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One of the most significant concerns in urban development today is the organization of areas of cities that have become run-down over time. In order to complete previous constructability studies in other fields of construction, the current study evaluates constructability based on BIM, specifically in the context of the Tehran limited land renewal project. The motivation for this study is the current difficulties facing renewal designs for limited lands, and the lack of a quantitative constructability model for urban renewal projects in Iran. This paper aims (1) to discuss the design elements that should be considered in the design phase of urban renewal projects; (2) to identify the factors that may affect constructability; and (3) to propose a framework for assessing urban renewal designs by considering constructability factors using building information modeling (BIM). To meet these needs, this paper investigates constructability factors and their relative importance, considering the design elements that should be acknowledged in limited land renewal, using a multicriteria techniques. Some 28 constructability factors are identified through a literature review, and based on 52 responses received from a questionnaire survey, the factors are ranked using pairwise comparisons of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The final constructability factors that are identified through the technique for order preference using the similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method are standard dimensions, safety, simplification of structure, resource intelligence and alignment, and skilled labor availability. The contribution of this research to the body of knowledge is, firstly, the development of constructability factors for measuring the constructability of urban renewal designs, and secondly, the introduction of BIM as a most beneficial tool for assessing the constructability of the proposed designs. In using the constructability assessment framework and identifying the trade-offs between the constructability of renewal projects in the limited areas of urban spaces, design alternatives become more feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subway stations are one of the most popular public spaces in the Iranian big cities, which is accompanied by urban design low qualities. The urban design of knowledge, art, and profession is the organization of the environmental qualities of the urban and public domain of the subject. Considering low qualities in these modern spaces that are used by everyday people, the most important issue of the present research is constructed without reference to indigenous fields. Emphasis on indigenous patterns, in the construction of underground spaces, especially subway stations, can lead to the sustainability and desirability of these spaces. The development of urban-rural spaces can play an important role in the sustainability of contemporary large and populated cities. Construction and construction of these spaces is a new phenomenon in Iran that can weaken or strengthen the natural, human, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of cities such as Tehran. In this paper, the purpose of this paper is to explain the status of the design of urban design in metro station spaces, with emphasis on indigenous patterns. The present study is conducted using the descriptive-analytical methodology and studies between the three areas of urban design and related qualities; subsurface development and metro station spaces; native architectural and urban design patterns. Therefore, after the design of the problem and terminology, the study of definitions and urban design qualities from the point of view of the experts and the addition and extraction of comprehensive urban design qualities was done with the article approach. Subsequently, in order to study Imam Khomeini, Seventh, and Revolution Square subway stations, they were studied and analyzed. The results of the study indicate that the planning and design of metro station spaces should pay attention to the comprehensive design quality of the city. These qualities include identity recognition, environmental sustainability, socioeconomic and economic sustainability, safety and security, efficiency and diversity, accessibility and accessibility, continuity and integrity, proportions and human scale, freedom, flexibility, Vitality, intuition and sensual richness, justice. The analysis of case examples, both in terms of both generic and indigenous patterns, has a low status and poor quality of urban design and indigenous patterns. In general, paying attention to the design qualities of a design based on native patterns can enhance their sustainability, utility, and humanity. Introduction Urban design is a science, art, and profession dealing with organizing the environmental qualities of urban and public areas. Paying attention to the vacuum of urban design qualities in these modern spaces that are used daily by people is the most important issue of the present study, which has been constructed without any connection with local contexts. By presenting this issue, the purpose of this study is to explain the position of urban design qualities in metro station spaces with an emphasis on local patterns. In the process of urban development, all aspects of environmental quality must be considered. In other words, strengthening or meeting one or more (private and public) needs and environmental quality should not lead to the weakening or loss of other environmental qualities. This is an issue common in contemporary projects. One-dimensional views of urban projects, such as a purely economic or traffic approach, will neglect the underlying features, undermine identity, and move in the opposite direction of sustainable development. The theme of this research is that, on the one hand, the development of urban infrastructures such as metro stations, especially in large cities and their centers, is a matter of certainty and these infrastructures in the dimensions of transportation, space, play an important role in the life of urban centers. But on the other hand, the construction of these spaces is often devoid of environmental qualities and less attention is paid to local patterns. The research hypothesis is that by accompanying and using local models in the planning and development of subsurface spaces, both goals can be achieved, namely the development of urban infrastructure, strengthening urban identity, and improving environmental qualities. Therefore, this study seeks solutions to use local patterns in the development of subsurface spaces and subway stations. Research Methods This study aims to analyze the position of urban design qualities in the design of metro stations. The study is conducted using a combined research approach (i.e. quantitative and qualitative methods). In this regard, the most important research question is: What is the position of urban design qualities in the design of metro stations? Also, the research sub-questions are: What are the qualities of urban design effective in the design of metro stations? What are the ways to apply these qualities with emphasis on indigenous patterns in subway stations? In this research, while analyzing the features and qualities of native patterns, the application of these patterns, related features, and qualities in the planning and design of contemporary underground spaces in our country are discussed and solutions and suggestions are presented. Therefore, while defining these concepts from the theorists’ point of view, we summarize and conclude these definitions, and then search for native patterns of architecture and urban planning for use in the planning and design of metro stations. Research Findings The results of the study show that in planning and designing metro station spaces, comprehensive qualities of urban design should be considered. These qualities include identity, legibility, environmental sustainability, social, cultural and economic sustainability, safety and security, efficiency and diversity, pedestrianism and ease of access, cohesion and integration, human proportions and scale, freedom, flexibility, vitality, attractiveness and sensory richness, and justice. The analysis of case studies, both in terms of general qualities and indigenous patterns, indicates the low and weak position of urban design qualities and indigenous patterns. In general, paying attention to urban-design qualities with a focus on indigenous patterns can promote their sustainability, desirability, and humanity. Emphasis on indigenous patterns in the construction of underground spaces, especially subway stations, can lead to the stability and desirability of these spaces. The development of suburban urban spaces can play an important role in the sustainability of large and densely populated contemporary cities. The construction of these spaces is a new phenomenon in Iran that can weaken or strengthen the natural, human, social, cultural, and economic characteristics of cities like Tehran. From all these issues, it can be concluded that the role of subsurface spaces, including metro stations, in the sustainable development of cities, should be taken seriously and the comprehensive realization of environmental qualities should be considered by avoiding one-dimensional approaches in planning and designing these spaces. It can also be said that traditional Iranian indigenous buildings and collections such as Gudal Baghcheh, Shovadan, Cistern, the historical bazaar have valuable structural features (in terms of the form and function on architectural and urban scales) and can be a local model for the development of metro station spaces. Given that our country is on the verge of developing such spaces, paying attention to these points can play an important role in stabilizing cities and strengthening urban identity, and improving environmental qualities. These templates and design guides can be used in the planning and design of metro station complexes. Since the metro network is one of the most widely used underground spaces in large cities, the subsurface development in relation to metro stations and using the native patterns studied in this research can be useful and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has been vastly studied in the theoretical literature related to the fields of urban studies. Different approaches to urban theories—from critical urban theory to the Los Angeles school, from the postcolonial to the planetary approach—offer various definitions of the concept of urbanization based on distinct ontologies, epistemologies, and methodologies. The various readings of the concept of urbanization among the approaches related to the urban theories would benefit from an extensive analysis through a holistic stance, which is the aim of this study. First, we attempt to put forward a typology of the concept of urbanization by reviewing the various approaches related to prominent urban theories and categorizing them. In so doing, we find that the approaches are essentially focused on three main categories or types: static, dynamic and alternative. Next, the paper presents the case study of Iran and tries to trace the categories to understand the ways in which urbanization is expressed and perceived in the country. To this aim, and to determine the main themes, we use thematic analysis to study official documents—texts and legislations—and also to conduct in-depth interviews with expert individuals. Findings of the case study indicate that in the context of Iran the urbanization concept has been commonly described as static. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces an improved convolutional neural network based on the conventional U-Net for simulating built-up land expansion. The proposed method hires a pixel-wise semantic segmentation approach considering the spatial drivers affecting urbanization as data cubes. Independent variables including altitude, slope, and distance from barren, crop, greenery, roads, and urban areas for 1998, 2008, and 2018 were considered as covariates for the simulation of built-up land expansion in Tehran and Karaj regions in Iran. The proposed method was compared with the random forest (RF) algorithm as the baseline model. Evaluation using the area under the total operating characteristic indicated the superiority of our modified U-Net (0.87) over the RF (0.82) algorithm. Furthermore, evaluation using the percent correct metric indicated that our proposed model is capable of learning neighborhood effects effectively leading to simulate built-up land expansion accurately, independent from applying a cellular automata (CA) model. Therefore, the modified U-Net independent from the CA which can consider the neighborhood effects is recommended for the simulation of built-up land expansion precisely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urban flood susceptibility evaluation (FSE) can utilize empirical and rational procedures to focus on the urban flood evaluation using physical coefficients and land-use change ratios. The main aim of the present paper was to evaluate a flood susceptibility model in the southern watersheds of Mashhad city, in Iran, for 2010, 2020, and 2030. The construction of the model depended on the utilization of some global datasets to estimate the runoff coefficients of the watersheds, peak flood discharges, and flood susceptibility evaluations. Results and conclusions: Based on the climatic precipitation and urban sprawl variation, our results revealed the mean values of the runoff coefficient (Cr) from 0.50 (2010) to 0.65 (2030), where the highest values of Cr (> 0.70) belonged to the watersheds with real estate cover, soil unit of the Mollisols, and the slope ranges over 5–15%. The averagely cumulative flood discharges were estimated from 2.04 m3/s (2010) to 5.76 m3/s (2030), revealing an increase of the flood susceptibility equal 3.2 times with at least requirement of an outlet cross-section by > 46 m2 in 2030. The ROC curves for the model validity explained AUC values averagely over 0.8, exposing the very good performance of the model and excellent sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a high possibility that pursuit of water policies goals which could have impacts on water security. Decision makers are interested in developing the water management systems to establish sustainable demand for secured water. The aim of the paper is to analyze the sustainability indicators (SIs) related to designing of the household water treatment system (HWTS). Thirteen criteria like solid waste, liquid waste, air pollution, initial cost, operation and maintenance costs, transport cost, satisfaction, purchasing power, social acceptance, health, reliability, after sales service, and technological capacity in four categories including environmental, economic, social and technical aspects have been considered. These criteria affect HWTS. These criteria are evaluated by taking into account the customer requirements (CRs) and design requirements (DRs) of HWTS. The objective of this study is to design sustainable HWTSs. This is achieved by an analytical approach integrating quality function deployment (QFD) and a linear programming technique for multidimensional analysis of preference (LINMAP) under fuzzy environment for guiding HWTSs manufactures. Fuzzy QFD-LINMAP approach is used to investigate the roles of the study criteria and the interrelationships between them. The HWTSs development in the city of Behbahan, Iran, is considered. The findings indicate that operation and maintenance costs (with value of 0.0522) is the most important sustainability indicator in the CRs and the least important is technical capacity (with value of 0.1096). The most important sustainability indicator in DRs is purchasing power (with value of 0.0207), and the least important is liquid waste (with value of 0.1469). The results show that sustainability strategies are selected for water treatment systems constraints and the model provides compromise solutions to help decision makers evaluate suitable water policy mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A green rooftop is a novel element in modern architecture, inspired by the sustainability concept developed for urban environment. It is used for increasing green space per capita, improving environmental quality, and sustainable urban development. Meanwhile, some factors hinder the development and utilization of these architectural elements in cities. In line with this research problem, the main objective was to identify and to prioritize the factors, limiting green rooftop development in Tabriz city, Iran, to recommend operational procedures and a method for sorting out the limitations and obstacles. According to the literature, reviews and experts' opinions through Delphi technique, first of all, five pivotal obstacles (factors), restricting green rooftop development, have been determined including "cost and investment" factor, "cultural and educational" factor, "scientific and technical" factor, "climatic and ecological" factor and, finally, "legislation and management" factor. Then, a sub-situated group of factors was prioritized within each of the major pivotal factors, using the analytical hierarchy process. Afterward, each factor has been investigated according to its effects and statistical significance for Tabriz city. Finally, the statistical significance (priority measures) was determined for the major factor sets. The final set of factors have been compared to the alternatives, considered around the world. This research attempted to spot out and identify major and serious bottlenecks facing green rooftop development generally in Iran and particularly in Tabriz. Some practical and concrete solutions were presented in this paper, especially offered for the developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City development strategy (CDS) is an urban strategic planning approach that has already been implemented in over 200 cities worldwide. Nevertheless, its preparation process is different from country to country and each socio-economic context has its own conditions in running a CDS project. This article aims at showing how planners could benefit from empowering women and their participation in order to mobilize an urban plan and use their social capacities to raise the community's awareness about the outcomes of a CDS plan with regard to creating more participatory urban spaces. A qualitative methodology including a questionnaire and focus group tools were used to identify the needs, to prepare vision statements, and to train the women. The results attested to the crucial but concealed role of women, as cores of families, in the progression of the project as well as the importance of their cooperation in incepting and implementing an urban development plan. This paper highlights: (1) Iranian women's capacities to mobilize urban projects, and (2) the purpose that a CDS process, as is presented in this article, might serve as a proper urban strategic planning framework for Iran's urban development while engaging women and local groups in such a process and reducing the masculine dominance in physical urban planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the significance of industrial heritage has seemed to become a growing trend in the international heritage studies. Concerning their attributed values, and the crucial needs for urban development, this branch of cultural heritage has been considered the important grid of cities. This has caused a great acceptance of adaptive reuse practices especially among developing countries which is a smart response to an ongoing debate to reach sustainable development. The flexibility of these buildings and sites seems an important criterion, which can be improved through adaptive reuse practice. Therefore, this research aims to introduce the concept of flexibility in industrial heritage sites, evaluate its criteria among adaptive reuse practice, and make a comprehensive flexibility model for it. Indeed, the final goal is to determine the condition that based on the flexibility model, the adaptive reuse practice would be a proper way of encountering these sites. A historical-interpretation research method, analytical-description techniques, and questionnaire-based interviews are applied in this research. Results indicate that flexibility has genuinely been considered in this practice. Analysing flexibility techniques, this paper suggests a valuable framework to achieve the flexibility of industrial heritage as the presupposition of successful adaptive reuse in these site [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use changes, sprawl and its implications for natural lands (garden, agricultural and cultivated lands) have received increasing consideration in many countries and regions over the past decades. However, our knowledge of analysis of land use changes and urban sprawl resulted by the loss of natural land is still unclear specifically in developing countries such as Iran. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyze and predict the trend of land use changes and sprawl since 1986–2040 in Mazandaran city region in the northern part of Iran. In this regard, the SLEUTH and Land Transformation Models (LTM) were used to predict the use of natural lands. The data used in this study included satellite images of remote sensing (Landsat TM) in 1986, 1996, 2006 and 2015. Results show that the process of destruction of natural lands has intensified in favor of construction process, in a way that built-up lands with a growth rate of 4.79% changed from 30.91 km2 in 1986 to 120.04 km2 in 2015. It is predicted that built-up lands will increase by 4.82% growth in 2040. While, garden lands will have 1.3% decrease because of its adjacent to urban lands and locating in the built-up areas. Most changes in forest lands have been reduced by 1.8% if these lands are highly valued as national and regional potentials and may change the animal and plant species cycle. Agricultural lands have been reduced by 1.12%, but due to the fact that the largest share of land in the study area is cultivated and its decline is less than that of other lands. The trend of land use changes indicates that the region will inevitably develop and expand in the future. But, its consequences can be controlled by applying suitable policies and solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urban sprawl necessitates solid urban planning tactics, which requires assessing and quantifying the sustainable or unsustainable encroachment of urban settings towards the urban periphery. Like many cities in developing countries, Iranian cities have witnessed tremendous changes in recent decades. The process of urbanization following economic and social developments has caused the intractable and unrestrained growth of cities with a national and regional role. Remote sensing and geospatial information system technology give urban planners the appropriate and pertinent information they need to guarantee the sustainable management of urban environments. This study explored the changes in Qom metropolis, Iran during four time periods, from 1985, 2000, 2010, and 2021, and assessed how the city expanded using Shannon's entropy model and the Urban Expansion Intensity Index. In this study, Landsat satellite images from the selected years were employed, and three land use/land cover classification types, including agricultural, built-up, and others, were derived using the maximum likelihood classification approach. The relative Shannon's entropy result for the study years (1985, 2000, 2010, and 2021) are 0.66, 0.68, 0.69, and 0.86 respectively, which demonstrate a dispersed expansion pattern, with the maximum value in 2021. Also, the Urban Expansion Intensity Index, with the values 0.33, 0.33, and 0.51 for three periods (1985–2000, 2000–2010, 2010–2021), indicates that the city's expansion rate was low-speed throughout the chosen periods, despite having reached its peak between 2010 and 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the recent decades, debates about urban sprawl have increased strongly in Iran. Literature review shows that there are few studies about causes of sprawl in urban areas of Iran. This paper analyses driving forces in creation or intensification of urban sprawl in Iranian cities. The methodology of the research is based on documentary and survey method. Results indicate that the most important drivers of urban sprawl are 22 factors in Iran. By using exploratory factor analysis, 22 factors are summarized in eight main factors. These factors include population growth, land value, political fragmentation, land speculation, transportation policies, exterior pressure, management system and land use. The eight main factors are able to explain an average of 76.9% of the urban sprawl phenomenon in Iran. The analysis of variance indicates that none of them can be effective in explaining urban sprawl alone in Iran that they were explained by each factor on urban sprawl. The population growth has the highest impact by 13% and land use has the lowest impact by about 7%. The margin of discrepancy between variance was explained by factors that suggest all of the eight extracted factors play a key role in the urban sprawl of Iran. Policies for controlling and reducing consequences of this phenomenon should be initiated by the government by considering the influential role of government in the urban sprawl of Iran. In particular, it can be helpful to establish integrated urban management, a compilation of comprehensive law about urban land and pay attention to worn‐out textures and brownfield development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balanced spatial distribution of urban development infrastructure is one of the most important signs of social justice and urban sustainable development. In this study, urban development indicators in the cities of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces have been studied and evaluated. The research is practical and quantitative in terms of purpose and nature and has been analyzed using the Preference Selection Index of inequalities between 17 cities in the province. Using the weight obtained in this model, the normal weight matrix of the studied indices was designed and the score of the preference selection index for the cities of the province was calculated. The results show that the highest score of preference selection index is assigned to Yasuj city (0.9296) and Dogonbadan city with score (0.6288) and Dehdasht city with score (0.3608) after Yasuj gained the most points. In this model, the city of Chitab had the lowest score with score (0.0213). In this study, a comparison has been made between preference selection index and entropy and Topsis models. The highest score of the entropy model is assigned to the city of Yasuj (0.7741) and the city of Sarfaryab with the score (-0.0028) had the lowest score. The highest score of Topsis model belonged to Yasuj city (0.6534) and Sarfaryab city had the lowest score with score (0.0867). The Rankings performed by entropy and Topsis models are similar and these two models show the scores of the first and second cities of the urban network, ie the cities of Yasuj and Gachsaran, very closely. In the Preference selection index, the difference in the score of the studied cities was higher and this index shows more inequality than the entropy and Topsis models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid urbanization in many developing countries has indicated several challenges in different aspects. This is due to inefficient urban planning approaches towards managing the development process. Similar to many other developing countries, Iran has experienced rapid urbanization in recent decades. Although over the last few decades, urban planning processes have been applied to develop Iranian cities, urban planning has failed to tackle the challenges facing the cities. This paper seeks to identify the barriers that have prevented Iranian cities from achieving the goals of urban planning. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the current literature on the concept of urban planning and to assess the urban development plan process in Iranian cities. The required data were collected through a review of international theoretical studies, Iranian experimental research and governmental reports. The findings of this study reveal five major barriers to the feasibility of the urban planning process, including the urban plans context, structure of urban planning, related law and regulations, public participation, and financial resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, remote sensing satellite imagery has been applied to assess dynamic and static sprawl measured simultaneously via a multi-technique approach. The first technique, which evaluates dynamic sprawl, essentially measures the "magnitude" and "direction". The second technique, which evaluates static sprawl, measures the "magnitude" and "pattern". The dynamic sprawl used in this study, shows in which "direction", in what "period" and to what "extent" Kerman had sprawl. In the static sprawl, the most sprawled pattern that the city of Kerman follows is Area-Edge, followed by Aggregation, Shape and Diversity, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rapid uncontrolled growth of build-up areas has increasingly challenged the sustainable use of urban area simulating the growth patterns of fastest-growing cities is more necessary in dry climates, due to low ecological suitability for urban development and meeting the needs of citizens. Therefore, this research conducted aiming at predicting the expansion of urban land use in Zahedan City, Iran, which has a dry climate with an evenness landscape. Methods: Urban Expansion in Zahedan Modeled using SLEUTH (slope, land use, exclusion, urban extent, transportation and hillshade) in two historical and environmental scenarios until 2050. The input data were extracted from processing on DEM and remote sensing data and the SLEUTH model was calibrated in four stages from 1990 to 2020. Results and discussion: The results showed that the increase in Ahead extent in 2050 is more than twice as much as in 2020, and this increase was associated with a less dispersion of urban patches in the environmental scenario compared to the historical scenario. Also, the results clarified that the developable spaces are saturated in terms of slope in the east and there is the lack of urban green spaces. These results reveal the need for the attention of city managers in predicting the urban green space in the expected growth areas and compensating for the lack of vegetation cover in the former urban areas. Geographic extension of predicted urban land can be used in future environmental planning and urban developing strategies, as well as it is suggested to adopt this approach as a plan for urban planning in dry climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates some prominent development solutions in the vicinity of historic buildings. These solutions differ from country to country, considering the special situation of each country, such as the number of historic monuments, the current construction quality, peoples' interests and the benefits of historic buildings and sites. To be able to evaluate the similar states of development strategies in Iran, a questionnaire focused on citing examples of any type of intervention through PowerPoint presentation for every group of architectural professionals was framed. The results indicated that most respondents preferred to adopt the following development solutions, in Iranian context as follows: adaptive re-use of existing listed buildings, development in the immediate vicinity of monuments while considering proper separation and articulation between them, extending monuments to increase the required spaces and also exploitation of suitable infill development. Obviously, this hierarchical order could differ from one context to another. To find out if any specific method for architectural design was preferred, interviewees were asked to rank five proposed solutions for architectural design in historic context. Respondents were mostly pro harmonic design with monuments for new constructions in the core zone of monuments, while considering a proper gap between new and old. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Urban sprawl has become a remarkable characteristic of urban development worldwide in the last decades. Urban sprawl refers to the extent of urbanization, which is a global phenomenon mainly driven by population growth and large scale migration. In developing countries like Iran, urban sprawl is taking its toll on the natural resources at an alarming pace. The purpose of this paper is to study urban growth and effective factors on them in the city of Urmia, Iran. We used quantitive data of the study area from the period between 1989 and 2007, and population censuses of Urmia. To measure the model of urban growth, Holderness and Shannon's entropy were employed. The Urmia case is interesting for several reasons: first, it is a case of very fast urban growth even for a developing country; second, it illustrates how the fastest rates of urban sprawl may correspond to middle size cities rather than to large centers. Third, it portrays a land substitution process in which agricultural land is not the primary provider of urban land which is relatively rare in urban contexts, and fourth, it also illustrates how urban sprawl may also hide important internal land uses such as the presence of agricultural plots within urban boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to improve the spatial accuracy of urban growth simulation models and clarify any associated uncertainties. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), Random Forest (RF), and Logistic Regression (LR) were implemented to simulate urban growth in the megacity of Tehran, Iran, as a case study. Model calibration was performed using data between 1985 and 1999 whereas the data between 1999 and 2014 was used for model validation. First of all, Transition Index Maps (TIMs) were computed by means of each model to assess the potential of urban growth for each cell. Using the standard deviation, consensus between the TIMs was evaluated. Because the TIMs of the individual models manifested discrepancies, they were combined using a number of ensemble forecasting approaches including median, mathematical average, principle component analysis, and weighted area under the total operating characteristic. The individual and combined TIMs were then put into Cellular Automata (CA) to simulate the future pattern of urban growth in Tehran. The results were evaluated in two stages. At first, the TIMs were evaluated by means of Total Operating Characteristics (TOC), and then a set of statistical indices was used to evaluate the spatial accuracy of the simulated urban growth maps. The best result was obtained by median ensemble forecasting, whereas the LR model showed the lowest level of accuracy. In similar studies, it is recommended to implement and compare different ensemble methods when integrating individual models. • We compared the effectiveness of ANNs, RF and LR for urban growth modelling. • Standard error map indicated discrepancy among the results of individual models. • Various ensemble forecasting approaches were proposed to combine individual models. • Mean ensemble forecasting created more accurate simulated maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization, growth of urban areas, is a process that has been growing rapidly during the last two decades. This phenomenon affects aerobiological, economical, industrial, ecological processes, social control, and the family. Hence, the prediction of the urban area extent has an important role in the future decision of the municipality. Multi-Agent System (MAS) is a proper tool for simulation and modeling process, which has been used for solving different types of spatial and non-spatial problems. In this article, we use MAS for urban simulation in the rural area around Tehran, which is the most populated and the fastest-growing city of Iran. In this paper, the behavior of three groups of agents: environmentalist, industrialist, and resident are simulated. These three groups are the dominant and influential population in the formation of urban texture. In this research, the behavior of these three groups of agents is specified, according to a series of map layers, such as slope, aspect, soil type, distance of urban areas, roads, and so on. The Belief-Desire-Intention (BDI) architecture of agents is used for the simulation, which is defined based on some variables, functions, and coefficients. The simulation is carried out based on two different interaction scenarios: Rational and Nash- Equilibria. The future urban area is predicted by a combination of MAS and spatial urban area. To evaluate the proposed model, the comparison of the predicted area is made at different times and scenarios. The results of implementation in different scenarios show that the residents of the study area follow the Nash-Equilibria interaction with Kappa Coefficient accuracy of 0.8104. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Solid waste management is considered to be one of the most immediate and serious environmental problems confronting urban governments in developing countries. Qualitative and quantitative variety of waste composition, uncontrolled urban development and the lack of appropriate waste management technology cause particular problems that solving them needs a careful study and the coordination of science and experience in the form of a proper management. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on solid wastes generated in Kashan over a limited timeframe of 12 months during 2009-10. One sample was randomly taken per month according to the standard instruction and subsequently the physical analysis of it was performed. Results: The average daily waste generation rate in Kashan is 185 tons, of which 75.5% are putrescible materials. The average daily waste generation is tantamount to 638 g/capita while the average density of the waste was 194 kg/m3 at transfer station. The most frequent metal measured in the leachate solid waste was iron. Conclusion: According to the results, high percentages of solid wastes in Kashan were allocated to plastic and corruptible materials, and then the paper and cardboard. Considering that the prevention of adverse environmental effects of solid waste is a priority and applying proper management techniques can help to achieve this, public education for the waste separation at the source, waste reduction and subsequently reduction of the leachate volume as well as the proper manner of recycling, collection and disposal of the waste are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

number of traits identify an urban society from a village. In the 1950s, V.G. Childe identified ten traits for an urban society, including permanent settlement in dense aggregations, centralization of surplus, monumental public buildings, social stratification, a ruling class, systems of recording and administration, exact and predictive sciences regulating the cycle of agriculture operation, conceptualized and sophisticated styles of art, long-distance trade and importing raw materials, and a social organization based upon residence rather than kinship. Although he identified these traits for ancient urban society, these also can be applied in modern times. The most important function of an urban society especially in southeast Iran is its intermediary function. This function can be seen both in ancient and modern times. The present paper aims to identify both urban societies in ancient and modern times, and to explain intermediary function of these societies, including Shahr-i-Sokhta during the third millennium BCE and Zahedan in modern time. In fact, this function may have caused the emergence and development of these urban societies during two different periods. It is also postulated that the decline of this function may have caused the collapse of both societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unplanned urban expansion is a major environmental challenge in Iran resulting in vast degradation of agricultural lands. Focusing on an agricultural-urbanized landscape in Central Iran, the spatial pattern of built-up expansion was assessed from Landsat data processed in 1992 (TM), 2002 (ETM+), 2012 (TM), and 2022 (OLI). Multi-year crop NDVI was also used as a proxy for cropland suitability to assess the intensity of the urban growth impact. Results showed that (1) the area of built-up surfaces increased almost up to double than that of 1992 and passed 36% (413.42 km2) by 2022, (2) the region experienced a coalescence-diffusion transition phase with decreasing spatial connectivity of newly developed patches with old ones, (3) the most suitable croplands were lost in the middle period (2002–2012) when urban patches started to diffuse, and (4) a significantly positive spatial (Spearman's) relationship (r (22100) = 0.181, p = 0.000) was found between the area and quality of croplands which further highlights the high importance of cropland protection in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many urban planners have used Lefebvre's concept of the right to the city as a dominant approach in urban studies. In this research, we try to draw a framework for the urban development of Bandar Abbas through the application of urban development components based on the right-to-the-city approach. Interpretive structural modeling is used in drawing urban development based on the right-to-the-city approach. The centrality of citizens in decision-making, self-management of space, the right to planning and designing the space, the right to transparency, and access to information at the first class are considered the key variables of Bandar Abbas urban development. The right to manage and organize the space, the right to accountability, democratic (institutional) capacity building, and social priorities in the decision-making process are the subcomponents of Bandar Abbas urban development. The presented model is the realization of people in space, where people take over the space and enjoy the benefits of urban life, if needed, they can freely express their opinions and limitations in the space and organize the city according to their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction In recent decades, humanity has moved towards the vertical expansion of cities with the help of significant advances in technology and the construction industry and for various reasons such as population growth, scarcity, high cost of land, and profitability. This issue is expanding into most countries and is not specific to advanced, rich industrialized ones. The expansion takes place at a higher rate in developed countries and at a lower rate in developing countries. The experience of examining these buildings demonstrates that besides their benefits, they create many problems for their residents and citizens who encounter them on urban roads, which has caused people’s dissatisfaction to some extent. The country of Iran is not exempt from this issue and has experienced these high-rise constructions (although at a lower rate) for several decades. However, the regulations concerning high-rise buildings in Iran have not yet been fully compiled in all aspects of these buildings, and there are shortcomings in this field that need to be reviewed and evaluated by experts. Theoretical Framework The increase in the number of tall buildings that are built in various forms in the narrow streets of cities raises the need to pay attention to these buildings. These various buildings impose many effects on the city and citizens by being established in different urban areas. The current research is based on an aspect of the perceptual and psychological effects of these buildings under the title of oppression (psychological effects) on the city and citizens, which is usually less noticed by architectural and urban planning experts in cities. This subtle, significant effect of tall buildings is felt by citizens as they walk in the city streets and see the buildings, and in the long run, living in such places can create and stimulate many psychological problems for people and endanger their mental health. The present study is aimed at this important practical issue in the field of psychology of urban environments (along with tall buildings). In fact, the present study investigates the effect of configuration-related parameters and the tall building landscape on the perceptual and psychological components by focusing on the citizens’ feeling of oppression that is created by the tall buildings in the urban landscape on a daily basis. Methodology The present survey discussed the impacts of the variables concerning the appearance and visible view of tall buildings in the case study on psychological variables after extracting the psychological variables affected thereby with the librarydocument research method. Results and Discussion The results reported in this section demonstrated that with an increase in the solid angle of the building, the participants who encounter these buildings undergo more suppression, and satisfaction with the oppression decreases. In order to discover the underlying properties of perceptual variables, exploratory factor analysis was used, and the results indicated that the sixteen perceptual variables could be grouped into four categories in terms of quality: pleasant, depressing, green, and remarkable. Moreover, the effect of the solid angle of the building on the depression rate in the landscape demonstrated that the landscape becomes unpleasant and depressing as the solid angle of the building increases, but the effect of trees and vegetation on this environmental quality requires further research. The rest of the study is dedicated to a comparison of the oppression of the Zagros tower (the subject of the case study) on the participants who face the tower from different streets (to the relevant international standard). The results reported in this section also demonstrated (according to the mean statistics) that the pictures taken from Beynolnahreyn Street exhibit the lowest level of oppression and the highest level of satisfaction, from the participants’ point of view. Conversely, the pictures taken between Aref and Taleghani, on Jahannama, and between Mirzadeh Eshghi and Jahannama were perceived with the highest degree of oppression and dissatisfaction. Therefore, it seems that from the perspective of the above streets, the impact of the tower on participants’ perceived psychological pressure (oppression) has received less attention. Conclusion This method can be used as a practical tool by urban decision-makers to locate tall buildings (with the aim of psychological sustainability of the urban landscape) if further studies are carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tehran, the capital of Iran, is the largest and most populous city in Iran, which is of great importance due to its large population and abundant infrastructure. One of the most critical issues in this city is its need for resilience against all kinds of threats, including natural hazards, because its development was not based on territorial geography. In other words, in developing this 700 square kilometer area, attention has yet to be paid to its different zones. Different zones include the mountains, Shemiranat's alluvial cone area, the Tehran plain, etc. Main and minor faults, surface and underground water resources of the land, differences in formations between various parts of the land, the microclimate of the land in its multiple aspects, local and synoptic air currents, etc., have not been influential in urban development. The most crucial goal of this study is to identify and screen natural hazards in Tehran to improve this city's resilience by introducing a novel integrated MCDM method based on ANP and The Combined Compromise Solution method with Maximum Variance (MV-CoCoSo). Therefore, to increase the strength of Tehran against these disasters, the natural hazards of Tehran must first be identified and ranked. In this regard, practical criteria for evaluating Tehran's resilience were identified using library resources and the formation of expert groups. Then, using the ANP method, the comparative weightings of these effective criteria was investigated. Based on the results obtained, the disaster consequence criterion had the highest importance with a weight of 0.4361, followed by the disaster severity scale criterion with a weight of 0.2371, and the secondary threat possibility criterion (with a weight of 0.1232) was ranked third. Finally, using the MV-CoCoSo method, the natural hazards of Tehran city were classified based on the evaluated criteria. Tehran City's three significant disasters were earthquakes, floods, and landslides. In addition, two experiments were designed to assess the robustness of the research methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on how cities are affected by urban heat islands (UHI) are critical nowadays for a better understanding of the connected effects and for providing helpful insights for sustainable city development planning. In this study, Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper+ (ETM+), and Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) images were used to assess the dynamics of the spatiotemporal pattern of land use/land cover (LU/LC) and land surface temperature (LST) in the metropolitan city of Mashhad, Iran in the period between 1990 and 2019. The Markov chain model (MCM) was used to predict LU/LC and LST for 2030. In the analyzed LU/LC maps, three LU/LC classes were distinguished, including built-up land (BUL), vegetated land (VL), and bare land (BL) using the maximum likelihood (ML) classification method. The collected data showed different variations in the geographical pattern of Mashhad LST during the research period that impacted the LST in this metropolis. The study evaluated the variations in LU/LC classes and evaluated their impact on the LST. The value of the LST was positively correlated with the occurrence of the built-up land (BUL), and with the bare land areas, while it was negatively correlated with the occurrence of the VL areas. The analysis of changes observed over three decades with 10-year intervals and the prediction of the LU/LC and LST for 2030 constitute an important contribution to the delineation of the dynamics of long LU/LC and LST records. These innovative results may have an important impact on policymaking fostering environmental sustainability, such as the control and management of urban expansion of Mashhad in connection with UHI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aims at predicting future land use/land cover (LULC) and quantifying and mapping the ecosystem services (ESs) of water yield, outdoor recreation opportunity and food production in current (here, 2017) and future landscapes in Northern Iran, using the InVEST, Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) and yield models. To that end, two LULC scenarios known as business as usual (BAU) and protection-based (PB) plan were applied for 2028, using the Markov Artificial Neural Network and Multi-objective land allocation (MOLA) models. The results show that rapid urbanisation, caused by the expansion of human settlements and industrial areas, has led to a decline in the ESs in the region. Compared to the ESs in 2017, the service of water yield increases as urban expansion increases, whereas food production and recreation services decrease as urban expansion increases, under the BAU scenario. On the other hand, in the PB scenario, relatively better conditions can be observed for all three ESs. Considering that the ecological structures of this region have been severely affected by rapid urban expansion, the results of this research will be useful for maintaining the existing ESs and can greatly affect planning and decision-making regarding future development towards urban sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the unbalanced development of Iranian cities and the advent of many problems in various social, cultural, economic, physical and environmental dimensions have resulted inevitably in the need to use urban development plans to advance the spatio-physical condition of cities. In this regard, about five decades have passed since the start of the preparation of urban development plans in Iran; but despite gaining a lot of experience by producers and executors of urban affairs, in practice, urban projects have not been able to take a positive step in the direction of programmed development. Therefore, by detecting the causes of unachievability and failure of these plans, it is possible to prepare realistic and executive plans. Hence, this study seeks to investigate the shortcomings of the master plan approved in 2016 in Tabriz and identify the factors affecting its unrealizability by using the qualitative methods (Delphi and case study methods). Among the most significant reasons for the impracticability of this plan, the following should be mentioned: (1) the inadequacy of the design model (positivism, belief system, obligation, inductive reasoning, centrism and being government-centered); (2) inadequacy in the content of the plan (being governmental and non-participatory, inadequate subjectology and collection of irrelevant data, lack of segregation of interventions in different contexts, lack of an organized monitoring system, mere physical emphases, lack of definition of executive financial possibilities, perfectionism, lack of attention to relativism and inflexibility and lack of connection between the elements and components of the plan); and (3) inadequacy of the plan proposals and strategies (emphasis on quantity, incomplete inference, inefficiency and not including all levels and strata). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urban sprawl, as an unsustainable urban expansion, relates to direct and indirect impacts on regional climate change in urbanized regions. In this paper, the effect of urban sprawl on regional climate change has been studied using a hybrid factor analysis (FA) and analytical network process (ANP) model in Mashhad city, Iran. The methodology was divided into two main parts based on the identification of 18 urban sprawl characteristics and six climatic parameters during three time-windows of 1996, 2006, and 2016. Results: Based on the FA, a set of chosen sprawl characteristics were reduced into five factors with a maximized total variance of the loading variables and were weighted by ANP super-matrix. Results of urban sprawl index (USI) indicated that Mashhad city had experienced rapid horizontal growth by values from 0.47 to 1.74 within 1996–2016, revealing an indication of unsustainable urban sprawl during the last decades. Based on the correlation test, a positive relation between four climatic parameters (surface temperature, surface long-wave flux, total ozone, and black carbon density) and urban sprawl was observed (R from 0.827 to 0.981). In parallel, a negative relationship between two climatic parameters (total precipitation and convective precipitation) and urban sprawl was estimated (R from − 0.691 to − 0.805). Conclusions: The result confirmed the possible effects of urban sprawl on climatic variations. This outcome relates to a chain of urban sprawl effects on growth of construction, transportation, the assumption of fuels and subsequently high emission of greenhouse gasses such as ozone concentration, long-wave flux, and carbon density in the urban atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water resource management has numerous environmental challenges, especially in aquatic ecosystems such as rivers due to the heterogeneous distribution of surface water resources, among other diverse impacting factors. In Iran (one of the countries of the Middle-East), population growth, development of urban communities and development of agricultural and industrial activities provide additional impacts on the functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The United Nations declared the third decade of this century (2021–2030) as the decade of ecosystem restoration. In this study, we have selected the Zayandehroud River as a case study and then evaluated the pathology of existing statuses. Strategies and approaches were studied and analyzed including the need to utilize integrated water resources management (IWRM), approaches for dealing with drought conditions, payment of water rights and dam alternatives, and the need for ecological landscape studies. Then, strategies and approaches appropriate from the perspective of restoration were identified, including the techniques used, and the experiences of different countries. The analysis showed that similar regions of Iran in the Middle-East need to change the paradigm of "nature control" to the paradigm of "nature management" and reduce reliance on structural and technological solutions in water resources management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term sustainable development in developing countries requires researching and projecting urban physical growth and land use/land cover change (LUCC). This research fills a gap in the literature by exploring the issues of modelling coupled LUCC and urban growth, their causes, and the role of policymakers. Tabriz metropolitan area (TMA), located at north-west Iran, was chosen as a case study to design an integrated framework using four well-established methods: cellular automata (CA), Markov chains (MC), logistic regression (LR), and stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA). Northern, north-west, and central TMA were affected the worst by urbanisation and the loss of cultivated and grassland between 1990 and 2020. The accessibility of arterial roadways and proximity to major cities influenced these changes. Three scenarios characterise LUCC dynamics: the uncontrolled growth scenario (UGS) and the historical trend growth scenario (HTGS) foresee significant loss of cultivated land and continued urban expansion above the long-term average in 2050, while the environmental protection growth scenario (EPGS) promotes sustainable development and compact urbanisation. The methods used in this research may be used to various contexts to examine the temporal and spatial dynamics of LUCC and urban growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: The rapid expansion of built-up areas and land consumption with unsustainable spatial patterns in coastal urban areas has become a global major concern due to its far-reaching consequences for human daily life, environmental sustainability, and living organisms. However, the research on this phenomenon in these areas has received less attention. To fill this gap, we conducted a study to explore the spatial patterns of land consumption at both micro- and macro-levels and to evaluate its consequences in terms of sustainable development in a coastal city-region of Mazandaran Province in northern Iran. To achieve these two goals, we combined two methods of urban land density function and landscape expansion index (LEI) to explore spatial patterns of land consumption and also evaluated the sustainability of the region with two methods of the hierarchical analytical process (AHP) and urban sustainability index (USI). Results: The spatial patterns of land consumption in the city-region of Mazandaran from 1996 to 2016 at the macro-level changed from a decentralized-sprawl to a centralized-sprawl pattern. At the micro-level, the dominant spatial pattern of land consumption in the city-region changed gradually from the outlying pattern towards the edge expansion and infilling patterns. Also, the spatial pattern of the built-up patches in the majority of the urban areas had conformity with the dominant pattern of the region. Besides, the spatial patterns of land consumption in the region were in an unsustainable state and were changing towards more unsustainability. The absence of urban containment policies and plans could lead to further destruction of the natural environment and increase its unsustainability. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the urban areas of the coastal Mazandaran have the same behavior in the spatial pattern of land consumption at the macro- and micro-levels and all are in the same direction and follow the dominant pattern of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction New urbanization developments and the emergence of problems in the world have made the central cities of metropolitan areas more vulnerable to the adverse effects of urban development compared to other urban areas. Meanwhile, technological advances have accelerated the population change and increased urban populations. This volume of rapid urbanization has had a significant impact on ancient and historical textures. The ancient and historic cores of cities with a large population of mostly immigrants in recent years have been continually deformed and their textures have been eroded. Therefore, urban planners around the world are working to integrate models of urban development so as to meet the demands and expectations of today's world by integrating all aspects of urbanization. One of the new concepts to address the current challenges of cities in the field of urban planning is smart city development. The smart city is at the heart of the evolution of the 3rd millennium and means opening up of new concepts in urban planning, which combines real-world and virtual world capabilities to solve urban problems. One of the most important projects for the development of wornout textures, on which planners and city officials have now focused, is the idea of infill development. This theory is one of the categories of urban smart growth and if it is applied correctly, the development of old and worn-out urban areas can be strengthened.Tabriz is one of the oldest residential centers of Iran and an important city in different natural, political, demographic, and other aspects. The metropolis needs several goals to refurbish and modernize the worn-out areas in the form of smart and infill developments so as to maintain its core pillars. One of these goals is providing the basis for optimal urban development and analyzing the infill development in the context of urban development. Prioritizing the indicators, providing subthemes of the research subject, and identifying the key variables of interstate development policies were the goals of this research. Methodology A smart city has 6 features: smart shifting, smart economy, smart environment, smart community, smart life, and smart government. In the present study, the subsets of each of these 6 key factors, along with the infill development factors, were studied by measuring their interactions in a matrix. In this regard, the current study intended to identify the priority areas for future planning by examining different aspects of urban smart development and infill development and propose optimal strategies for effectively implementing such developments. The structural equation modeling was utilized to investigate the research conceptual model in detail. For this purpose, the opinions of 50 experts were gathered. To estimate the impacts of smart growth and interdependent development, the researchers created a 53-by-53 matrix by taking into account 34 urban smart development subdivisions and 19 interdisciplinary development subsystems with regard to indigenous and territorial conditions within the system. The 50 experts were provided with the matrix in order to identify the impact of each subsystem in the system. Discussion The researchers prepared a questionnaire to determine the weights of the criteria, besides conducting a survey on the opinions of the 50 experts in Tabriz University and Municipality. A total of 53 criteria were identified in a table for the two main factors of smart development and interstate development. Then, by placing these factors in a 53-by-53 matrix, their effects on each other were determined after weighting them. After determining the degree of influence and effectiveness of each of the smart development and infill development factors in the worn-out areas of Tabriz City, the relationship between these factors were investigated using Micmac software. With respect to the bi-directional variables, there was only one factor -- land use compatibility -- related to infill development and the rest of the components were among the factors that affected smart development, indicating the importance of having such development in urban growth and development. The future of the city of Tabriz in different aspects, as well as the development of its worn-out urban textures in particular, could be tied to this kind of development. Conclusion The current research was undertaken as the first step in studying the impacts of macroeconomic policies on sustainable development and infill development as two interrelated issues. Hence, new horizons were created for the smart development of the worn-out areas of Tabriz. The results showed the prominence of the 3 critical factors of technological infrastructure, creativity, and innovation and ultimately, social and corporate cohesion in the infill development of historic and worn-out areas. A look at the results clearly revealed the impact of urban smart development on infill development that inevitably need to be further explored in planning the developments of the burnt urban areas so as to achieve a comprehensive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overall objective of this study was to investigate urban infill development policies as a good solution to counteract urban sprawl and protect the peri-urban area of Ardabil in Northwestern Iran. In this context, we used a mixed methodology (two quantitative methods). Landsat imagery, including a patchy Landsat ETM+ for the year 2000 and a Landsat 8 for the year 2020, was used to map and assess land use to investigate sprawl and land-use change, and ArcGIS was used to investigate the potential for infill development in this city. The results show that between 2000 and 2020, 967 hectares of peri-urban land was lost to urban expansion. CA-Markov projections also showed that 452 hectares will be lost by 2030. The assessment of the city's internal capacity for infill development showed that more than 999 hectares of land within the city are suitable to support this strategy and provide the land needed for urban expansion over the next decade. Finally, the study of the city's master plan, which applies to all Iranian cities, discovered that there is a lack of adequate outlook regarding the amount of land available for future urban development, leading to misuse of urban land and urban sprawl in Iranian cities, suggesting that an infill development strategy could be a good way to address this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growing trends in urban development combined with fundamental changes in the physical context of cities necessitate paying attention to the quality of urban spaces. The low quality of spaces, known as defenseless spaces, has a significant impact on the security of citizens, particularly vulnerable groups, including women. By emphasizing the role of defenseless spaces in Jiroft, the present study aims to evaluate their effect on women’s security. Data were collected using a questionnaire and analyzed using an independent t-test. Kendall correlation and regression were also applied in order to determine the quality of urban spaces and to evaluate their relationship with women’s safety. The results show that the physical spaces in Jiroft, more than 30% of which are worn out, are of low quality, and thus can be referred to as defenseless. The level of women’s satisfaction with the quality of the space is not high enough and this situation has increased women’s insecurity by 41%. Therefore, reconsidering urban design, especially in the peripheral and suburban areas is necessary, owing to women’s dissatisfaction with the quality of urban spaces and the positive correlation of these spaces with the level of security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, change in cities is advancing due to technological advances, information floods, increasing awareness, and raising living standards. Although the development of a city depends on the activation of urban marketing, an important and well-known city stands out as a brand. One of the strategies of urban management in order to progress in the competitive world market is to plan for sustainable urban branding for the city, which introducing the capabilities of the city, the most important factors in achieving economic benefits of urban branding are tourism and physical space. The metropolis of Hamadan has been selected for this purpose, including urban tourism destinations with historical and touristic species and the capital of Iran's history and civilization. The measurement tool in this study is a questionnaire that will be designed based on the conceptual framework of the research as well as related studies. For this purpose, the components and indicators of urban branding have been identified with emphasis on social, economic, cultural, and physical dimensions and have been used with the opinion of 30 urban experts and specialists and using SPSS25 software analysis at a significant level. It can be concluded that according to the respondents, these variables have a great impact on branding the metropolis of Hamadan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper couples a Forward Feature Selection algorithm with Random Forest (FFS-RF) to create a transition index map, which then guides the spatial allocation for the extrapolation of urban growth using a Cellular Automata model. We used Landsat imagery to generate land cover maps at the years 1998, 2008, and 2018 for the Tehran-Karaj Region (TKR) in Iran. The FFS-RF considered the independent variables of slope, altitude, and distances from urban, crop, greenery, barren, and roads. The FFS-RF revealed temporal non-stationary of drivers from 1998–2008 to 2008–2018. The FFS-RF detected that altitude and distance from greenery were the most important drivers of urban growth during 1998–2008, then distances from crop and barren were the most important drivers during 2008–2018. We used the Total Operating Characteristic to evaluate the transition index maps. Validation during 2008–2018 showed that FFS-RF produced a transition index map that had predictive power no better than an allocation of urban growth near existing urban. Simulation to 2060 extrapolated that Tehran, Karaj, and their adjacent cities will interconnect spatially to form a gigantic city-region. [Display omitted] • A Forward Feature Selection - Random Forest (FFS-RF) model describes urban growth. • FFS-RF found temporal non-stationarity of drivers in Iran's Tehran-Karaj region. • The Total Operating Characteristic evaluated the transition index map (TIM). • FFS-RF produced a TIM that has predictive power no better than a baseline TIM. • FFS-RF and Cellular Automata extrapolated urban growth to the year 2060. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitiveness is one of the basic components of tourism development in cities that can also lead to the general development of tourism in the country. The purpose of the present study was to explain a model for tourism competitiveness in Iranian touristic cities. For this purpose, the initial conceptual model of the research was developed by reviewing the literature. Then, a questionnaire approved by experts was used and the conceptual model of the research was tested with the opinions of experienced tour guides in 184 cities. The conceptual model of the research was tested by the PLS-based path analysis method using Smart-PLS software. In order to analyze the research findings, the validation of the measurement model, structural model, and general research model was performed and the model of localized structural relationships of Iranian touristic cities was developed. The findings of the study indicated that destination management has had the greatest impact on the tourism competitiveness of tourist cities in Iran. Other influencing factors were tourism services, supporting factors and conditions, demand conditions, main resources and attractions, and infrastructures, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qanat is one of the cultural and geological attractions in arid regions. Iran's Qanat has become the 20th UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016. Since the Qanat is a cultural, historical, and ecological heritage in addition to its tectonic features, it can include geotourism and, it offers potentials in planning sustainable tourism. Therefore qanat tourism with emphasis sustainable tourism can cause conservation and regeneration of this local capacity. This research has been conducted with the aim of investigating the capabilities of qanats in Yazd from different aspects of tourism. Yazd ci ty was registered as the World heritage city at UNESCO in 2017. According to the hydrologic and tourism experts, the Delphi model has been used, and the SWOT matrix has been formed. According to the AHP model, the results indicate the importance of the strengths and opportunities of the qanat of tourism in this city. The top strategies for tourism boom include investment, the participation of indigenous people, and the creation of museums and Qanatel in qanats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following publication of the original article (Mansouri Daneshvar et al. 2019), the corrected text with the reference citations are given below: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape services (LS) link structure, function and ecological values. This approach is an alternative to analysis of the suburban environment. By focusing on target social groups, this approach serves an alternative to ecosystem services. The present manuscript seeks to analyze the landscape services in the Saleh Abad area, the suburb of Tehran (Capital of Iran). For this purpose, LS indicators were extracted from literature in three axes: provision, regulation and culture. Then, all indicators were evaluated based on field surveys and interviews with residents. The results were processed in the form of LS quality and capability maps. The outputs were combined using weighted overly. The result provided a base for LS zoning in the region. Finally, the four protective, defensive, offensive and opportunistic strategies were allocated to each zone based on the differences in the capabilities and quality of each zone and consideration of their environmental characteristics. The results show that heterogeneity is evident in the use of space, while the study area is subject to change and the capabilities of space are not used appropriately. The use of landscape services provides a suitable context for strategic model development that commensurates with the potential of the area. If used in a principled manner, it can guarantee the integrated development of the suburban area. However, the link between these services and the formal planning system is the subject of more extensive studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at identifying the suitable lands for urban development in Bandar Abbas city based on its real world use regarding specific criteria and sub-criteria. The city of Bandar Abbas is considered as the most important commercial and economic city of Iran. It is also considered as one of the major cities of Iran which has played a pivotal role in the country's development and progress in recent years especially after the end of Iran-Iraq war owing to its embracing the country's main commercial ports. This process has caused the immigration rate into the city to rise significantly over the past 20 years. Thus, the development of the city is meanwhile considered as a high priority. Bandar Abbas city does not have a rich capacity for growth and development due to its special geographical situation being located in coastal border. Among the limitations placed in the city's development way, natural limitations (heights and sea shore) in the northern and southern parts of the city and structural limitations (military centers) in the east and west sides of the city may be referred. Therefore, identifying the suitable lands for urban development within Bandar Abbas city limits is becoming an essential priority. Therefore, different quantitative and qualitative criteria have been studied in order to select and identify these lands. The structures of qualitative criteria for most parts involve ambiguities and vagueness. This leads us to use Fuzzy logic in this study as a natural method for determining the solutions for problems of Multi- criteria decision making (MCDM). In the current research, a combination of MCDM methods has been presented for analysis. To assignee weights of the criteria Fuzzy AHP (analytic hierarchy process) is used for land selection and Fuzzy TOPSIS (method for order priority by similarity to ideal solution) is utilized to choose the alternative that is the most appropriate through these criteria weights. The sensitivity analysis of the results is included in the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to irregular and uncontrolled expansion of cities in developing countries, currently operational landfill sites cannot be used in the long-term, as people will be living in proximity to these sites and be exposed to unhygienic circumstances. Hence, this study aims at proposing an integrated approach for determining suitable locations for landfills while considering their physical expansion. The proposed approach utilizes the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) to weigh the sets of identified landfill location criteria. Furthermore, the weighted linear combination (WLC) approach was applied for the elicitation of the proper primary locations. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) and cellular automation-based Markov chain method were used to predict urban growth. To demonstrate the applicability of the developed approach, it was applied to a case study, namely the city of Mashhad in Iran, where suitable sites for landfills were identified considering the urban growth in different geographical directions for this city by 2048. The proposed approach could be of use for policymakers, urban planners, and other decision-makers to minimize uncertainty arising from long-term resource allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of post-disaster recovery requires an understanding of the reconstruction process and growth trend of the impacted regions. In case of earthquakes, while remote sensing has been applied for response and damage assessment, its application has not been investigated thoroughly for monitoring the recovery dynamics in spatially and temporally explicit dimensions. The need and necessity for tracking the change in the built-environment through time is essential for post-disaster recovery modeling, and remote sensing is particularly useful for obtaining this information when other sources of data are scarce or unavailable. Additionally, the longitudinal study of repeated observations over time in the built-up areas has its own complexities and limitations. Hence, a model is needed to overcome these barriers to extract the temporal variations from before to after the disaster event. In this study, a method is introduced by using three spectral indices of UI (urban index), NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) and MNDWI (modified normalized difference water index) in a conditional algebra, to build a knowledge-based classifier for extracting the urban/built-up features. This method enables more precise distinction of features based on environmental and socioeconomic variability, by providing flexibility in defining the indices' thresholds with the conditional algebra statements according to local characteristics. The proposed method is applied and implemented in three earthquake cases: New Zealand in 2010, Italy in 2009, and Iran in 2003. The overall accuracies of all built-up/non-urban classifications range between 92% to 96.29%; and the Kappa values vary from 0.79 to 0.91. The annual analysis of each case, spanning from 10 years pre-event, immediate post-event, and until present time (2019), demonstrates the inter-annual change in urban/built-up land surface of the three cases. Results in this study allow a deeper understanding of how the earthquake has impacted the region and how the urban growth is altered after the disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Greenbelt, known as the most restrictive form of urban containment policy, is a geographical boundary around a city or urban region to prevent urban sprawl. In the present study, the urban greenbelt plans were investigated with spatial, temporal, and statistical attitudes in Mashhad city, Iran. Spatial and temporal data analyses were carried out in ENVI, and GIS programs based on satellite imageries in addition to the expert analyzes of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) and QSPM (quantitative strategic planning matrix) matrixes to achieve the key strategies concerning the revitalization of a new greenbelt plan. Results: Four temporal sequences of Landsat imageries were extracted for 1988, 1998, 2008, and 2018 to classify the expansion of real estates and urban sprawl. The results showed that the legal greenbelt plan failed after 10 years because the status of greenbelt in 2018 revealed nearly of occupation by sprawl expansion over than 20%. Then a new greenbelt plan was proposed around the city. Based on the lowest value of the environmental change index (ΔYi), with an average of 0.14, the proposed greenbelt plan will demonstrate an optimum efficiency in the future time intervals (2030–2050). Conclusions: Therefore, expert analyzes of SWOT and QSPM matrixes were shown that the essential weakness of greenbelt planning in the Mashhad city depends on the lack of a legal mechanism to conserve the greenbelt boundaries. Therefore, the total sum score of external factor's matrix with the value of 2.65 demonstrated that the opportunities for greenbelt planning in the study area are more effective than threats in the study area. Ultimately, six key strategies in greenbelt planning were presented to achieve a general equilibrium through future urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]