Professor Dr. Muhib Kamel Falih. The thesis aimed to identify the negative effects of changing the course of rivers on real estate ownership using modern programs to detect the extent of change in property boundaries and reach planning treatments that reduce and limit the erosion of riverbanks.
The discussant relied in his thesis on the inductive and analytical approach by collecting cadastral maps (property maps) and data and old and modern satellite images, in addition to using modern spatial programs and data management (GIS) to analyze the changes that occur in river paths and their effects until reaching the final conclusions based on the temporal and spatial boundaries of the research. The study concluded that erosion rates on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers increased, and real estate ownership areas were lost for various uses, in addition to the role of human activities and climate change in the erosion of riverbanks.
The message recommended the importance of preparing plans to restore eroded riverbanks, while protecting real estate property from loss after mapping it and planting trees on the banks, in light of regional coordination to manage water resources in the river basin countries.
