The assessment of the ecological potential of the environment is to determine and measure the potential power and the natural use type of the land. Therefore, the environment power assessment is a tool for the management of geographical space and strategic planning for sustainable development and correct use of land sources. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ecological potential of agricultural and rangeland use in Kangavar city with an area of ​​883.9 km2 using Makhdoom ecological model. To this end, the required data and ecological resources were collected and generated. After creating and combining the maps in the ArcGIS system in a multi-hybrid way, the maps of environmental units were constructed and the ecological potential of the area was evaluated using the features of each environmental unit. To do this, the indicators and variables that could be involved in each of these models were examined. To classify the ecological potential of the area for agricultural and rangeland uses and to produce the map of different classes potential, 15 parameters were used as criteria for weighting and measuring the power. The results of Kangavar city ecological potential assessment led to the extraction of 58 environmental units in 7 classes with completely suitable, suitable, weak, and unsuitable power classes for agricultural and rangeland use. An area of about 356.79 Km2 was found to have suitable and completely suitable power for agricultural use. In addition, it was estimated that an area of about 72.23 Km2 would be appropriate for rangeland and rainfed agricultural use with suitable power. An area of about 483.26 Km2 of Kangavar city is currently allocated to agricultural use, while the optimal area for this means is 356.79 Km2. Thus, the land use of an area of about 126.47 Km2 has been converted to agricultural purposes. According to the results, the lands of the region have been exploited more than their potential for agricultural use (irrigated and rainfed) and the lands with rangeland use have been changed to agricultural use.

Hospitals are among the most essential human services whose role in the health of the citizens is very important. One of the important issues related to hospitals in developed cities is determining the optimal location for their construction. In this study, in order to select the optimal hospital location, a combination of expert opinions, GIS, and MCDM was used. For this purpose, 12 criteria were selected for the spatial modeling of the potential areas of hospital establishment, and then the weight of each criterion was calculated using the weighting method of Analytic Network Process (ANP). Then, a map of the potential areas for the hospital establishment was prepared and 11 sites in the potential areas were selected. In the next step, the weight of each criterion was determined again using Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method. Then, by the integration of two weighting methods, i.e., ANP and CRITIC, with two MCDM methods, i.e., EDAS and VIKOR, these sites were ranked. The results of spatial modeling showed that the western half of the district is more suitable for the construction of a new hospital than the other areas. According to the results of the ANP, the distance from hospitals, and according to the results of the CRITIC, the seismic vulnerability were the most important criterions in determining the optimal hospital location. Based on the ranking results coming from CRITIC-EDAS, CRITIC-VIKOR, and ANP-EDAS, the site No. 1, and according to the ranking results of the ANP-VIKOR, the site No. 8 have been the most suitable places for the construction of a new hospital. In the light of the results of the site evaluations by experts, CRITIC-EDAS and CRITIC-VIKOR methods are more accurate for hospital location selection.

Up until now, Islamic Republic of Iran – rising from among people and adopting a religious and divine discourse – has provided a unique model of the administration of people’s affairs in various dimensions through the creation and enhancement of institutions and structures appropriate to its political system. Accordingly, the consideration of ideals in the form of structures, institutions, and approaches is an issue that has a unique role in strengthening the internal structure of this political system. In this article, using the descriptive-analytical method and collecting data through document analysis, library research, and survey methods, city council – as an institution rising from the public vote and a phenomenon similar to local parliament – are defined as the dependent variable. Moreover, in line with the identification of the dimensions and history of these councils, the position of council in Islamic thought is discussed. According to the obtained results, it can be maintained that councils’ importance has four important and effective aspects, namely participation in, distribution of, penetration in, and formation of the identity of power and internal structure strength. To this end, they play roles in four directions, namely strengthening the internal structure cohesion through providing identity to individuals’ roles, enhancing the influence of the Islamic political system in various layers of people and society, fulfilling the maximum participation of people and the role of people in governance, and the just distribution of resources based on reality and the local and national desires. It was found that councils have had greater effectiveness in the fulfillment of maximum participation and involvement of people in governance compared to other directions.

The detection of urban landscape changes in urban areas is of utmost importance for the maintenance of the safety of environment and the promotion of sustainable development. To this end, the consideration of the spatial metrics capabilities to describe the landscape structure can be a valuable move to identify the growth models in metropolises. The purpose of this study was to provide the urban-rural gradient analysis of the landscape metrics in Tehran metropolis in the year 2018 as well as the analysis of their change trend in order to investigate the spatial-chronological changes in the landscape. In order to analyze the metrics, the moving window method was used at landscape and class levels. To this end, Landsat 8 satellite images were used, and the landcover was divided into human-made, open, vegetation, and water lands in a supervised manner. As with the gradient analysis, transects with 4km*4km dimensions at four directions – namely center-northeast, center-southeast, center-northwest, and center-southwest were directed from District 12 of Tehran Municipality in GIS 10.2 software. The results showed that at the landscape level, the closer we go to the business center of Tehran Metropolis, the number and density of patches increase, while the closer we go to rural areas the average index of landscape shape has relatively uniform changes. At the class level, the more distant we get from the business center of Tehran metropolis, the percentage of human-made patches and open lands increases and that of the vegetation patches decreases. Then, it might be concluded that urban development has brought about an increase in the density of patches in landscape, such that in the central transect, the continuity of landscape is reduced, and the fragmentation of the structural elements of landscape is increased. The land use changes have led to the expansion of the city toward the country and have negatively affected the vegetation and water resources.

In the current era, justice and advancement are deemed as the two wings of sustainable development, with each being worthless without the other. As one of the main service systems in cities, public transportation has an important role in the realization of justice. As a result, the purpose of this article was to analyze and rank the 15 districts of Isfahan metropolis based on justice in accessing public transportation. In order to attain this goal, the required data was collected using document analysis and field study (through observation and questionnaire). The Best-Worst (BWM) and COCOSO methods were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that Districts 1 and 3 had the most and Districts 9, 11, and 14 the least public transportation facilities. Moreover, the need to public transportation – in terms of the number of users – was highest in Districts 8 and 10 and lowest in Districts 2, 9, and 11. The combination of these two factors also showed that Districts 1, 2, 3, and 15 had bigger facility to user ratios, while Districts 8, 10, 11, and 14 had smaller facility to user ratios. In the other districts, the facility to user ratio was mainly moderate. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to this gap between facilities and users’ needs when planning for public transportation in future.

The prediction of climactic changes is of great importance due to their destructive effects on aquatic, environmental, economic, and social resources. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to predict the climactic changes of Kermanshah city using micro-scale general atmospheric circulation models accessible in LARS-WG6 (GFDL-CM3, MPI-ESM-MR, MIROC5) model in scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 for the 2020 to 2100 period based on the benchmark period of 1980-2010. In order to evaluate the data forecasted in LARS-WG model, the error rate of the observed and predicted data was addressed using R2, RMSE, MSE, and MAD criteria. The results showed that LARS-WG model had the needed capability to predict climactic data in future. In the secondary models, the MPI-ESM-MR model in scenario RCP4.5 showed a higher reliability rate compared to other secondary models evaluated in the study. Moreover, all models indicated increases in the average minimum and maximum temperature and forecasted changes in rainfall pattern in future periods in the studied area. Then, the SPI and De Martonne indices were calculated for all models. According to SPI index, all evaluated climactic models demonstrated that by the year 2100, the years with normal index would decrease while the years with dry conditions would increase. Moreover, based on De Martonne index, the GFDL model in RCP8.5 scenario estimated the climactic changes level more than other models, and predicted that dry and semi-dry years will be more than wet years. Contrarily, the MIRO model in RCP45 scenario acted more optimistically and predicted less climactic changes.

Land use in Shahre Rey has experienced unprecedented growth in urban areas in recent decades. Land use changes affect social, economic, and environmental conditions. Gathering information about these changes is essential for better planning and management of urban areas in sustainable development. Consequently, the object of this paper is to better examine the Shahre Rey land use changes affected by urban development and to investigate urban landscape integrity using the 1988-2018 "Fragmentation" index. Moreover, it was intended to provide solutions for the determination of hot spots based on appropriate criteria. With the help of Landsat satellite images, four land uses – including urban landscapes, agricultural lands, green spaces, and barren lands – were extracted and the extent of land use changes was determined. In order to investigate the fragmentation of Shahre Rey landscape, the metrics of the number of patches, patch density, and the largest patch were used. Cross-Tab was also used in a part of the study. The results showed that the land use areas of ​​urban lands and urban green space had increased by 369.7 and 55.6 hectares, respectively, while agricultural lands and barren lands had decreased by 213.8 and 211.5 hectares, respectively. In urban land use, integration had increased. In the green space and agriculture land uses, fragmentation has increased due to the creation and construction of roads. Based on the criteria of  "position relative to borders and roads as well as the area and size of patches,'' solutions were made to determine the "hot spots" of vegetation and residential areas to help making plans for the improvement of their conditions. The reason is that land use change, especially the loss of vegetation, has a negative impact on the landscape.

The goals of the present study were to analyze changes in land cover and to estimate a future scenario for 2028 using an artificial neural network in the Karaj Metropolis. To this end, the effects of land use changes in response to urban expansion on landscape patterns were investigated in three baseline, current, and future scenarios using landscape metrics and gradient analysis. The results showed that during a 22-year period, the agricultural and Garden lands have been severely damaged due to urban expansion. The results of the evaluation of changes in landscape also indicate that urban expansion in in development in the north-south transect to the margins (especially northward) and the east-west transect with a gentle slope to the west of the region. It is also anticipated that in the future scenario, if the current trend continues, the northern margin of Karaj metropolis will be changed from natural environment to a completely human-made one. Therefore, considering the results of the Pd and Ed metrics in both transects over the three examined years, it can be said that the area has expanded to the margin and there has not been much changes in the landscape of downtown. In addition, the decrease in the Pd and NP in all three scenarios indicates the consistency of urban landscape. In general, population growth and urban development have made the landscape pattern in Karaj metropolis to be a more regular and less varied one. The results indicate that spatial heterogeneity has altered the landscape patterns. Therefore, the growth of construction land in some areas should be restricted, and balanced development should be adopted to prevent the fragmentation of the landscape.

The habitat development and establishment are directly related to the natural bedrock and geomorphologic complications. Due to topographical and geological conditions, the area under study has certain limitations in locating and developing human settlements. In order to reduce the hazards in the southeast of Khorasan Razavi province and modify plans for the development and establishment of human settlements, the feasibility of the area under study for residential development was investigated. After conducting library and field studies and selecting appropriate criteria, the fuzzy logic model was applied using the GIS software to identify areas for habitat development and establishment. In this study, to identify the potential areas for habitat development and establishment based on geomorphologic landforms, eleven parameters – including slope, slope direction, elevation, soil, land use, elevation, distance from fault, distance from river, distance from road, distance from settlement, and geomorphology – were used as independent variables in identifying geomorphological abilities and bottlenecks in the area. The results of zoning based on the fuzzy model showed that about 61% of the study area is located in very inappropriate and inappropriate classes, which means that geomorphological conditions in this part of the study area are unfavorable for the development and establishment of human settlements. About 14.58% of the study area has moderate conditions and about 24% of the study area shows favorable geomorphological conditions for construction activities and creation of new habitat areas. Alluvial fan units and alluvial plains are the most suitable sites for habitat development and establishment.

Investigating the changes in groundwater aquifers in planning the sustainable management of water resources in each region is of particular importance. Therefore, reducing the level of groundwater aquifer changes requires proper management and planning to exploit water resources. In this study, the level of groundwater aquifer changes in Urmia Lake basin was examined for the period from 2002 to 2017 using GRACE satellite data (JPL, GFZ, CSR triple bands, CRI Filtered model, time and space filter, and Lew-Thiknth uncertainty dry product) in the Google Earth Engine. The results of the triple bands showed that the JPL band estimated the average level of groundwater aquifer changes on May 1, 2004 as 14.947 cm, while the GFZ band on estimated this as -30.558 cm on September 1, 2015 and the CSR band estimated this amount as -28.206 cm. Therefore, CRI Filtered model can very accurately identify the boundary between land and water zones. The results showed that this model estimated the maximum thickness of liquid water in the groundwater aquifer at March 31, 2002 as about 11.599 cm and its uncertainty at about 9.767 cm. It can be said that the least amount of thickness of liquid water is estimated on 13 August 2015 as 12.309 cm with an uncertainty level of 10.759 cm. According to the results, the level of groundwater change in aquifers in terms of liquid water thickness parameter (Lew-Thiknth) in the northern parts of the Urmia Lake basin and in terms of uncertainty in the northeastern part of the Urmia Lake basin is experiencing a strong decline in the aquifer water levels.