In this study, the spatial-temporal distribution analysis of housing prices in District 5 of Tehran Municipality and the factors effective on it were investigated. To this end, the data related to housing buying and selling in this district in the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 were used to model the housing price. The results were obtained using GTWR method, which gave in a better measure compared to GWR and OLS methods. The adjusted coefficient of determination in OLS, GWR, and GTWR algorithms were found to be 0.759, 0.798, and 0.835, respectively. GTWR is a method that can model the spatial-temporal heterogeneities that exist in the housing price data. Based on the obtained results, the currency exchange rate (dollar to rial) has the highest effect on modeling housing prices. After that, the physical characteristics of housing – such as its footage and age – are important in modeling housing prices. Finally, the access rate to urban services – such as distance to hospitals, sports centers, educational centers, religious sites, green space, highways, and urban public transportation stations – can improve the modeling of housing prices. The findings of this study show that using dollar-to-rial exchange rate as the independent variable, we can model the housing price with a proper precision.

Water provision service is one of the most valuable ecosystem services that is important as a key service for the healthfulness and management of water resources. In this study, using the Water Yield model of InVEST software, the water supply and demand in Ilam watershed was modeled. The data related to average annual precipitation, annual evaporation and transpiration, root limiting depth, water available for plants,  land use map, water consumption and estimation of water provision quantity, basin boundary, and subbasins of the watershed were the inputs of this model. The results of model application showed that in Ilam watershed, 45 million cubic meters of water provided annually, with the highest and lowest water provision volumes being in Arghavan (7 million cubic meters) and Chalimar (802 thousand cubic meters) subbasins, respectively. According to results, there are great differences in the water supply and demand in the subbasins of this watershed. Therefore, planner and policymakers should pay attention to this important issue in the layout of land uses and foresee sustainable use of rich forests in the high yield subbasins such as Arghavan subbasin. The results provided in this study, along with showing the importance of modeling surface water demand and its used in macro-policies of water allocation, can function as a guideline and help the managers and planners of Ilam city to adopt reasonable decisions in managing ecosystem and correctly using land in this area.

Neglecting coastal erosion and its changes can lead to environmental hazards, which are among the main factors affecting human communities and facilities. Paleontological research demonstrates tens of meters of fluctuation in the water level of the Caspian Sea. The shores of the Caspian Sea have variable topography and land use, including lowlands (estuaries of rivers, gulfs, and progradation) and sandy uplands. In lowlands, there is a slight slope that causes flooding of lands when the sea level rises, as well as an increased piezometric level of coastal aquifers. This study investigates changes in the coastal line from Talesh to Anzali over a period of 45 years using spatiotemporal analysis in the form of coastal cells. For this purpose, ArcGIS software was used to extract the coastal lines of 1975, 1997, and 2020. Then, using DSAS software, the amount of changes in the coastline was determined. The research results showed that changes in the coastal line in the study area were entirely influenced by the fluctuations of the Caspian Sea level, with 77% of the coastal line experiencing more than 30 meters of retreat. Human activities have somewhat prevented the instability of the coastline due to changes in the water level of the Caspian Sea.

The present research has been carried out with the aim of identifying the challenges of tourism in Soleqan village during the Coronavirus pandemic with an analytical approach it is functional and it has been done using qualitative paradigm and exploratory theory method. The research community is made up of tourism experts and specialists from different rural areas and 15 of them were selected by using the combined purposeful sampling method. The data collection method was done using library studies, interview protocol, and direct observation and continued until reaching the theoretical saturation level. Data analysis was performed using coding. The collected data were analyzed through content analysis. The results of the research show that the most important challenges caused by the pandemic in Soleqan village are: not being used, remaining unknown and destroying the human, natural, and cultural capacities of villages, paying less attention to the native and local attractions of the villages, economic recession (poverty and unemployment), the inefficiency of the policy process, planning and lack of government and local support.

Strategic spatial planning is presented as an approach to deal with the chronic challenges facing the sustainable use of space, i.e. the physical-spatial division and the policy-planning division. However, there are major barriers to realizing this approach in Iran, which are affected by its governance and planning system approaches. In this regard, the current research has attempted to identify and explain the major barriers to the realization of strategic spatial planning in Iran with an exploratory approach and a combined interview and targeted Delphi method. The data was collected through a semi-structured interview in the form of a targeted Delphi method in two rounds of 25 experts, and the barriers and related concepts were confirmed, extracted and described using MAXQDA software and Kendall's coefficient of agreement. The results of 405 extracted codes indicated that there are 4 major barriers to the realization of strategic spatial planning in Iran, which are: geographical-spatial barrier (6 explanatory concepts and 26% of the extracted codes), rentier political economy barrier (7 explanatory concepts and 34% of extracted codes), institutional division barrier (7 explanatory concepts and 23% of extracted codes) and structural-spatial division barrier (7 explanatory concepts and 17% of extracted codes). The present study highlights the importance of recognizing and correctly confronting and taking constructive measures against the four mentioned barriers, which are the main sources of physical-spatial and political-planning divisions in the way of realizing strategic spatial planning in Iran.

As the distinguishing boundaries between upper and lower levels, regional plans and programs have an effective role in bringing about coordination between planning levels and improving their effectiveness and functioning. Due to the importance of planning and the results obtained from regional programs, the study at hand set out to examine plans at national, regional, and provincial levels based on regional approach with an emphasis on Gilan province plans. In this study, qualitative research method was used, and to classify the existing knowledge, the required data was divided into research analysis units, namely the plans and programs at the three foregoing levels. These were then analyzed using content analysis and document analysis methods in NVIVO 12 software. After data analysis, 96 open codes were achieved. The homogeneity of the open codes of each of the three levels led us to extract the main axial code titled “region-oriented approach in plans and programs at national, regional, and provincial levels” along with three other secondary axial codes, namely “holism and movement toward abstract and stereotypical concepts and issues,” “regional plans following macro plans,” and “lack of a regional decision making mechanism at the province level.” It is noteworthy that the highest regional approach presence was found at province level with 49 open codes.

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.

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.

The main purpose of this study was modeling the suitability of recreational services in order to identify the high-priority areas for the development of recreational activities. To identify the spatial patterns of recreational services, the landscape attractiveness index, visit rate estimation, and access distribution were combined using a set of sub-indices. Moreover, the weight of each index was calculated using CRITIC weighting method and the importance of each index in the formation of recreational services spatial suitability was determined. The results showed that the presentation of highly recreational services is mainly done in the areas with forest ecosystems, protected areas, and aquatic ecosystems such as rivers and wetlands that have diverse landscapes. On the contrary, urban and human-built areas have the least potential for the provision of recreational services. Getis-Ord Gi* statistic was used to model the recreational suitability, identify recreational suitability clusters, and zoning. With its very low suitability, Zone 1 covers 19.9 percent of the area under study. This zone is mainly filled with agricultural lands (54.7%), grasslands (36.1%), and urban lands (6.8%). In contrast, with its very high recreational suitability, Zone 5 covers 16.5 percent of the area under study. The main uses of the lands in this zone are forest lands (55.5%) and aquatic layers including rivers and wetlands (17.2%).  Zone 3, which has an average suitability rate, covers more than half of the area under study. The approach presented in this study helps identify the development priorities in the light of the recreational potentials of the ecosystems existing in an area. Thus, it can be used to improve the spatial planning of recreation and tourism in order to preserve ecosystem services and sustainable use of them.

In recent years, the infrastructure systems have been mostly failed due to the increase in natural or manmade disasters as well as the internal and external dependencies among system components. The mutual infrastructure dependencies might cause more vulnerability and bring about cascading failures. The main objective of this study was to develop scenarios of geographic interaction in critical infrastructure during urban hazards in Ahvaz. The study was developmental-applied in terms of purpose, while in terms of methodology, it was descriptive-analytical done based on field study and document analysis. The study indices were extracted and related via combining the results of expert opinion and existing records. To develop scenarios, after identifying the variables, the key factors affecting each topic were specified, and then various conditions were defined for each variable. The identification of driving forces in Ahvaz infrastructures interaction was done using models such as “cross-impact analysis” using MICMAC software. In order to identify, analyze, and adopt selected scenarios, cross-impact balance analysis was run in ScenarioWizard software. The inspection of scenario screen in ScenarioWizard software showed that from among 80 existing settings of critical infrastructure spatial interaction drivers, 26 cases (32.5 percent) were in statistic form and 25 cases (3.125 percent) in critical conditions.