The Typology of the Spatial Pattern and the Suggestion the Possible Future Scenarios of Possible Urban Systems for the Development of Future Urban System of Alborz Province

Population distribution, economic functions, as well as the status and role of cities in the urban system change and evolve through their interaction with other cities over time. This change in the organization of the urban system is not a static one,   but rather it is a context-dependent issue. Alborz province has experienced highly rapid changes in the urban system that have led to the emergence of severe imbalances in the urban system, increasing population and functional concentration in its metropolitan area compared to other cities and the marginalization of other cities of the province in the urban system. The typology of urban system in Alborz province that aims at describing the spatial pattern in which the cities of this urban system are organized and proposing the possible scenarios for the future spatial pattern of this urban system are the subjects of this article. This issue has been pursued through the analysis of the morphological and functional spatial pattern of cities, the analysis of the grounds affecting the formation of the urban system, and for the examination of the possible futures for the urban system. This research had mainly a descriptive nature, relied on quantitative methods and spatial analyses, and emphasized both morphological and functional aspects. According to the findings, the main east-west corridor of the province is the most important factors in the spatial pattern of this province’s urban system. The urban system of the province might develop in future through three possible spatial scenarios. These scenarios include the corridor, polycentric, and monocentric development patterns. It seems that in the urban system of Alborz province despite the spatial concentration of the population and the majority of the provincial functions in Karaj metropolis, there are potentials for the realization of a more balanced development. The potential and tendency to the corridor development model around the east-west axis, which agrees with the natural, infrastructural, and economic structure of the region, is one of these tendencies that can create a demographic and functional balance in the urban system of the province and lead its cities to take various economic roles.