التحليل المكاني لمراكز تجارة المفرد في مدينة النجف الاشرف

Spatial analysis of retail trade centers in the city of Najaf AL-ASHRAF

Abstract
This study aims to shed light on the reality of individual trade services in the city of Najaf, and to know the justifications for its emergence; And that is by identifying the stages in which it grew and developed according to the expansion of the geographical area from 787 AD until 2022 AD. It became clear to us through the field study that the retail trade services have expanded significantly in numbers and types, but in a different way from one neighborhood to another, and according to the number of residents of the neighborhood And its geographical location from the commercial center, and at every stage of its growth; This is to find out the variation in its distribution within the city in terms of quantity and quality between the residential neighborhoods on the one hand, and to know the extent of its efficiency and ability to provide services to the city’s residents .
The city of Najaf is the center of the province of Najaf, and it is one of the important cities in Iraq, as it includes the shrine of Imam Ali (PBUH), so thousands of visitors from all over the world come to visit the holy shrine, and this coincides with the great development that Iraq witnessed after the events of 2003 and the accompanying increase in the number of The population, the return of the displaced from abroad, and the security stability that the city witnessed was reflected in the increased demand for retail trade services of all kinds. These services occupied the main commercial streets in the old city shops represented by (Al-Buraq, Al-Mishraq, Al-Huwaish, and Al-Amarah), and then extended to Al-Madina Commercial Street, which does justice to the new sector. Then the retail trade services extended to the main commercial streets in the southern and northern sectors, Al-Radwa and Al-Barakiya. These services attracted shoppers in large numbers from inside and outside the city.
Therefore, the study revealed the level of retail trade services provided in the city; This is done by determining the justifications for its appearance and its relationship to the population increase and the spatial expansion that occurred in the city since its emergence until the present time, as well as trying to explain the reasons for the variation in its spatial distribution in its two parts (quantitative – qualitative) between residential neighborhoods at the level of the different sector of the city, and assessing the efficiency of its performance based on criteria subjective and qualitative, and determine the directions of its distribution over the geographical area of the city .
At the end of the study, a number of results related to the subject of the study were reached, which differ between the positive and negative aspects, and their effects on all other activities in the city, in the light of which a set of proposals were developed, which the researcher hopes will provide aid to decision-makers to improve the level of retail trade services. In the city of Najaf and work to develop and improve its performance in the future