Oil pollution in the pipelines transporting petroleum products is an inevitable consequence of population growth and industrialization of communities. In addition to negative environmental effects such as groundwater and soil contamination, it causes changes in the geotechnical properties of local soil. Changes in soil engineering properties can lead to soil rupture and poor performance of transmission lines. Therefore, this study intended to assess the effects of the oil pipeline in the north of Iran on the environment using environmental geotechnic parameters during operation. By analyzing the Iranian matrix, it was found that there were 5 negative effects and consequences in the row and column. The consequences in the column were related to the diversion of the river, creating dams, and spinning, while in the row, these were related to landslides and soil contamination. The results of laboratory studies to investigate the effect of soil contamination on geotechnical parameters showed that the uniaxial strength of samples is decreased by 22%. In addition, the analysis of soil rupture by PLAXIS software showed that by changing the angle of the reinforcements from 20 to 23 degrees, the slope reliability of the soil decreases to less than the minimum reliability in the regulations. Finally, it was suggested that in order to reduce the negative effects and consequences of the projects, the pipelines should not be crossed through forested and sloping areas as much as possible.

Using a spatial information system to manage real estate data has two advantages: one is the storage of valuable data using a real-world spatial index, and the other is the ability to analyze and visualize this data in a new way by collecting numerous information sources. In this research, using the Survey Analyst extension and the Cadastral Editor tool of ARC GIS software, a property registration map (cadastre) of an area of Kerman city has been prepared as an example. First, the required maps were collected, and then the geo-database of the study parcels of the studied area and their topology were designed. In the next step, the Cadastral Fabric Dataset Layer was created, which is the starting point for working with data related to parcels. By transferring parcels to Cadastral fabric, they can be edited or even drawn as a new parcel. In addition, by entering the descriptive information of each parcel, such as owner’s name, type of use, cadastral ID, number of floors, etc., the specifications of each plot of land (parcel) can be accessed. Then, the Automatic Parcels Division tool was implemented as a tool in GIS for automatic division of land plots. This tool has the ability to automatically separate parcels based on shape, size, and direction. This tool can perform divisions visually and statistically very similar to real-world divisions.

Environmental hazards, which encompass a wide range of natural hazards and human hazards, are among the barriers to development in different areas. Landslide is one of the hazards affecting different natural and anthropogenic factors and is one of the barriers to socio-economic and constructive development in each region. In this study, considering the different criteria, the potential of landslide occurrence in Tabriz city has been evaluated using FBWM model. The criteria used in this study are slope, curvature, elevation, fault, geology, vegetation, river and creek, roads, aspect, and land use. FBWM model is used to weight the criteria. This model is one of the newest multi-criteria decision-making models that weigh the criteria by comparing the criteria with each other and generating a nonlinear optimization problem. Finally, after weighting the criteria and creating standard maps, the standard maps and weightings were merged together and overlaid to produce the final map of landslide susceptible areas in Tabriz City. Based on the results, the north and northeast areas of Tabriz have high potential for landslides; these areas correspond to Valiasr town, Baghmishah, Einali Mountains, Pasdaran highway and the surrounding areas. On the other hand, the southern regions of Tabriz have a low potential for landslides. According to the results, 2.5% of Tabriz territory is located in very low potential areas for landslide occurrence, 15.16% is located in low potential areas, 36.04% is located in moderate potential areas, 40.97% is located in high potential areas, and 5.33% is located in very high potential areas for landslide occurrence. The results of this study have implications for organizations and organs such as Tabriz Municipality, Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI), and other organizations related to environmental risks.

One of the pillars of spatial planning is determining the role and function of regions based on their competitive advantages. By developing innovative infrastructure that supports production, regional competitiveness improves regional efficiency and forms a network of complementary and reciprocal relations between regions, which ultimately leads to the capital attraction, value creation, and integrated regional development. In this regard, the present study aims at identifying the creative regions of Iran and determining the competitive advantages of those regions. This study is explanatory applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of methodology. Derived from the document analysis of secondary sources, quantitative data was used to analyze both creativity and competitiveness. The data used to identify creative regions included the number of scientific and research centers and companies, consulting engineers, the industries with high and medium technology, employees in the manufacturing sectors, and the university students of the provinces of Iran. Moreover, the number of employees in major activity groups was used to determine competitiveness. Factor analysis and cluster analysis were performed to identify creative regions, while correspondence analysis was performed to determine competitive advantages in SPSS software. The results show that the provinces of Tehran, East Azerbaijan, Isfahan, Khuzestan, Fars, Kerman, and Mazandaran have the knowledge infrastructure capacity required for creative regions. Isfahan’s share of construction is 11.1 percent, while Tehran’s share of information is 41.2 percent. The interpretation of angles smaller than 0.2 between correspondence analysis vectors reveals that Tehran and Isfahan provinces have competitive advantage in information and communication and manufacturing, respectively. It was also found that most regions of the Iran do not have a specialized role and the competitive advantages of the provinces are not supported by the knowledge infrastructure of the regions.

Distribution of production activities and establishment of industrial units in different regions depend on the decision of firms regarding their location, but there are many important factors that affect the decision-making process. This research main goal is to understand the relationship between industry specialization, diversity of industries, competition between industries, and the concentration of industries over time. The research method is quantitative and follows the method employed by Glaeser et al. (1992). The effect of specialization, relative diversity of industries and competition between industries on industrial concentration have been investigated using geographically weighted regression method. The result of this assessment shows that during the study period with the increasing specialization of industries in the county, in most industrial sectors, increasing industry concentration has occurred. But between the relative diversity of industries and industrial competitiveness and the geographic concentration of industries no significant relationship in the counties was observed.

Integrity and connectivity of habitats are among the important factors for the conservation of plant and animal populations within protected areas, particularly when the habitats are connected. Investigating on the integrity of these areas could help interconnecting islanded patches and preventing the negative impacts of fragmentations. This study aimed to quantify the fragmentations of different regions within the protected area of Jajroud. Land-use map was extracted using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. The acquired data were employed to study the fragmentation of the regions considering the landscape metrics. The results indicate that the northern parts of the region, including the national parks of Khojir and Sorkheh Hesar, in general, possess larger patches and a higher level of connectivity, while the southern part is tending towards small-grain structure. In addition, results support the applicability of landscape metrics in assessing the management of the protected areas and identifying the protection patches in order to prioritize the protection of landscape patches.

Relationships between urban network cities are shaped by demographic trends and the factors affecting it. This research, using two concepts of occupation distribution and urban network, seeks to study the effective factors in the occurrence and intensification of inequalities in the Isfahan city spatial network. In the same way, the changes and transformation of the Isfahan network (including 37 cities of Isfahan approved by City-Region Plan) are considered by employment indicators as well as distance between cities, using network mapping in social network analysis software (Gephi) in three periods: 1996, 2006, 2016. The research method is applied in terms of purpose and application. The data were gathered through library studies and review of documents. The data analysis method is also quantitative. For employment at any time, a separate network is mapped and analyzed. The results indicate that in Isfahan city network at the time of research, demographic changes in populated cities and low population centers do not directly correlate with the shift of employment in the urban network, while there is a direct relationship between cities with a moderate population and the flow of employment. In addition, the metropolis of Isfahan, with a significant percentage of facilities, resources, financial flows, political power, and population flows, does not have decent employment flows rank in urban network cities.

Physical expansion of cities, particularly those that have experienced unusual growth due to economic, social, and political transformations, has led to numerous problems. To this end, the purpose of this study was to investigate conditions of Birjand City regarding flooding and hazard zoning caused by this important natural event. The present study is applied regarding the objective and descriptive-analytic considering its methodology. The study was descriptive-analytic and performed through prediction of the scope of damages caused by floods and based on hazard zoning. Data gathered regarding land use, population density, features of existing watercourses, slope, residential and population density, CN coefficient, runoff, the age of buildings, open spaces, and other influencing components. Collected data were weighed after correction and conversion, and required maps were prepared after conducting paired comparisons and determination of eventual coefficients for each layer. AHP model and associated software, particularly Expert Choice, and ArcGIS, were used to determine final weights and coefficients.  According to the results, given that development of Birjand City has been done on the sub-basin of the existing watercourse, all the city is exposed to the risk of flooding. However, southern and southeastern zones with almost 20% of the city area are subject to high and very high risk; northwestern and southeastern with 50% of the area are subject to average risk; and other zones of the city with less than 30% of area are subject to low and very low risk. As a result, the operation of flood control and flood warning systems in areas with greater vulnerability should be considered, while illegal occupation of flooding basins and watercourses should be dealt with.

Urban societies are complex landscapes that face unbalanced and exogenous growth and are rapidly changing as a result of population growth and urbanization. That is to say, non-urban, large swaths of land are consumed by cities and urban settlements, and over time they are fragmented into smaller pieces. Therefore, the present study was designed to detect and evaluate changes in the landscape structure of Tabriz metropolitan area and to evaluate the performance of landscape metrics in analyzing changes. To this end, first the land use maps for 1984, 2000 and 2018 were prepared using Landsat satellite imagery. Then, in order to analyze the changes, a combination of Landscape metrics including NP, CA, PLAND, LPI, ED, MPS, LSI, and COHESION was computed at two levels of land class and landscape using Fragstats4.2 software. The results showed that the lands used for urban settlement during this period have had the most changes and growth, in contrast to agricultural farms, gardens and green-space which have had a downward trend and have been converted to other uses. Also, the number and density of patches have increased over time, leading to the fragmentation of the landscape. On the other hand, the average size of patches belonging to constructed lands and agricultural and horticultural lands respectively increased and decreased, and caused more distortion and complexity of Tabriz city landscape through an increase in the landscape shape index. In general, the analysis of land use maps and landscape metrics clearly reveals the effects of human activities and urbanization on the surrounding environment, and the results indicate that the landscape of Tabriz has got more granular, more complex and geometrically more irregular. Then, with this decreasing connectivity, it has become more fragmented.

Due to the consequences of globalization, regional development, which has always been highly important in macro planning, requires new approaches that are flexible about regional change. Among these consequences is the emergence of powerful regional economies with high GDP that have drawn the attention of many planners to the concept of competitiveness. Using recently proposed approaches and the important aspects of the global economy, this study set out to explore this concept at the area level. The purpose of this study was to analyze movements and structural-functional relationships in order to develop a local pattern of clusters in Tehran province. This study was a developmental-applied research project in terms of purpose and an analytic-descriptive one in terms of methodology. The data collection was based on document analysis and library studies and the data was collected through note taking, available statistics, and documenting. Data analysis was carried out using cluster analysis and specialized index methods, and the results were used in identifying activity clusters after examining the natural capability of each county. The results of the analysis show that the pattern of activity in Tehran province is the metropolis-dominated cluster pattern, and the counties which are located in the province can be identified in the form of 5 regional-local clusters. The above mentioned clusters of activities can provide the basis for regional development in Tehran province by joint and purposeful planning based on the priorities offered in this article.