Recognizing the function and pattern of urban network activity in regional areas to identify potentials and assets correctly leads to effectively guiding spatial planning for achieving creative competitiveness and spatial balance at the regional level. The current research attempts to analyze the spatial pattern of activity accumulation and distribution in the urban network of Khuzestan province using a practical and developmental approach, along with a descriptive-analytical method. Activity and employment statistics of 78 urban points in the province, based on data from the Iranian Statistics Center and the regional survey plan of Khuzestan province, have been cited.The results from spatial autocorrelation analysis and the z-score function, as well as the Repilli k function, show that activities related to the agricultural sector have a cluster distribution pattern in the urban network of the province. On the other hand, the activities of the industry and service sectors in the province follow a scattered pattern. Spatial analysis of the activities in the urban network of the province indicates that due to the proximity of cities to each other and the close employment statistics in each of the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors, the northern parts of the province and the southern part (specifically the ports of Imam and Bandar Mahshahr) show the most areas related to hot spots from an activity point of view. Meanwhile, the service function in the urban network of the province, despite having significant employees, exhibits the most cold spots and dispersion, especially in the central areas of the province.

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.

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.

Metropolitan regions as a new form of urbanization are expanding rapidly and under the influence of different factors, have different growth patterns. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the evolution of form in the metropolitan area of Tehran under the influence of urban land expansion during the years 1986 to 2016 using the urban land density function. The results of this study show that the trend of urban land expansion in recent years has shifted the shape of the region to a scattered and decentralized pattern. The results of the study of the expansion of urban land in the form of the region at the middle and micro level show that other cities around the metropolis of Tehran have become wider and more scattered over time. Findings show that over time, urban density in urban areas and rural areas and around the metropolis of Tehran has increased under the influence of urban expansion waves.  In the metropolitan area of Tehran, the increase in the boundary between the urban edge and the surrounding areas over a period of thirty years describes the vast urban expansion. In the metropolitan area of Tehran, in recent years, the slope, changes in barren lands, distance from built-up areas, changes in agricultural use, and distance from main roads have had the greatest impact on the expansion of urban land. The rapid growth and urban sprawl in a metropolitan area in metropolitan areas, above all, affect the peripheral areas and cause a disruption of the spatial order, the destruction of natural lands around, increasing marginalization and informal settlement and integration of areas. It becomes a village in the urban space.