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.

The rundown urban buildings and old neighborhoods with ancient, valuable constructions are like the beating heart of the cities. Nonetheless, they have lost their social, cultural, and economic functions. Urban regeneration is an approach that intends to revive and modernize these rundown buildings and traditional neighborhoods. The purposeful effort to reinject life into these areas and provide conditions for the public presence and participation in its practical process are among the valuable objectives of this approach. The main question of this study revolves around the way to choose intelligently and purposefully the type of regeneration, the intelligent and purposeful selection of the development-inducing uses and project, and the examination of the purposeful effects of the urban development-inducing projects on the process of urban regeneration in Semnan neighborhoods intended for regeneration. This study adopted a descriptive-analytical research method. In order to rate and prioritize regeneration types, land uses, and development-inducing projects in the process of neighborhood regeneration, COPRAS model was used, while CCDS was used to weigh the criteria. In the document analysis part, the main documents in the urban regeneration and development-inducing arenas were examined. Moreover, in the field study section, three committees – comprised of the experts of urbanism and urban regeneration, urban designing, and social and architectural studies – were formed and tens of meetings with the managers and officials of Semnan districts along with urbanism representatives were held during which the development-inducing regeneration capacities in these neighborhoods were discussed and investigated. The results of COPRAS test showed that the development-inducing regeneration with touristic and recreational uses along with the opportunity- and value-making factors of tourist attraction as well as the increase in the international ranking of the city through the purposeful, development-inducing plan of designing and constructing sidewalks and making the central part of the neighborhood walking-oriented, and the development-inducing project of the walking zone of Imam street with the score of 0.739 from the top factor of the purposeful regeneration of Semnan, which needs a serious resolution and precise planning. The first rank in the purposeful regeneration of Dar al-Marhama neighborhood in Semnan is the development-inducing regeneration with the purposeful touristic and recreational use that will increase the position of the city in the competitive and macro environments of Iran and international space. Attracting Iranian and international tourists, changing the nature of the rundown buildings, and preparing the mental state of the citizen about tourism development, this regeneration plan will increase the international status of the Semnan city at the international level and will create urban opportunities and values.

Various spatial instances and outcomes can be shown for every social phenomenon in the urban arena, and this indicates the spatial behavior of social phenomena. The examination of suchlike phenomena from the viewpoint of correlation and synergy reveals the existence of an interactional pattern among them. In this article, it is tried to provide a brief description of the spatial distribution of variables related to social harms such as joblessness, addiction, etc., in the form of spatial statistical analysis. The research method is descriptive-analytical, and it can be categorized as an applied study. In terms of data collection method, the study adopted library research. In order to analyze the data, we used spatial statistics tests in ARC GIS. In the light of the spatial structure of the social class and the spatial pattern of the variance of the rich and poor areas of Tehran, it was found that poverty and dispersion are among the main stimuli of the concentration of various social harms in poor neighborhoods.

One of the environmental hazards and ecological crises that our world is facing now is the phenomenon of land use change. The timely and accurate detection of these changes and land features has an essential role in better understanding the relationships and interactions between human and natural phenomena in order to better manage and use natural resources using theoretical-analytical method. The present study examined and analyzed metrics related to a period of over 30 years. Sorkhabad Protected Area was selected as the target area. The TM-ETM_OLI image series of Landsat satellite in two periods were exploited to investigate the trend of changes using Envi software and the maximum probability classification method with 86% accuracy of information. Then, the available metrics in Fragstate software were used to process the data at three levels, namely patch, class, and landscape. Along with analyzing and evaluating these three levels, the changes in vegetation and animal distribution changes map – prepared by the Zanjan Environmental Research Center foresters in order to map the distribution of native animals of the province – was also examined. The results showed that the conversion of pasturelands into agricultural lands has caused the loss of soil and vegetation and has negatively affected the habitat and population of caracal and deer species that are dependent on these environments. Moreover, overgrazing and deforestation have reduced the growth of forestlands; this has led to the destruction of the habitat of leopard and brown bear, and these changes have also contributed to habitat destruction.

The intelligent managers of this era of constant changes and instability try to know opportunities, challenges, and variables effective on the system under their management so as to increase the possibility of their success. The managers of Yazd province – as one of the developed provinces of Iran – always try to step in the direction of sustainable growth and development by means of strategic planning, knowledge about the capacities of this province, and the management of the possible future challenges. The study at hand was carried out to attain this objective and to get a clearer image of the future of this province in order to identify the variables that are affective on the future of Yazd province. Moreover, conducting structural analysis through MICMAC method, it was tried to investigate the mutual effects of these variables on each other and identify the key drivers of what might form the future of this province. The important variables effective on the system were identified using library research, virtual space monitoring, surveying citizens, and future-related workshops. Variables were prioritized using importance and lack of certainty criteria. Then, the most important ones were fed into the direct effects matrix, and after completion with Delphi method, they were fed into MICMAC software. The outcome of the software was compared with the results of Dimtel method, and finally, the variables of the performance of organizations, balanced development, performance of land use plan, various types of tourism, and attention to water and environment were identified as the most effective variables in the formation of the future of the province.

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.