A former official in Zamalka’s local council told
The Syria Report that based on Zamalka’s 2007 zoning plans, the Damascus Countryside governorate prohibited construction in two areas. One was on either side of the Southern Ring (which includes the Nisbet Hilleh area), and the other was in the zone surrounding the high-voltage electrical lines east of the city. This construction ban greatly reduced the surface area of Zamalka, rather than expanding the zoning plans to cater for a massive population influx.
Zamalka witnessed massive urbanisation from the 1970s, with its population reaching 200,000 in 2011 according to local estimates. Only 16,500 of those residents were originally from Zamalka, while the rest had moved there because of the city’s proximity to Damascus and cheap real estate. Zamalka is just east of Damascus proper, adjacent to the Damascus neighbourhoods of Jobar and Qaboun. The city is considered the eastern gateway to Damascus.