One of the principles of sustainable urban development is equal access of all citizens to the required services. Basically this matter comes true when different urban lands and resources, equally allocate to the spatial and social units of the city.Sincecommercial and service land uses are used by city dwellers daily, their locating and spatial distribution in cities is very important. Proper distribution of chain stores plays a significant role in reducing transpotation costs, quick supply of goods and services, suitable access to parking and other urban supplementary services. A chain store consists of several co-owned and centralized retail stores. The purpose of this study is improvement on spatial distribution of chain stores in Tabriz. To this end, first, the indicators of chain stores locating identified through available resources and documents and then through quantitative and spatial analysis methods using GIS capabilities, distribution of chain stores in urban areas of Tabriz was studied. Six criteria including population, type of communication, centrality, compatible uses, local equilibrium and radius of access have been used for a comprehensive analysis. After preparing the layers related to the above parameters using analytical tools in Arc Map software, they were integrated and the final layer was extracted. The results show that the distribution pattern of chain stores in Tabriz is random and it doesn't have a specific pattern. Also, the location criteria for the current stores have not been met in a desirable manner.

Regrading population growth and economic development of human societies, the disposal of municipal waste has become an environmental concern all around the world. Landfilling is a common way for the disposal of municipal wastes. Improper landfill, however, may cause a series of inverse impacts. Siting of landfills is only licensed under strict environmental considerations. This study is carried out to environmentally evaluate the active municipal landfills in Mazandaran province according to the national regulations of the Iranian Department of Environment and Waste Management organization. The Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and Hierarchical analysis processes (AHP) have been used to spatial analysis and to weight effective criteria in this study. Restricted areas were scored beside permitted areas to classify and rate the active landfills in the state. Totally, 13 sites are used for landfilling in this province. By developing the spatial competency map, these sites are evaluated environmentally. The results show that generally the active landfills of the Mazandaran cities have very low suitability while most of them non-standard and placed in the buffers of restricted areas. As a result of this study, the municipal landfill of Fereydoonkenar found to be the worst site between these 13 landfills in the Mazandaran province.

Land use mapping and land use maps related to the prediction of spatial-temporal changes provide a major portion of the information required by urban planners and administrators to adopt correct measures and make principled decisions to achieve sustainable urban development. The purpose of this investigation was to examine land use and land cover changes in Yasuj city in the past and, consequently, to predict the spatial pattern of the land structure in the near future. In this study, the satellite object-based image analysis of the images taken by Landsat satellite in 1990, 2000, and 2018 was used to make a dynamic modeling of Yasuj lands use changes. Moreover, a combination of the Markov chain and automated cells were employed to predict land use changes. The results showed that during the period between 1991 and 2018, the area of pasturelands decreased by 7.18%, while the total area of residential areas increased by 2.02%. That is to say, the spread of Yasuj city has led to the increase in the residential and irrigated cultivation lands, while it has decreased pastures, forests, dryland cultivation areas, barren lands, and gardens. Furthermore, the development process of Yasuj city shows its tendency to physical-spatial expansion in all dimensions. Moreover, the land use map for the years 2030 and 2040 was predicted by the CA-Markov model. The results showed that during the period 2018-2040, pasturelands, dryland farming areas, and forests will decrease 1.08%, 1.03%, and 1.47%, respectively, residential areas will increase by 4.17%, and the waterbody will change a little. The results of the study show the high efficiency of the CA-Marcov model for monitoring the trend of changes, especially urban growth, for the coming years based on the pattern of changes in the past years.

One of the important aspects of development from the spatial perspective is the evaluation of the effective long-term processes on the institutional mechanisms of a land and the determination of share of the respective areas in this regard. For many years, economy has been hurriedly moving toward a knowledge-based stance, and the countries that have neglected this movement have been deprived of fundamental developments. In this applied study, which adopts an analytical approach and a quantitative view, the necessity of the proposition of a strategic attitude to the two-way relationship between higher education and the industry sector of Iran is addressed. To this end, first an overview of the previous studies and theoretical principles are made. Then, following the questions and hypotheses and determining the evaluation and analysis methods, the detailed information on over 11 variables (including panel data of 31 provinces of Iran from 2016 to 2019) are collected. These are then analyzed and tested using Excel, Eviews, and Arc GIS through spatial econometrics, generalized method of moments (GMM), weight matrix and geographic-spatial correlation (λ), and KP-HET diagnostic tests. According to the results, the spatial correlation between higher education and industry in Iran is highly significant, and the shock resulting from the industrial and educational development is completely mutual. That is to say, the shock inflicted upon a given province has spread to other provinces of Iran. The findings of this study confirm the effects of the emphasis on the centralization policy stereotype and the prescriptive – rather than land-use-based – roles given to certain parts of Iran. In fact, the very high spatial correlation demonstrates that the nine less-developed provinces of Iran have experienced trivial industrial growth due to a lack of higher education infrastructure. On the other hand, the results of this study shows how the market demand for labor of the university graduates is aligned with the functions of the knowledge-based industries of Iran.

Several benefits that humans get from ecosystems are called ecosystem services. Carbon sequestration as an eco- regulation service is declining, due to the transformation and destruction of the earth used to recompense the burgeoning human needs for development. In the present study, a pilot landscape of hyrcanian forests, protected area in Jahannama was selected. By examining the land use / cover changes during 2001 to 2018, future condition of the land will be set to determine the carbon storage and carbon sequestration model in 2036. The amount of carbon in the four carbon storage sources including biomass, underground biomass, soil and organic matter along with IPCC reports facilities, field studies and sampling was extracted. Deterioration trend in forest lands and grassland with remarkable role in carbon sequestration was sharpened. The reduction trend will be predicted to reach as much as 40 per cent which will be equivalent to 400859 tons per land. With the same rate in land deterioration, a considerable decrease in ecosystem storage and carbon sequestration’ potentiality will be expected present study indicated that the integration of the concept of the ecosystem services in land planning discourse and land use management via the provision of spatial maps of ecosystem services on a regional scale, along with the rational development of human use, ecological hazards should be minimized, as a result better decision will be made in planning the land. It is also suggested that to enhance the quality of Jahannama ecosystem services in development plans and review within the protected boundaries and the principled management of land use within the protective boundaries.

Spatial imbalances and spatial inequalities exist at different levels, and the realization of spatial and social justice at these levels depends on eliminating these imbalances through spatial planning. Service organizations to clients and, most importantly, the Welfare Organization, may have a lot of data and figures from their clients, but in many cases, existing data does not have a spatial dimension, and they are purely descriptive. The main objective of this research is to analyses spatially clients covered by welfare in the scale of Mashhad, in both regional and neighborhood level. The statistics required for this study are collected from the Department of Welfare of Khorasan Razavi and Mashhad. The methods used for spatial analysis are the standard deviation elliptic index, regional and neighborhood demographic density, kernel density, basic graphic statistical methods including the nearest neighbor's index, spatial autocorrelation measurement models such as general Moran I and LISA. The results of this research, presented in various maps and diagrams, show that the welfare beneficiaries in the city of Mashhad have not been distributed equally and different regions and neighborhoods have a significant difference, with the highest number of clients in regions 2, 3 and 4, the city of Mashhad where tjeay are located in the north and northeastern parts of the city. Also, at the neighborhood level, Shahid Ghorbani, Northern Tabarsi, Derevey and Bahman neighborhoods include the most welfare-clients population. In a general analysis based on the kernel density analysis, it can be stated that four condensed nuclei and a subunit formed in the city of Mashhad. Also, the results of Moran indicator and others indicate that the spatial distribution pattern of welfare clients in Mashhad is quite clustered and in particular parts of Mashhad, which mainly coincide with the informal settlements of the city and the eastern and northern parts of the city are distributed in cluster form.

Prioritizing sub-basins in terms of flooding potential has an important impact on catchment management. The purpose of prioritizing flood basins below basins is to provide a model to reduce flood hazards and evaluate the role of sub basins in peak discharge hydrograph of outflow from basin. In this study, flood potentials of sub-basins were determined based on 12 morphometric parameters and prioritization of Gadar sub-basins based on combined morphometric analysis method and statistical correlation. Initially, values ​​of 12 morphometric parameters and index (Cv) were calculated and sub-basins were zoned for flood potential. Then, the relationship between the parameters and the effect weight of each were analyzed using Kendall's blend correlation and weighted sum analysis (WSA). Finally, Sub-Basin Prioritization Index (SWPI) was calculated based on WLS method for each sub-basin. In order to validate the results, past destructive flood location data in the Gadar catchment were used. The results showed that in the flood potential method based on 12 morphometric parameters calculated under Sheikhan tea and Sufian tea basins with high flood potential, sub-spring source basin with medium potential and Godard tea basins and Nalivan creek basins have They have little potential for flooding. In fact, 33.83% of Gadar basin area has high risk potential, 14.28% has moderate risk potential and 51.88% has low risk potential. The results of morphometric parameters and statistical correlation showed that sub-basins of Sheikh tea and Sufian tea with 24.1 and 21.10 priority sub-basins were identified respectively. Comparison of the results of the two methods with the morphometric and geomorphologic conditions of the sub-basins shows that the results obtained by relying on 12 morphometric parameters are more in line with the geomorphic conditions of the basin.

Compared to other cities, metropolises are exposed to the more vulnerabilities derived from environmental disasters because of their population, and the vulnerability of most of them is even increasing. The assessment of vulnerability, especially in specific intervals, generates new foundations for better urban planning and management. Additionally, the concept of the term “vulnerability” has been emphasized in the context of studying the relationship between natural-human interconnected systems, and consequently, in urban ecology. On the other side, population movements in different districts of big cities always follow different models. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to identify the spatial connection of population changes of the districts of Tehran metropolis with the changes in environmental vulnerability intensity in the last decade. The methodology of the research included the assessment of vulnerability in three layers, namely the damages stemming from natural disasters, urban structure, and environment in the last decade in Tehran. In addition, the vulnerability has been measured in accordance with the census statistics of population changes in 22 districts of Tehran in the recent decade. The results of the research modeling show that the southern area of the city has had the highest increase in vulnerability during the last decade, and so, it has had the highest reduction of the population, too. Nonetheless, the district 18, which is located in the west zone of the city, has faced an increase in population despite its increased vulnerability. Moreover, the northeastern area of the city has faced increased vulnerability as well as a sharp increase in population during the last decade. These changes can challenge this part of the city because of possible future crises. Finally, the reduction of vulnerability along with the increase in urban population has happened in the northwestern area. To keep this vulnerability low, the acceptable capacity of the population in this part of the city (especially district 22) should be taken into account.

Due to the growing importance of environmental problems and increasing human interventions in natural environments, it is necessary to use spatial planning and sustainable development approach in order to conserve natural resources and move along with the land and its productive capacity. The rough topography of Lorestan Province has caused a large part of its lands to be recognized as national lands due to their steep slope and the necessity of preventing the destruction of natural resources. However, there some activities such as agriculture, industry, tourism, etc., which are possible if certain conditions and criteria are met. Regarding the dependence of the region's economy on agriculture and the increase in unemployment, these lands can be used to develop agricultural activities based on their environmental potentials using spatial planning approach. The purpose of this applied study was to determine the potential of national lands of Chalancholan basin in the east of Lorestan Province for the development of agricultural activities. We used tools and data such as topographic maps, geological maps, climate data, pedology, hydrology, and Arc GIS software to determine national lands with agricultural potential based on the guidelines and standards of the Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization of Iran, taking into account the local conditions. To this end, first, the land units (geomorphology) were determined and then, the allowable land uses were specified in each of the homogeneous environmental unit. Next, different variables were used to assess the suitability of national lands for agricultural land uses. The study results showed that national lands under study are more suitable for dryland agriculture compared to irrigated agriculture and horticulture, the reason of which is poor pedogenesis‎ due to geological characteristics of the region and limited water resources. The study results indicate that the lands located in the plains and alluvial sediments are more suitable for irrigated agriculture and horticulture, while the lands surrounding the plains are more suitable for drayland agriculture.

Population distribution, economic functions, as well as the status and role of cities in the urban system change and evolve through their interaction with other cities over time. This change in the organization of the urban system is not a static one,   but rather it is a context-dependent issue. Alborz province has experienced highly rapid changes in the urban system that have led to the emergence of severe imbalances in the urban system, increasing population and functional concentration in its metropolitan area compared to other cities and the marginalization of other cities of the province in the urban system. The typology of urban system in Alborz province that aims at describing the spatial pattern in which the cities of this urban system are organized and proposing the possible scenarios for the future spatial pattern of this urban system are the subjects of this article. This issue has been pursued through the analysis of the morphological and functional spatial pattern of cities, the analysis of the grounds affecting the formation of the urban system, and for the examination of the possible futures for the urban system. This research had mainly a descriptive nature, relied on quantitative methods and spatial analyses, and emphasized both morphological and functional aspects. According to the findings, the main east-west corridor of the province is the most important factors in the spatial pattern of this province’s urban system. The urban system of the province might develop in future through three possible spatial scenarios. These scenarios include the corridor, polycentric, and monocentric development patterns. It seems that in the urban system of Alborz province despite the spatial concentration of the population and the majority of the provincial functions in Karaj metropolis, there are potentials for the realization of a more balanced development. The potential and tendency to the corridor development model around the east-west axis, which agrees with the natural, infrastructural, and economic structure of the region, is one of these tendencies that can create a demographic and functional balance in the urban system of the province and lead its cities to take various economic roles.