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.

Ecological condition and natural potentials play an important role in sustainable development and the spatial patterns of rural settlements. Therefore, in order to reduce the adverse effects of environmental conditions and plan for the improvement of the residential status, it is important to know the sustainability of the villages. On the other hand, it can minimize the environmental hazards. This study is an applied in terms of the purpose and it is a descriptive-analytical study in terms of nature and method. Documentation and field observation were used to collect the data. To do this, the data were collected from books, documents, organizations and baseline maps from different organizations (GIS). To measure the environmental feasibility of the villages, measurements like altitude, slope, slope direction, fault distance, access to water resources (river), soil type and climate were used. The AHP hierarchical analysis model was used to obtain the relative weight of each variable and the Fuzzy Overall logic was used to integrate the layers.The results of the study show that 121 villages (68%) are in a stable and favorable environment in terms of environmental potentials and they have 62364 population (73.6); 49 villages (27.5%) with 20516 inhabitants (24.2%)have moderate sustainability; 8 villages (4.5%) are in poor and unstable condition and 1850 people (2.2%) live in unstable villages.Also, in terms of sustainability, the villages located in the center and west of Maragheh are in a better position than that of the east and southeast villages. There was a significant correlation between elevation, slope, distance from river and climate with the distribution of rural areas.

Nowadays, the vulnerability of urban settlements is one of the urban security risk factors. Meanwhile, shelter is one of the most important components of increasing the safety factor in cities in the face of hazards. In the present study, which was conducted using a "descriptive-analytical" method, an attempt was made to find the most appropriate place for the construction of an urban shelter in District One of Ahvaz metropolis. Theoretical data of the research was collected via library research, and after extracting the indicators, the spatial analysis of each index was obtained using GIS modeling. The analysis shows that the best places to build an urban shelter according to specific fuzzy patterns are located in the proximity of the Museum of Contemporary Art, adjacent to the Laleha Cultural and Educational Center, along the Khuzestan Agricultural Jihad Organization, Pars Hospital and Shahid Rajaei Hospital, near Hazrat Khadijeh High School, Hajar Technical Schools, etc.

The structure of urban development planning in our country has non-flexible, inefficient foundations, and the functional geometric approach that theoretical and methodological inadequacy of its paradigm, namely planning focused on its weaknesses and inefficiencies, is transparent, confirms it more and more. In this process, the strategic planning approach, with transforming the planning structure within two parts of the decision-making and decision taking, has proposed some flexible, transparent, and participatory foundations in the field of urban development design. Exercising this approach requires recognizing the priorities, influences, and challenges ahead to understand its existing reality in the urban development process. In this regard, the present study has been carried out with the "application-development" nature and with the "descriptive-analytical” methodology. The sample population of the research is 50 experts and elites related to the research topic selected in a targeted Delphi manner. The analytical tool of the research, due to the goals, is the FLLS model and the structural equation modeling AMOS. The results indicate that: policymaking is the most important stage in the strategic decision-making structure; the stage of reforming and reviewing the plans is the most important stage of the decision-taking strategic structure. These two possess the highest priority for structural changes in Isfahan metropolis. Explaining the Structural Relationship of the Structural Steps to explain the Strategic Planning Implementation in Isfahan's Metropolitan Area shows the significance of the structural relationship and the weighted regression coefficients achieved in this process. It shows the importance of the stage of the reforming and reviewing of the plans in explaining the structural relationship rather than other stages.

Researchers believe that population density is defined as the estimation of the amount of population and their activities. Put it differently, it is equivalent of spatial congestion. This concept is measured based on some environmental indexes. Also, it is closely related to the environment`s design style and culture and environmental indexes. Thus, the environment has a substantial influence on the perception of density which is assessed as spatial configuration. As a result, the environment has a great impact on density perception, which we consider as a spatial configuration. Configuration, in other words, is a set of relationships between spaces that exist in a particular situation in time and affect the perception of density by citizens and environmental quality. In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of using condensation tools in urban planning and trying to create a favorable environment for the residents of Shahid Beheshti residential town of Hamadan. The type of research is applied and its method is descriptive. The information is collected through observation and questionnaire adjusted with the Likert spectrum. The statistical population of the study in Beheshti town of Hamedan is 7652 people, and the sample size is 366 people using Cochran formula. Data analysis was also performed through Spatial Distance Index (SOI) calculations and one-way ANOVA and multiple regression (HMR) tests. Finally, it was found that the lower the spatial distance index (SOI), the more enclosed and compact space, the lower the environmental quality, and the higher the SOI, the higher the openness and extent, and ultimately the higher the environmental quality. As a result, the present study has presented a conceptual framework for planning and designing standard and appropriate spatial configuration of urban space with respect to the level of citizens' perception to improve the quality of the urban environment.

Foresight analysis in land-use planning lets decision makers overcome complexity and reduce uncertainty through a focus on key drivers. This study attempts to identify the most important drivers of change in land use/cover planning in Gorgan Township with the participation of managers and academic experts towards a desired future. The approach is normative and the required data were obtained through investigation of scientific literature and land-use planning documents of Golestan Province. Interviews and meetings with experts also inform the process. Following a literature review, 77 effective factors on the future of land use/cover in the Province were identified. Among these, 22 representative factors were selected according to expert opinions. Two groups, totaling 70 people, consisting of managers of organizations in Golestan Province with links to land use planning and academic experts were asked to answer an online or in-person questionnaire of the effective factors. The structural analysis and cross-impact matrix were applied to the data. According to the result, the factors “Imperative policies”, “Technology”, “Governmental Services” and “Transportation and energy infrastructure” are the key drivers of change in land use/cover and affect the implementation of land-use planning in Gorgan Township. Both groups approved the "Imperative policies" as the most significant key driver which can affect other factors.

As the most essential element of life, water has long been regarded as an indicator of development because it is inextricably linked to the sustainability of human societies, especially the socio-economic function of rural settlements. The main purpose of this study is to explain and root out the causes of groundwater resource draw-down in relation to the socio-economic structure of rural areas. The main issue is that as population growth and demand have increased (to meet the needs of rural communities), excessive exploitation and pressure on groundwater resources have been on the rise. The research data were collected through document analysis and field study. Next, the longitudinal statistics of 40 observational wells (1984-2014) were combined with quantitative observations and interviews with subject matter experts. These were then analyzed through descriptive-analytical methods using inferential statistics and GIS software. Research findings show that the implementation of land reform program, the increase of number of farmers, deep well drilling, the development of irrigated area, and the change of production method had a relationship with unnecessary exploitation and draw-dawn in groundwater level in the research area. The result of the study illustrates the fact that as the population has increased threefold in the living space of the plains, the farms have been fragmented, and numerous deep wells have been drilled, the groundwater level in the aquifer has drawdown to -22 m.

Nowadays, infrastructures play a significant role in the safety process in ordinary times and during the crisis. From this point of view, maintaining the safety of infrastructure against threats would be a security priority for any country; therefore, understanding current situation and vulnerability of infrastructures in a regional scale can be used as an efficient mechanism to formulate regional and national security strategies. This paper assesses the vulnerability of infrastructures with passive defense approach and analytical method, in Yazd province. The analysis of data and information collected were done with analytic network process model (ANP) and geographic information system (GIS) due to the interaction between infrastructures. The results showed that about 51 percent of province area is in the situation of high and very high vulnerability. The central part of the province, Yazd and Meybod, is the most vulnerable regions, because of their failure to comply with principles of passive defense, favorable environmental conditions, further concentration, centralization of infrastructure, and political, administrative, and geographical centrality.

Ports in most parts of the world play a great role in creating integrity between the prosperous of the regions and balancing the supply chain (production, distribution, and consumption). This article is to analyze the spatial interaction between the southern ports of Iran and local-regional hinterlands and explain the role of ports in shaping the spatial structure. For this purpose, a network analysis of commodity flows method is used in 1996, 2006 and 2015. The findings indicate that southern Iran's ports are often the importer of consumer goods in the populated centers, located in regional hinterlands, and, at best, have exported energy sources and raw materials. While urban centers, located in local hinterlands, do not play an effective role in the production and delivery of goods to ports, they are often dependent on the regional center (Shiraz) to meet their consumption needs. It revealed that although the process of spatial inequality has been moving towards greater balance over the past two decades, the development of medium-sized ports and local nodes in the contiguous hinterlands and forelands has led to a balanced monocentric spatial structure in this region.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the situation in Qom and its regions in terms of the water poverty index, which identifies the zonal differences and the dimensions and strengths and weaknesses of each. The basis for determining the Water Poverty Index is the Sullivan method, which is a weight linear combination of components (resources, costs, environment, capacity, and access). The required data were collected through related organizations and analyzed in the framework of this method. There is a difference between the five sections of the county in terms of poverty. Weakness in resources is a common feature among zones, which is significant in some zones and moderate in the others. Also, in terms of human capacity, almost all regions have a good status that can be regarded as a strength. Water consumption management, as the most important option, should be at the forefront of planning and considering the inability to expand water resources. Currently, more than twice as much of renewable water resources are being extracted. The best way to manage water poverty is to make optimal use of available resources and capacities and to focus on research principles, rather than the expansion of water resources in a variety of ways, which can increase the territorial imbalances, domestic disturbance, and lack of control on consumption and so on.