The sustainable physical-spatial development of Mashhad urban complex is the prerequisite of attaining sustainable regional (provincial) and national development. This necessitates paying attention to the development of scenarios that set the ground for the development of Mashhad.  In the study at hand, it was tried through the participation of the provincial managers and academic experts to identify first the key drivers of physical-spatial changes in the rural settlements of Mashhad urban complex and then the scenarios effective on the physical-spatial development of these settlements. This study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of research method. The data was collected through library research, document analysis, and survey (interview) methods. Examining scientific resources, 69 factors effective on the physical-spatial changes were identified, which were grouped into five dimensions. Then, 29 participants in two groups, namely the managers of the related organizations and academic experts, were interviewed. Data analysis was done based on future research techniques, including Schwartz model, structural analysis, and interaction analysis, using Micmac and Scenario Wizard software packages. The results showed that 512 scenarios have weak compatibility, and only one scenario has strong, sustainable compatibility (zero incompatibility) (2.8 percent of possible scenarios are credible). The first scenario, which is in positive direction, has the overall interaction effect score of 771 and compatibility value of 7, while the second scenario that expresses the fairly favorable conditions for the future of rural settlements has the overall interaction effect score of 736 and compatibility value of -2. The third scenario, which has the compatibility value of -3 and the overall interaction effect score of 695, can be one of the possible scenarios for the future physical-spatial changes in rural areas, too.

As city framework, the city spatial organization is a broader and more comprehensive concept than city spatial structure. In fact, the spatial structure tends only to the physical structure of the city, while spatial organization takes also into account the examination and identification of various functions, including economic, social, transportation functions. In addition, high-rise buildings – as phenomena that have flourished in the past decade in Hamedan and are still growing – have always got influenced by various factors and have affected various urban aspects such as spatial-physical, economic, social, environmental, and traffic dimensions. In fact, in addition to the effects of this issue on the physical structure of the city, they have brought about many changes in the spatial and functional organization of the city such that changes in the daily commuting to shopping centers, offices, etc. in the city are clearly observable. On the other hand, the previous studies have rarely addressed the effect of high-rise buildings on the spatial and functional organization of the city in major areas of business. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate the effects of high-rise buildings in the form of major modern central business districts on the spatial-functional organization of Hamedan city. This study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. Moreover, in order to collect the required data, the documents related to urban development plans, field observations, interviews, and questionnaires were used. Then, to analyze the obtained data, the spatial-locative analysis models in GIS environment were adopted. The conceptual model of this study provided 8 indices for the analysis of the effects of modern high-rise CBDs on city spatial-functional organization, and each of them was analyzed spatially. The results of the analyses indicated that in the single-core spatial organization of Hamedan city, there is a high concentration on the central part of the city, but this concentrated area is expanding and new urban cores are emerging due to various factors. One of the reasons for the appearance of these new cores is business-office high-rise buildings. Another noteworthy finding of this study is that the majority of these newly emerging urban cores are growing along Buali-Jahannama road. Therefore, due to the changes in the spatial-functional structure of the city, paying more attention to urban infrastructures and flexible planning should be among the main priorities of the city management.

City Development Strategy (CDS), which aims at reducing poverty, bringing about sustainable development, enhancing participation, and creating good urban governance, has attracted the attention of many Iranian scientific circles. This approach can replace the previous inflexible plans for the removal of the future crises in all cities of Iran. It is clear that in case the novel city development strategies are not used and the old methods and policies are exercised, the problems of Iran cannot be solved. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of Malard city using Meta SWOT model and to propose effective strategies to achieve sustainable development of this city. This study was descriptive-analytical in terms of research method, applied in terms of purpose, and mixed-methods in terms of approach. The statistical population was comprised of 50 managers of Malard city. Based on the obtained results, the reduction of water resources, excessive migration (especially the increase in the share of Afghans in city population composition), and social harms are the main obstacles to the sustainable development of Malard city that need to be taken into account in the strategic development planning process of this city. Moreover, among the factors effective on the sustainable development of Malard city, the suitable grounds for agricultural activities and   conversion and complementary industries as well as ethnic and cultural diversity have strategic fitness.

It has been years since innovation was first introduced as a driver of economic development. In addition, after a decade of attention to the regional innovation system policies in the Yazd province, this approach has not shown any positive effect on the development of the province. Thus, this study set out to provide a suitable model for the regional innovation system development in Iran following the investigation of the Yazd province as a case study. To this end, this study used the exploratory factor analysis and relative importance index to identify and analyze the key factors effective on the development of regional innovation system. The findings obtained from the opinions of experts and actors of this field showed that the three factors of human resources; the Science and Technology Park; and growth, innovation, and creativity centers in Yazd Province have the highest importance among all studied factors. This reveals the concentration of finances, policies, and projects on these factors and ignorance of other factors. In the light of the importance and the designated priorities, the factors of innovation system in Yazd province were classified into five groups. These included human and social resources, innovation infrastructure, innovation processes, business dynamics, and endogenous development. It can be concluded that so far, the concentration has been on the elementary stage of regional innovation system model – which essentially functions as the input for the system – and the innovation system in Yazd province is in its early stages. Accordingly to the obtained model of the study, the regional innovation system development in Yazd province needs concentration on the three groups of factors, i.e., innovation processes, business dynamism, and endogenous development.

One of the policies that has been taken into account by many countries to develop sustainable tourism is the development of touristic towns and villages in a centralized manner and the prevention of haphazard, unplanned contractions that destroy environment, sociocultural context, and economic structure of the touristic attraction sites. This policy was enacted by the Iranian cabinet in 2017. The purpose of this study was to present a methodology to identify the spaces suitable for the development of touristic towns and villages. The study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of methodology. As the input of the analytic model, the spatial territory of Mazandaran province was divided into 23007 spatial units, each covering 100 hectares. Then, the development of touristic towns and villages were evaluated and prioritized. In this article, the combined index of “the priority of the development of touristic towns and villages in Mazandaran province” was made by combining exploratory factor analysis and network analysis (F’ANP) based on 14 factors effective on the development of touristic towns and villages. The resulting map was then trimmed based on four control indices. The findings of the model showed that the three factors of “environmental potential and transportation infrastructure,” “the quantity and quality of serving the tourists,” and “tourism investment potential” are effective on the prioritization of Mazandaran province spaces in order to develop touristic towns and villages. The results of study demonstrated that the development of touristic towns and villages in this province is possible in the middle and eastern side of seashore, in limited areas in the eastern plains, and in the eastern and western mountainous lands.

The progress of smartening cities on the one hand and the requirements of urban sustainability on the other hand have paved the way for transition to the sustainable smart city. The study at hand was carried out to present an optimal model of smart city from the viewpoint of sustainable urban development. This study was an applied research project in terms of purpose and a cross-sectional survey in terms of research method and data collection timespan. The statistical population included urban management managers and experts. The optimal sample size was determined to be 384 using Morgan’s table and the participants were selected via simple random sampling method. The data was collected through a questionnaire that had been validated through construct, convergent, and divergent validity measures. Using Cronbach’s alpha and combined reliability measures, the dependability of the questionnaire was confirmed. To validate the smart city model from the viewpoint of sustainable urban development, the partial least squares regression and Smart PLS software were used. According to the obtained results, the smart urban infrastructure and smart governance are the two cornerstones of the model that have the strongest effects on the creation of a smart city based on sustainable development. The effectiveness rate is decreased in the subsequent levels and the variables at the same level show mutual interaction. By affecting the smartening of transportation and influencing the technology-based smart businesses, these factors lay support to smart economy and environment. Then, through smart structures and smart people, the sustainable urban development can be attained, which in turn leads to smartening the city.

Demographic changes in recent decades have led to rapid changes in Iran's urban system and its hierarchy, with one of its consequences being the increase or decrease in the ranking of cities in this system. The present study examines the position of Tabriz metropolis in the urban system of Iran from 1335 to 1395, and by forecasting the population of this metropolis by 2031, it tries to determine the future position of this city in the urban system of Iran. This study is practical in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and research method. The data in the present study were obtained through document analysis and field study (questionnaire and interview). Interviews were used to understand the causes of emigration and a questionnaire was used to understand the causes of fertility decline in Tabriz metropolis. The sample sizes for both instruments were determined based on the saturation principle. The exponential model, Spectrum software, and rank mobility index were used to predict the demographic factors, population forecast, and the study of metropolitan rank changes in the urban system, respectively. The obtained results showed that the decrease in fertility rate and migration are the main reasons for the sharp decline in population growth in the metropolis of Tabriz, with the economic reasons being the main reason. In addition, assuming the fertility rates of 1.5, 1.8, and 2.1 in Tabriz, we will see 1.64, 1.69, and 1.74 million increases in the population of the city, respectively, as well as a decrease in the population of minors and a doubling of elderly population over 65 by the year 2031. The results of population forecast show that the position of Tabriz metropolis will be stabilized as the sixth largest city of Iran's urban system by 2031, but its distance from the seventh metropolis (Qom) will be less, which requires special attention and proper management to prevent its rank from falling again.

The land-use changes and urban development are among the fundamental topics of spatial planning. Monitoring changes in previous years and predicting these changes in the coming years have a significant role in planning and organizing urban spaces. The purpose of this study was to investigate land-use change and urban development in Ahvaz with a landscaping approach based on balanced urban development. .Images of TM (1989), ETM+ (2002), and OLI (2019) of the Landsat satellite are the basis for analyzing this trend. LCM model was used to identify the past changes, while CA-Markov chain model was applied to predict the future changes. These images were classified using a support vector machine algorithm of the object-oriented method, and the land-use maps were prepared using three sensors with four classes of vegetation, barren areas, constructed areas, and water zones. The accuracy of maps was improved separately using NDVI and SAVI indexes in the classification of the images. The efficiency of the indexes was measure by kappa coefficients and the overall accuracy of land-use maps, and then changes were investigated using maps related to the superior index. The results showed that maps related to the SAVI index were more accurate and accordingly, they were used in assessing land-use changes. The LCM model showed that in the periods 1989-2002 and 2002-2019, 2602.92 hectares and 31174.77 hectares were added to the built areas, respectively. In both periods, the most changes were about converting barren lands to built-up areas and the least changes were related to the transformation of the built-up areas to water areas. The results of the CA-Markov model until 2029 showed the continuity of the increasing trend of built-up areas, such that in ten years, 2238.82 hectares will be added to the built-up areas, and it is anticipated that the area will reach approximately 12345.63 hectares by 2029.

Nowadays, problems related to the environment, society, and identity of cities derives from their expansion and the increasing penetration of natural space by human-made space. Green spaces are deemed not only as a green patch at the disposal of the masses, but also as a factor for the improvement of citizens’ life. On the other hand, the destruction and removal of homogeneity and continuity of natural infrastructures and green networks threatens the biological diversity and brings about limitations for development. Therefore, continuity of the urban green spaces provides habitats and corridors that help the preservation of biological diversity. To develop green space networks, increase continuity, and revive biological diversity, urban planners have used landscape ecology principles. Adopting a descriptive-analytical method and review of the scientific resources, this study investigated landscape connections and their importance for the preservation of biological diversity. Maragheh city green space network was modeled in GIS according to Graph theory. Then, the ecologic continuity analysis was carried out through Conefor software along with Integral Continuity (IIC) measure and point picking algorithm, and the urban green patches were valuated. At the end, the potential corridors in Maragheh city were identified using the least cost method, which then developed and improved the green space networks. The results of this study reveal that the majority of the built corridors are located around the city like a green belt. The main reason for this is the positioning of the main habitats in the city outskirts. Moreover, the green space network developed based on Graph theory made the complex landscape simpler and more organized, and helped with the identification of green space and the guidance of urban planning for the protection of biological diversity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyze the logistics spatial structure changes and to explain the objective factors affecting it in the Tehran metropolitan region during the period 1986-2011. The research method was descriptive-analytical, and in order to achieve the objectives of the research, three analytical methods – including indicators of number changes, growth rate, as well as the relative rate of changes in population density – employed in the logistics sector of each geographical area were used. On the other hand, analytical methods for measuring the degree of spatial concentration such as Gini coefficient and spatial autocorrelation as well as multiple regression analysis were used to estimate the correlation of effective factors with the spatial distribution of the employees working in the logistics sector (as the independent variable). The results of the analysis show that from 1986 to 2011, the spatial pattern of the logistics geographical distribution in the Tehran metropolitan region was centralized, consisting of the logistics cluster of Tehran metropolis. That is to say, tracking the process of spatial changes showed the decentralization of the population working in the logistics sector of Tehran metropolis and the concentration of this working population in the western and southwestern geographical areas surrounding the metropolis. From 1986 to 1996, among the objective factors affecting the logistics spatial patterns of metropolitan areas, the spatial distribution of the population working in the logistics sector had a higher correlation with the spatial distribution of population and labor force. That is to say, the higher the number and density of population and labor force in the geographical area, the higher the population working in the logistics sector. However, from 2006 to 2011, the spatial distribution of the population working in the logistics sector had a higher correlation with the spatial distribution of the population and the literacy rate.