Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1
Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Art, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
2
Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Urban Planning and Art, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
10.22034/jsc.2021.285427.1469
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
Urban environment is a space where human needs are met and therefore it should be suitable for human life. Failure to pay attention to the social and physical dimensions of cities in sustainable development puts various development programs and projects at risk, because physical and social sustainability depends on justice in the physical distribution of services in an adequate manner. Therefore, in this research, an attempt has been made to measure the sustainability capacity of Urmia city based on social and physical indicators and using quantitative models. According to its purpose, this research is an applied research and according to the method of doing the work, it has a descriptive-analytical nature. Information has been collected through library studies, available articles, field studies and census data of Iran Statistics Center in 2015. Thus, after studying and reviewing the documents and sources related to sustainable development, effective social and physical indicators from the perspective of sustainability were extracted and then according to the availability of GIS data, 12 indicators were selected from among the various influential factors to reach the research output. The weight of the indicators was calculated using the best-worst method in Gamez software, and finally, by multiplying the weights in the standardized indicators based on fuzzy functions, the sustainability capacity in Urmia city was measured. The results show that 8% of the city area is in the very low stability zone, 16% in the low stability zone, 4% in the medium stability zone, 36% in the high stability zone and 36% in the very high stability zone.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The urban environment is a space in which human needs are met and therefore must be suitable for human life. Achieving the quality of a suitable and sustainable urban environment and consequently, human values and human growth are considered as the most important goals of urban sustainable planning and development. Therefore, the design pattern of urban spaces can be effective in achieving physical and social sustainability. Lack of attention to the social and physical dimensions of cities in sustainable development endangers various development programs and projects because physical and social sustainability depends on justice in the sufficient physical distribution of services. Therefore, in this study, an attempt has been made to measure the sustainability of Urmia city based on social and physical indicators and using quantitative models.
Methodology
The study is part of applied and descriptive-analytical researches in terms of purpose and method, respectively. Data collection was done through library studies, existing articles, field studies, and census information of the Statistics Center of Iran in 2016. Thus, after studying the documents and resources related to sustainable development, effective social and physical indicators from the perspective of sustainability are extracted, and then, according to the availability of GIS information, 12 indicators from different factors to achieve the research output have been chosen. These indicators include the number of employees, number of literate people, number of young population, access to recreation centers, number of immigrants, access to educational centers, access to main thoroughfares, building strength, access to medical centers, building density, access to religious and cultural centers and the age of buildings. Considering that each effective indicator in measuring physical and social sustainability has different coefficients of importance, so in this article, the opinions of the elites have been used to determine the weight (coefficient of importance) of the indicators. To weight the indicators according to the BWM method, 15 questionnaires have been compiled based on the pairwise comparison of indicators, which is based on the preference of the best indicator over other indicators and also the preference of other indicators over the worst index. In the next step, the data of the questionnaires were calculated and analyzed by GAMS software. The weights calculated with the value of lε obtained for 15 questionnaires were 0.07, which due to its proximity to the number zero indicates the stability and consistency of the calculated weights. In order to perform spatial analysis, first, the information layers of the indicators are digitized and edited in the GIS software, and by converting the information layers into raster graphics and standardizing them based on fuzzy functions, the significance coefficient calculated by the BWM method is multiplied in each indicator and by using weighted sum, the indicators are combined to measure the degree of social and physical stability in the city of Urmia.
Results and discussion
After determining the weight of the indicators with the best-worst model, in the next step, in order to perform spatial analysis, digitization, and creation of a database, each indicator has been done in the GIS software. This information was obtained from the development plans of Urmia city, including the comprehensive plan, detailed plan, and field surveys of the researcher so that this stage has taken up the most research time. In the next step, the operation of geo-referencing the information layers based on the location of Urmia city in zone 38, has been carried out, and finally, the construction of standard maps has been done. After preparing the information layers, all the above indicators have been converted to raster maps using the format conversion tool. In the next step, the indicators have been standardized based on large fuzzy functions and GIS software. The combination of 12 fuzzy indicators to measure social and physical stability in the city of Urmia indicates that 8% of the city is in the zone of very low sustainability, 16% is in the zone of low sustainability, 4% is in the zone of medium sustainability, 36% is in the zone of high sustainability, and 36% is in the zone of very high sustainability.
Conclusion
In general, it can be said that the level of sustainability is more in the inner parts of the city, so that the more we move from the central part to the outskirts of the city, due to the accommodation of immigrants, distance from various urban facilities and equipment, etc. sustainability decreases. Finally, suggestions for improving the sustainability indicators of Urmia, are presented as follows:
- Creating the necessary platform for the participation of all sectors in urban planning;
- Observing justice in the spatial distribution of urban facilities and equipment;
- Modeling different dimensions of sustainable development in decisions related to the city and away from a purely physical and economic perspective;
- Improvement, renovation, and rehabilitation of worn-out textures in the central part of the city as well as suburban settlements;
- Paying attention to physical and social capacities in future urban development;
- And so on.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.
Keywords
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