https://www.jscity.ir/ Sustainable city en daily 1 Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0330 Sat, 01 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0330 https://www.jscity.ir/article_247241.html A B S T R A C T The central part of the Tehran metropolis, despite its strategic location, rich historical legacy, and unparalleled role as the capital's physical and functional identity, faces deep and multifaceted challenges - including physical deterioration, population instability, decline in residential functions, and socio-economic stagnation. In such circumstances, the analytical capacities of the political economy of space and urban social ecology approaches can serve as effective drivers of regeneration and reorganization. This research aims to identify and prioritize the driving forces affecting future spatial transformations of central Tehran, with particular emphasis on the theoretical and analytical contributions of these two approaches. This applied-developmental and descriptive-analytical study employed an exploratory, scenario-based approach to identify driving factors and forces. Variables were identified through library research and environmental scanning, while data collected using the Delphi technique from 40 selected specialists and experts. Data were analyzed utilizing structural analysis in MICMAC and scenario planning in Scenario Wizard. The results indicate that the driving forces affecting central Tehran are currently unstable. Key influential factors include the centralization and concentration of facilities, social segregation and economic weakness, the north-south social gradient, changing needs, migration and marginalization, land speculation, centrifugal forces and the exodus of the middle class, the historical bazaar and the density of specific land uses, and increasing insecurity along with traffic and construction restrictions. These have collectively exerted the most significant impact on the transformations of central Tehran. The future spatial transformations of this metropolis are intrinsically linked to the effective, mutually interacting dynamics of these driving force. Extended Abstract Introduction The development of urban centers before industrialization was mainly influenced by cultural criteria. However, with the advent of the industrial age in the early 20th century, new criteria emerged, leading to fundamental changes in the urban context. Population growth and demand for modern elements pushed urban space toward disorganization and imbalance. These transformations led to the transfer of some functions from the central part to surrounding areas and the emergence of social, economic, and spatial issues. In the metropolis of Tehran, rapid population growth and excessive physical development created problems such as the central part’s lack of conformity with new urbanization patterns, as well as traffic congestion and pollution. What is important is to recognize and explain the transforming factors and mechanisms and to discover how these forces will function in the future and bring about change in the central part of the Tehran metropolis. Therefore, identifying the factors and driving forces in the developments of the central part can address the aforementioned issues, prevent the continuation of disturbances, and prepare the central part to adapt to impending needs. As the historical and functional heart of the capital, central Tehran has experienced considerable transformations over time. These transformations have been shaped by a complex interplay of social, economic, political, and spatial forces. The decline of residential functions, the outmigration of the middle class, the rise of informal settlements, and the increasing concentration of administrative and commercial activities are among the most visible manifestations. Understanding the underlying drivers is essential for any effective urban planning and policy-making aimed at revitalizing the central area. The main goal is to identify the factors and the mode of action of the driving and key forces affecting the spatial changes and transformations of central Tehran through two basic approaches: the political economy of space and urban ecology. This will pave the way to answer this fundamental question: What factors and forces affect the spatial development of Tehran’s central part? The political economy of space approach emphasizes the role of capital accumulation, land rent, and state intervention in shaping urban space, while the urban ecology approach focuses on the processes of competition, invasion, and succession among social groups. By combining these two theoretical lenses, the research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the driving forces behind the transformations of central Tehran. Methodology The research is applied-developmental in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of its nature and method. It adopted an exploratory and scenario-based approach to identify driving factors and forces. Variables were identified using library research and environmental scanning techniques, while information and data were collected utilizing the Delphi technique from a sample of 40 selected specialists and experts. The Delphi technique, which involves multiple rounds of anonymous questionnaires with controlled feedback, was chosen for its ability to generate consensus among experts on complex and uncertain issues. The experts were selected based on their expertise in urban planning, geography, sociology, economics, and related fields, as well as their familiarity with the specific context of Tehran. For data analysis, structural analysis was employed in MICMAC software, and Scenario Wizard software used for scenario planning. Structural analysis is a method for identifying the key variables that influence a system by examining the direct and indirect relationships among them. MICMAC allows researchers to analyze the influence and dependence of variables and to identify the driving forces that shape the evolution of a system. Scenario Wizard facilitates the construction and evaluation of alternative future scenarios based on different combinations of key variables. Together, these tools enabled the research to identify the most significant driving forces and to explore their potential implications for the future of central Tehran. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed via Cronbach's alpha, which yielded a value of 0.809, indicating acceptable reliability. Content validity was confirmed through expert review, with a Content Validity Ratio (CVR) of 0.7, exceeding the minimum acceptable threshold of 0.42. Results and Discussion Based on theoretical foundations, research background, and expert opinions, 75 key factors affecting the changes and developments of the central part of the Tehran metropolis were identified at three levels—local, regional, and national-international. The cross-matrix method was used to evaluate the effectiveness and influence of variables. This matrix demonstrates that indicators of political-management, economic, and physical groups are more influential than influenced, while socio-cultural groups are identified as influential variables. The analysis of the variable states in the scatter plot indicates system instability. In the analysis of the scatterplot of variables related to changes and developments in central Tehran, three categories of variables can be identified within the system: Decisive or influencing driving forces: The concentration of opportunities and facilities in Tehran and its centrality; the social isolation and economic weakness of society; migration and the formation of suburbs and marginalization; political economy, commercialism, and the land market; and the escape from the center and departure of the middle class. These driving forces represent the most powerful factors shaping the transformations. They are characterized by their high influence on other variables and their relatively low dependence, meaning that they act as primary drivers of change. The concentration of opportunities and facilities in Tehran has created a powerful magnet effect, drawing investment, services, and population toward the capital while simultaneously marginalizing other regions. This centralization has reinforced the primacy of Tehran within the national urban system, but it has also generated significant spatial inequalities and pressures on the central part. Social segregation, manifested in the north-south divide, has further exacerbated these inequalities, with the northern parts enjoying better infrastructure and services, while the southern parts, including the central area, have experienced neglect and decline. Migration and suburbs formation have contributed to the decentralization of population and economic activities, weakening the central part's role as a vibrant urban core. The political economy of space, commercialism, and the land market have driven speculative investments and land price increases, further marginalizing low-income groups and pushing them to the periphery. The escape from the center and departure of the middle class have reduced the social diversity and vitality of the central area, creating a cycle of decline and disinvestment. Two-way driving forces: These variables have two common characteristics: high influence and high dependence. Any action on these variables will cause a reaction and change in other variables. These variables can be divided into two groups: risk variables and target variables. Out of the total of 75 variables, 10 fall into this group. The two-faceted variables include: the economic value of land, the reluctance of the private sector to invest in the city center, the financial and functional-managerial weakness of the municipality, and decision-making by powerful institutions and individuals. These variables are both influenced by and influential upon other variables, making them critical leverage points for intervention. The economic value of land, for instance, is influenced by market dynamics, zoning regulations, and infrastructure investments, but it also shapes investment, development, and displacement patterns. The reluctance of the private sector to invest in the city center reflects perceptions of risk and low returns, which are in turn influenced by the physical deterioration of the built environment and the lack of effective incentives. The financial and functional-managerial weakness of the municipality constrains its ability to provide services, enforce regulations, and implement development projects, while also undermining its capacity to coordinate with other actors and to mobilize resources for urban renewal. Decision-making by powerful institutions and individuals, often driven by narrow interests rather than public welfare, further complicates the planning and governance of the central area, resulting in fragmented and inconsistent policies that fail to address the root causes of decline. Influential variables: These variables have very high influence on the system and very low dependence. They consist of building structure, the formation of suburbs around Tehran, the migration of residents from the central part to the suburbs, the micro-structure and multiplicity of land parcels ownership, increase in the insecurity factor, increase in private and public vehicles, the reduction of renovation tendencies among people, physical obstacles and the level of construction feasibility, road networks and access to roads, and the evolution of roads and communication networks. These variables are largely independent of other variables but exert a significant impact on them, positioning them as important structural determinants of change. The physical structure of buildings determines the possibilities for renovation and change of use, while the multiplicity of ownership creates fragmentation and coordination problems that hinder comprehensive redevelopment. The formation of suburbs around Tehran has drawn population and investment away from the central area, while the rise in private vehicles has exacerbated traffic congestion and pollution. The reduction of renovation tendencies reflects a lack of confidence in the future of the central area, driven by insecurity, life’s low quality, and the absence of effective incentives. Physical obstacles, such as narrow streets and dilapidated buildings, further constrain construction feasibility. Road networks and access shape the connectivity and accessibility of the central area, influencing its attractiveness for investment and residence. The results of the structural analysis indicate that the system of variables affecting central Tehran is characterized by instability and complexity. The high number of variables located near the diagonal axis of the scatterplot suggests that the system is in a state of flux, with many variables exerting mutual influence. This finding has imperative implications for urban planning, as it suggests that interventions targeting a single variable may have unintended consequences and that a more holistic and integrated approach is needed. The instability of the system also implies that small changes in key variables can trigger significant and potentially unpredictable transformations, making scenario planning an essential tool for exploring alternative futures. Conclusion The results exhibited that among the factors affecting developments in central Tehran, the concentration of opportunities and facilities and its centrality was the most significant factor influencing the development process, especially in its central part. Succeeding this factor, social segregation—in other words, the division of society into northern and southern parts—along with the transformation of needs and changes in people's tendencies, has also played an effective role. In addition, migration has occurred in all major Iranian cities in recent decades, and Tehran is not an exception. Sustained rural-to-urban migration to Tehran has triggered comprehensive economic, social, and physical change. The expansion of suburbanization and the emergence of marginalization—aimed at settling newly arrived immigrants who cannot be absorbed into the city's economic and social system—as well as the implementation of new town plans designed to absorb population overflow in large cities, have led to intra-city and extra-city relocations, and the central parts of cities have not remained untouched. Issues related to the political economy of space, the integration of big cities (as capitals) into the world economy, the expansion of capitalist ideas, and the land market resulting from the penetration of ideas originating from the perspective of the political economy of space have also been influential. Consequently, the political economy of space has emerged as one of the driving and key effective forces in the development of central Tehran in recent decades. In general, it can be concluded that Tehran, as a national metropolis with transnational functions at the global level, has not remained isolated from the development process, consistent with the views expressed in the field of urban development globally. Based on this, from a planning and forward-looking perspective, if decisions are to be made to change and control the existing situation—in other words, urban foresight—attention to the aforementioned factors will be essential. The scenario-based approach adopted in this research has demonstrated that the future of central Tehran is not predetermined but will be shaped by the interplay of various driving forces and the decisions made by urban planners and policy-makers. By identifying the key driving forces and exploring alternative future scenarios, this research provides a valuable foundation for strategic urban planning and policy-making aimed at revitalizing the central part of Tehran and ensuring its sustainable development in the years to come. Funding There is no funding support. Authors’ Contribution The second, third, and fourth authors participated in writing the theoretical foundations and designing the research methodology. The first author conducted the data analysis and supervised the overall research process. Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper. https://www.jscity.ir/article_247068.html A B S T R A C T The realization of the e-city not only introduces a novel paradigm at the urban level but also facilitates citizens' and administrators' access to the hallmarks of a developed, creative, clean, cultural, and knowledge-based urban society. This study aims to investigate the role of e-municipality in improving urban governance in Malayer, Iran. Employing an applied-developmental approach with a descriptive-analytical design, the research draws on a statistical population comprising citizens, municipal experts and managers, city council members, and information technology specialists in Malayer. Based on Cochran's formula, a sample size of 384 respondents was determined. Data were collected through a standardized questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS software via Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The reliability of the instrument was confirmed through Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The findings reveal that the implementation of e-municipality exerts a positive and statistically significant influence on all dimensions of urban governance. The strongest effect was observed on "managerial efficiency" (path coefficient = 0.71), followed by "transparency" (0.65), "citizen participation in decision-making" (0.63), and "citizen satisfaction" (0.58). Nevertheless, the barrier analysis indicates that the most critical challenges are predominantly human and institutional in nature, with "staff skill deficiencies," "shortage of specialized IT personnel," and "lack of interoperability among information systems" ranking as the foremost obstacles. The results underscore that achieving sound urban governance necessitates more than a sole focus on technical infrastructure. The prevailing gaps in financial transparency and genuine citizen participation call for a strategic shift from infrastructure development toward human capital empowerment, software integration, and the reinforcement of supervisory mechanisms. Extended Abstract Introduction The transition from traditional management paradigms to urban governance represents a critical juncture in shaping the quality of life within human settlements and ensuring the sustainability of urban development. This is because the effectiveness of urban management fundamentally determines the regulatory framework for urban programs and the capacity to address multifaceted urban challenges. In contemporary urbanization, the conventional managerial model has become obsolete, proving inadequate in responding to the multidimensional, interdisciplinary, and interconnected social, economic, and environmental sustainability challenges that define modern cities. Consequently, urban managers must capitalize on emerging opportunities that facilitate integrated analysis of urban problems and, in turn, yield comprehensive solutions. Today, cities worldwide are embracing a novel conceptual framework to tackle these challenges and enhance urban administration: the concept of "urban governance." In essence, urban governance coalesces around the triad of public-private partnerships, community engagement, and their dynamic interaction with information and communication technologies (ICTs). Given the extensive scope of municipal responsibilities in many countries, the realization of e-government has often been initiated at the municipal level. Provided that e-readiness within organizations and nations is adequately developed, the effective deployment of e-city and e-municipality initiatives can be pursued. In Iran, within the coming years, citizens will inevitably need to function as e-citizens, and the government will be compelled to deliver a wide array of electronic services—including e-municipality, e-commerce, e-banking, e-entertainment, e-consultation, e-health, and even e-gaming, among others. The congestion and density characteristic of large metropolitan areas, coupled with the diurnal population fluctuations, pervasive light, noise, air, and spatial pollution, along with persistent traffic congestion and time constraints, have necessitated the search for remedial measures to alleviate the hardships inherent in urban life. The simultaneous advent of the communication and computer industries, followed by networked communications via the internet, has engendered a new urban sphere often referred to as the "virtual city." Urban managers are thus compelled to pursue the realization of e-municipality through well-designed plans and effective operational measures. Malayer, as the second most populous city in Hamadan Province and a regional industrial and agricultural hub, confronts specific urban management challenges, including inter-departmental incoordination within the municipality, a lack of transparency in financial and budgetary processes, and low levels of citizen engagement in electronic participation. According to internal reports, the utilization rate of non-face-to-face municipal services in this city is estimated at below 20%, indicating a suboptimal status compared to peer cities of similar scale. Moreover, the absence of any systematic investigation into the impact of e-municipality on urban governance in Malayer renders this study an inescapable necessity. The findings of this research are expected to serve as a strategic roadmap for urban managers, facilitating optimal resource allocation and prioritization of executive actions. The establishment of e-municipality in Malayer holds the potential to enhance urban governance by fostering transparency, mitigating administrative corruption, and expediting service delivery to citizens. This approach not only enables residents of Malayer to access municipal services anytime and anywhere but also, by reinforcing public participation and leveraging ICTs, contributes to addressing local challenges such as traffic management, waste disposal, and neighborhood-based development. Hence, the implementation of e-municipality in Malayer can be regarded as a strategic pathway toward achieving sustainable development and improving the overall quality of life in the city. Methodology The present study is applied-developmental in terms of its objective and employs a descriptive-survey design with respect to its data collection method. The descriptive approach was adopted to delineate the current state of affairs, while the survey approach was utilized to test the research hypotheses through structural equation modeling (SEM). Data collection in this research combined library and documentary studies—to elucidate the theoretical foundations and research background—with field surveys using a questionnaire. The statistical population consisted of the residents of Malayer, totaling 181,000 individuals, stratified into four homogeneous categories: (1) citizens (85% of the population), (2) municipal experts and managers (10%), (3) city council members (1%), and (4) information technology specialists (4%). Inclusion criteria encompassed: (a) at least 5 years of residency in Malayer for citizens, (b) a minimum of 3 years of relevant professional experience for experts, (c) basic familiarity with the concepts of electronic services, and (d) willingness to cooperate and complete the questionnaire. Exclusion criteria comprised: (a) failure to complete more than 10% of the questionnaire items, and (b) provision of repetitive or nonsensical responses. Given the heterogeneity of the population, a stratified proportional sampling method with optimal allocation was employed. The sample size was calculated using Cochran's formula for a finite population (with a 5% margin of error and a 95% confidence level), yielding 384 respondents. The sample distribution was allocated as follows: 189 citizens, 139 municipal experts, 9 council members, and 47 information technology specialists. The primary research instrument was a researcher-developed questionnaire comprising 32 items, designed based on the theoretical framework of the study and the extant literature (including the works of Khatam et al., 2023; Karamodini et al., 2023; and Krasnykov et al., 2024). The Content Validity Ratio (CVR) for all items was calculated to exceed 0.78. Construct validity was further confirmed through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), with Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and Composite Reliability (CR) indices meeting the acceptable thresholds. Reliability was established via Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which yielded a value of 0.89 for the entire questionnaire. Data analysis was conducted using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, implemented through SmartPLS software (version 3.3.9). Results and Discussion Of the 384 participants, 60.9% were male and 39.1% were female. The predominant age group was 30–40 years (41.9%), while the smallest cohort was aged above 50 years (9.9%). Approximately 63.5% of respondents were under 40 years of age, which is likely attributable to this demographic's higher utilization of electronic services. In terms of educational attainment, 44.5% held a bachelor's degree and 3.1% possessed a doctorate. Overall, 65.3% held a bachelor's degree or higher, indicating a relatively elevated level of knowledge among the respondents. Regarding occupational distribution, ordinary citizens constituted the largest share at 49.2%, followed by municipal experts and managers (36.2%), information technology specialists (12.2%), and city council members (2.3%). This distribution suggests that the perspectives of both service providers and service recipients were adequately and equitably represented in the research. The results of the first hypothesis test confirmed that the e-municipality of Malayer exerts a statistically significant impact on transparency, citizen satisfaction/accountability, participation, and managerial efficiency. Notably, the strongest effect was observed on managerial efficiency (path coefficient = 0.71, effect size = 0.49, large), primarily driven by reduced in-person referrals and accelerated administrative processes. In contrast, its effect on citizen satisfaction/accountability (path coefficient = 0.58, effect size = 0.18, medium) was comparatively weaker, suggesting that the mere digitization of services does not necessarily translate into full citizen satisfaction or effective accountability. Furthermore, while transparency demonstrated improvement (path coefficient = 0.65), a pronounced gap persists between the dissemination of information regarding civil projects and financial/budgetary transparency, necessitating dedicated attention. At the macro-level (drawing on network society theory), these findings indicate that in Malayer, the "space of places" continues to dominate the "space of flows," with traditional power structures exhibiting resistance to transformations driven by digital networks. At the meso-level (governance), the research revealed that the technical impact of e-municipality (efficiency) significantly outweighs its social impact (participation and accountability), thereby challenging the hierarchical governance model and underscoring that transformation in deeper layers—namely power dynamics, trust, and participatory culture—requires more time and enabling conditions. At the micro-level (technology acceptance), the findings demonstrated that performance expectancy (from the UTAUT2 model) constitutes the most significant predictor of e-municipality adoption, whereas hedonic motivation plays no discernible role—suggesting a predominantly functionalist orientation in Iran's urban management context. Regarding the second hypothesis, the research established that the barriers to e-municipality implementation in Malayer are substantive and multifaceted. Critically, the foremost obstacles are human and skill-based (e.g., staff knowledge deficiencies and a shortage of specialized IT personnel) as well as technical-institutional (e.g., lack of system interoperability and budget constraints), rather than deficiencies in physical infrastructure, which ranked seventh among the challenges. This underscores the futility of investing exclusively in hardware without concomitant attention to workforce training and software integration. Finally, the third hypothesis was confirmed; that is, e-municipality demonstrates substantial potential for enhancing citizen participation in urban decision-making (path coefficient = 0.63, effect size = 0.22, medium). Nevertheless, descriptive data indicate that such participation remains in its nascent stages, with deeper interactive platforms—such as online forums or participation in plan approval processes—remaining underdeveloped. Based on the research findings, a three-tiered model is proposed to transition from the current state to the desired state: · Tier 1 (Short-term, 6 months): Focus on immediate employee empowerment through skill-oriented training programs grounded in work-based learning approaches, alongside the establishment of a performance-based digital incentive system aimed at mitigating resistance to change. · Tier 2 (Medium-term, 1–2 years): Integration of information systems through the design of a unified urban platform enabling inter-departmental data exchange. Concurrently, an open data portal should be launched for non-confidential information, such as civil engineering projects. · Tier 3 (Long-term, 3–5 years): A paradigmatic shift from service provision to power-sharing in decision-making, through the deployment of e-participation platforms that enable citizens to play an active role in participatory budgeting, project prioritization, and performance monitoring of the municipality. Conclusion The overarching conclusion of the present study, focusing on the role of e-municipality in enhancing urban governance in Malayer, reveals that while the implementation of electronic services has exerted positive and statistically significant effects on key governance dimensions, this trajectory is confronted with serious structural and human-induced challenges. Initially, the results of the first hypothesis test confirmed that the e-municipality of Malayer significantly influences transparency, citizen satisfaction/accountability, participation, and managerial efficiency. Notably, the strongest effect was observed on managerial efficiency (path coefficient = 0.71, effect size = 0.49, large), primarily driven by reduced in-person referrals and accelerated administrative processes. In contrast, its effect on citizen satisfaction/accountability (path coefficient = 0.58, effect size = 0.18, medium) was comparatively weaker, suggesting that the mere digitization of services does not necessarily translate into full citizen satisfaction or effective accountability. Furthermore, while transparency demonstrated improvement (path coefficient = 0.65), a pronounced gap persists between the dissemination of information regarding civil projects and financial/budgetary transparency, necessitating dedicated attention. At the macro-level (drawing on network society theory), these findings indicate that in Malayer, the "space of places" continues to dominate the "space of flows," with traditional power structures exhibiting resistance to transformations driven by digital networks. At the meso-level (governance), the research revealed that the technical impact of e-municipality (efficiency) significantly outweighs its social impact (participation and accountability), thereby challenging the hierarchical governance model and underscoring that transformation in deeper layers—namely power dynamics, trust, and participatory culture—requires more time and enabling conditions. Funding There is no funding support. Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none. Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper. https://www.jscity.ir/article_248214.html A B S T R A C T Urban form serves as a pivotal determinant in urban planning and design, playing a critical role in traffic safety performance and pedestrian vulnerability. The present study seeks to provide a spatially grounded urban form design guide aimed at enhancing the safety quality for both vehicles and pedestrians within the Park Mellat neighborhood of Mashhad. applied research adopted a mixed-methods (quantitative-qualitative) design, analyzing 277 recorded traffic accidents occurring between 2018 and 2020. Spatial data were processed using ArcMap, while 53 indicators across five urban design systems were assessed through field observations and a review of higher-order planning documents. Statistical analysis was performed using logistic regression and odds ratios. Content validity was confirmed by 15 experts, and reliability was established through test-retest procedures (85%).Pedestrians accounted for over 50% of accident casualties. In contrast to findings reported in international studies, wide roadways (30–38 m)-which were associated with 76% of accidents—high population density (250–300 persons/ha), and proximity to Park Mellat, where 53% of pedestrian accidents were concentrated, were directly correlated with diminished safety. Additionally, mixed-use land uses and linear retail establishments along the northern and eastern edges, along with a concentration of billboards (70% of the 95 signs), exhibited a significant positive association with accident frequency. Conversely, predominantly residential land use within the interior fabric, narrow streets (12–14 m), and high building density were associated with enhanced safety outcomes. The proposed model incorporates 14 corrective dimensions—including reducing roadway widths, moderating density along the park margins, organizing signage, and establishing continuity in pedestrian spaces—which collectively provide a robust foundation for structural interventions aimed at improving vehicular and pedestrian safety. Extended Abstract Introduction Places are inherently characterized by a multitude of qualities, and human interventions prove successful only when these attributes are thoroughly understood. At its core, urban design is centrally concerned with creating better environments for people. With the proliferation of motorized life and the concomitant rise in mobility demands, streets and roadways have evolved into foundational elements of urban structure. Accordingly, urban design must foreground principles such as ease of movement, accessibility, and safety. The surge in travel demand, however, has imposed substantial social, economic, and environmental costs—including traffic accidents, congestion, energy consumption, and air pollution. The Public Health Agency of Canada (2010) has corroborated the significant association between urban form and public health outcomes, particularly with respect to traffic safety. Notwithstanding the ongoing efforts of architects and urban designers to implement traffic-calming measures, other critical dimensions—including land-use distribution, the siting of open spaces, streetscaping, and the hierarchical organization of road networks—have remained largely overlooked. The present study specifically addresses these under-explored dimensions. Over the past half-century, rising car ownership and mounting traffic congestion have rendered roadway safety a major public health challenge, with young adults aged 15 to 44 bearing the brunt of fatalities. According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries rank as the ninth leading cause of death globally. In Iran, where accident rates are notably high, they represent the second leading cause of mortality, following cardiovascular diseases (Azimi & Farouqi, 2008). National statistics for 2013 report 17,997 traffic-related fatalities, of which 28.1% occurred in urban settings (Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, 2013). Within this context, Mashhad ranks 25th among 53 global metropolises, with a fatality rate of 8.5 per 100,000 population. Given that ensuring safety constitutes one of the five overarching principles of roadway design, the primary objective of this study is to formulate a comprehensive urban form design guide for the Park Mellat neighborhood in Mashhad, aimed at improving the quality of safety for both pedestrians and vehicles. Methodology The present study is applied in nature and falls within the domain of developmental research, as it draws upon the theoretical foundations established in basic research to address practical human needs and refine the tools, patterns, and methods of urban design aimed at enhancing vehicular and pedestrian safety. Given the nature of the data, this research adopts a mixed-methods approach (combining quantitative and qualitative techniques). The integration of these two approaches concurrently ensures both validity and reliability while facilitating a more comprehensive understanding of the research problem. The statistical population of this study comprises all recorded intra-urban traffic accidents in Mashhad over three statistical periods—2018, 2019, and 2020—totaling 277 incidents. The primary data consist of various urban form layers derived from the spatial database (Geographic Information System), the Comprehensive and Detailed Plans of Mashhad, and accident statistics obtained from the Traffic Organization of Mashhad Municipality. Additionally, part of the data was gathered through field surveys, the findings of a traffic safety expert's roadway audit, and systematic observations aimed at documenting the behavioral patterns of residents and employees within the study area. The content validity of the indicators was confirmed by 15 experts in urban planning, urban design, and transportation (comprising 8 university professors and 7 senior traffic specialists). To this end, the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) method was employed, and indicators receiving a CVR score below 0.49 were excluded from the analysis (Lawshe, 1975). The reliability of the field data was established through a test-retest procedure conducted at a two-week interval, yielding a correlation coefficient of 85%. Data collection was carried out through both documentary and field methods. For the documentary approach, the theoretical underpinnings of the research and quantitative data were compiled by consulting books, journal articles, transportation statistical yearbooks, maps, approved urban plans, dissertations, and online databases. In the field survey, qualitative data were gathered through direct and participatory observation by the researcher, in-depth interviews with local residents, and photographic documentation. Initially, accident records and relevant information were classified using Microsoft Excel. Following quality control and data screening procedures, statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 26. Results and Discussion The findings of the present study reveal that the relationship between urban form and traffic safety in the Park Mellat neighborhood diverges substantially, in several respects, from the established paradigms derived from prior studies (predominantly conducted in developed countries). This discrepancy underscores the imperative for locally contextualized urban design models. 1. Challenging Global Patterns in the Local Context: Contrary to studies emphasizing the role of fine-grained, compact blocks in reducing vehicle speeds and improving safety (Marshall & Garrick, 2011), in the Park Mellat neighborhood, fine-grained and medium-sized blocks located along arterial roads were associated with increased accident frequencies. Furthermore, unlike findings that link high population density with enhanced pedestrian safety (Jones & Jha, 2010), the high-density area along the eastern edge (adjacent to Park Mellat) accounted for 44% of total recorded accidents. This contradiction suggests that density alone is not a determinant of safety; rather, it is "density combined with an appropriately designed street network and the segregation of vehicular and pedestrian flows" that plays the decisive role. 2. The Paradox of Public Spaces: A finding consistent with both domestic (Ayati & Bahraini, 2016) and international research confirms the role of trip-attracting land uses. However, the novel insight offered by this study lies in the observation that the presence of a high-quality public space (Park Mellat) adjacent to wide, high-speed thoroughfares (Emamat and Moallem Boulevards) not only failed to enhance safety but actually emerged as the primary hotspot for pedestrian accidents. This finding aligns with the OECD (1998) warning that the mere provision of pedestrian facilities does not guarantee increased safety, while extending that caution to a broader scale concerning the relationship between "trip-attracting uses" and "high-speed roadway networks." 3. The Moderating Role of Physical Form: Another noteworthy finding concerns the inverse effect of certain indicators. While the literature generally suggests that wide roadways and low building density are associated with higher speeds and diminished safety (Norouzi et al., 2014), in the Park Mellat neighborhood, narrow internal streets (12–14 m) and high building density (compact fabric) were correlated with enhanced safety. This outcome can be attributed to the "physical enclosure effect," which fosters a sense of natural surveillance and reduces drivers' perceived speed, thereby rendering the environment safer for pedestrians. 4. Non-significant Indicators and Contextual Complexity: A considerable number of indicators (e.g., MA5, MA7, MA9, ULS1, ULS6) exhibited no significant association with safety in this neighborhood. This finding is entirely consistent with the argument advanced by Ewing and Cervero (2018) that the cumulative effect of design qualities surpasses the sum of individual attributes. In other words, the presence of improved sidewalks (MA11) or bicycle lanes (MA12) alone is insufficient to enhance safety within a context where the street network lacks a logical hierarchy and is intermixed with trip-generating activities. Overall, the preceding discussion demonstrates that localized, piecemeal physical interventions (such as traffic calming) cannot yield sustainable safety improvements unless accompanied by a fundamental reassessment of the macro-scale urban form—encompassing street hierarchy, land-use distribution, and the siting of public spaces. Conclusion The most significant finding of this study is that the spatial clustering of accidents is a function of the dissonant juxtaposition of three key components: (1) wide roadways with a fragmented hierarchy; (2) high-traffic public spaces with direct access to these roadways; and (3) the skewed distribution of trip-attracting activities and billboards along these axes. Contrary to common assumptions, factors such as high population density and fine-grained blocks, within this specific context, did not prove to be safety-enhancing; rather, owing to their adjacency to the primary roadway network, they acted as aggravating factors. Furthermore, despite their considerable theoretical potential, urban landscape systems and public spaces have failed to play an effective role in improving safety under existing conditions. A major public space such as Park Mellat, in the absence of secure buffer zones and continuous pedestrian access routes, has effectively become a traffic trap for pedestrians. Moreover, the lack of a significant correlation between many conventional indicators—including lighting, paving quality, and roadside greenery—and the accident pattern underscores the reality that such features lose their effectiveness when the overarching structure of the roadway network remains inherently unsafe. In addressing the core research question, the urban form design guide developed here—organized around 14 principal axes—does not constitute a one-size-fits-all prescription but rather a spatially explicit, evidence-based decision-making framework that delineates intervention priorities. This guide emphasizes reducing the geometric dimensions and lengths of major arteries, moderating population densities around public spaces, relocating trip-generating land uses, and establishing a safe access hierarchy for pedestrians. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that achieving a "city for all" necessitates moving beyond a doctrinaire application of global findings and embracing the principle that a safe urban form is one in which the roadway network, land-use distribution, and the siting of public spaces are integrated and calibrated to serve the most vulnerable users—pedestrians. The model proposed herein can serve as a template for revising urban development plans and prioritizing safety interventions in other contexts across Mashhad and other Iranian metropolises. Funding There is no funding support. Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none. Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper. https://www.jscity.ir/article_195914.html Measuring the effects of scenarios and drivers on the key indicators of Karaj's urban development is a fundamental step in explaining the scenarios of Karaj's urban development. At this stage, it is determined how and to what extent each scenario and each driver will affect the indicators of urban prosperity. Also, by using this method, it will be possible to model different states of drivers and the consequences of these states on the indicators of urban prosperity. Based on the results of the Delphi method and the questionnaire, 16 indicators are known as key indicators of urban prosperity. which were categorized in the form of 6 dimensions: 1-education and educational justice, 2-gender equality, 3-health and life expectancy, 4-satisfaction with job and income, 5-access to energy and municipal services, and 6-access to technology. . After identifying the key dimensions and indicators, based on the fuzzy structural map, the impact of three critical uncertainties and four predetermined factors on the key indicators and dimensions was measured using the Mental Modeler software. In the table below, the dimensions of the fuzzy cognitive map method and the codes of each are shown. Measuring the effects of scenarios and drivers on the key indicators of Karaj's urban development is a fundamental step in explaining the scenarios of Karaj's urban development. At this stage, it is determined how and to what extent each scenario and each driver will affect the indicators of urban prosperity. Also, by using this method, it will be possible to model different states of drivers and the consequences of these states on the indicators of urban prosperity. Based on the results of the Delphi method and the questionnaire, 16 indicators are known as key indicators of urban prosperity. which were categorized in the form of 6 dimensions: 1-education and educational justice, 2-gender equality, 3-health and life expectancy, 4-satisfaction with job and income, 5-access to energy and municipal services, and 6-access to technology. . After identifying the key dimensions and indicators, based on the fuzzy structural map, the impact of three critical uncertainties and four predetermined factors on the key indicators and dimensions was measured using the Mental Modeler software. In the table below, the dimensions of the fuzzy cognitive map method and the codes of each are shown. Measuring the effects of scenarios and drivers on the key indicators of Karaj's urban development is a fundamental step in explaining the scenarios of Karaj's urban development. At this stage, it is determined how and to what extent each scenario and each driver will affect the indicators of urban prosperity. Also, by using this method, it will be possible to model different states of drivers and the consequences of these states on the indicators of urban prosperity. Based on the results of the Delphi method and the questionnaire, 16 indicators are known as key indicators of urban prosperity. which were categorized in the form of 6 dimensions: 1-education and educational justice, 2-gender equality, 3-health and life expectancy, 4-satisfaction with job and income, 5-access to energy and municipal services, and 6-access to technology. . After identifying the key dimensions and indicators, based on the fuzzy structural map, the impact of three critical uncertainties and four predetermined factors on the key indicators and dimensions was measured using the Mental Modeler software. In the table below, the dimensions of the fuzzy cognitive map method and the codes of each are shown. Measuring the effects of scenarios and drivers on the key indicators of Karaj's urban development is a fundamental step in explaining the scenarios of Karaj's urban development. At this stage, it is determined how and to what extent each scenario and each driver will affect the indicators of urban prosperity. Also, by using this method, it will be possible to model different states of drivers and the consequences of these states on the indicators of urban prosperity. Based on the results of the Delphi method and the questionnaire, 16 indicators are known as key indicators of urban prosperity. which were categorized in the form of 6 dimensions: 1-education and educational justice, 2-gender equality, 3-health and life expectancy, 4-satisfaction with job and income, 5-access to energy and municipal services, and 6-access to technology. . After identifying the key dimensions and indicators, based on the fuzzy structural map, the impact of three critical uncertainties and four predetermined factors on the key indicators and dimensions was measured using the Mental Modeler software. In the table below, the dimensions of the fuzzy cognitive map method and the codes of each are shown. https://www.jscity.ir/article_233447.html Over the past few decades, global city rankings have evolved into a critical tool for assessing urban competitiveness, attracting investment, and positioning cities in the international landscape. These rankings evaluate cities based on diverse indicators, including quality of life, sustainability, economic strength, governance efficiency, innovation capacity, and global influence. The increasing interconnectedness of cities has intensified global urban competition, where cities are not only inspired by each other but are also measured and compared against one another. Accordingly, international city rankings have become a significant metric for governments, investors, businesses, and policymakers, shaping urban development strategies worldwide.Tehran, as one of the major metropolitan areas in the Middle East, plays a crucial role in Iran’s national economy, social development, and urban policy landscape. However, despite its regional significance, Tehran has consistently performed poorly in global rankings, often falling behind regional competitors such as Istanbul, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. This low ranking reflects structural weaknesses in various aspects of the city, particularly in governance, economic resilience, environmental sustainability, and infrastructure quality. While global city rankings serve as valuable benchmarking tools, Tehran's low participation in these rankings and its generally poor performance raise concerns about its ability to integrate into the global urban system.The main objective of this study is to analyze the key factors influencing Tehran’s position in global city rankings and to identify strategies that can improve its competitiveness and international standing. By examining major global ranking indices and employing a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) methodology, this study aims to provide a structured approach to understanding the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for Tehran in the context of global urban competitiveness. This study utilizes Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for Tehran to improve its global city ranking. QCA is a robust methodological approach that allows for the examination of multiple causality relationships by identifying key combinations of factors that contribute to a specific outcome. By applying QCA, this study aims to determine which policy and structural interventions are critical for enhancing Tehran’s global standing. Data were collected from four major international city ranking indices, namely: 1. The Global Cities Index (GCI) – which measures cities based on business activity, human capital, information exchange, cultural experience, and political engagement. 2. The Global Cities Outlook (GCO) – which evaluates the future potential of cities based on innovation, governance, economic sustainability, and quality of life. 3. The Global Urban Competitiveness Report (GUCR) – which ranks cities based on economic strength, knowledge-based industries, and governance efficiency. 4. The Global Liveability Index (GLI) – which assesses cities based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. The analysis compared Tehran’s performance in these indices with cities that have successfully improved their rankings, identifying key success factors and areas requiring intervention. The study also incorporated historical trend analysis to examine how Tehran’s position has changed over time in response to economic, social, and political dynamics. The findings indicate that governance efficiency, economic stability, human capital development, innovation capacity, and infrastructure quality are critical determinants of global city rankings. However, Tehran underperforms in most of these dimensions, which has resulted in its consistently low ranking across various indices. The study highlights the following key issues: 1. Weak governance and regulatory inefficiencies: • Tehran received a governance score of 0.00 in GUCR, indicating a severe lack of transparency, institutional effectiveness, and policy coherence. • Weak governance structures limit the city’s ability to implement strategic urban policies, attract foreign investment, and ensure regulatory stability. 2. Economic instability and lack of global integration: • Tehran’s economic performance in the GCI and GUCR indices remains significantly below global standards, with a score of 0.67 in economic strength. • High inflation rates, market unpredictability, and restrictive business regulations have discouraged investment and hindered economic diversification. • The city lacks a well-developed knowledge-based economy, which is a crucial factor for global urban competitiveness. 3. Deficiencies in environmental sustainability and urban resilience: • Tehran ranked 163rd out of 172 cities in the GLI, primarily due to environmental challenges such as air pollution, water scarcity, and poor waste management. • The city’s environmental sustainability score of 0.167 highlights critical concerns regarding urban resilience and ecological well-being. 4. Limited innovation and digital transformation: • In the GCO index, Tehran’s innovation score of 0.33 demonstrates a lack of investment in technology-driven urban development. • While leading global cities have embraced smart city initiatives, digital governance, and AI-driven urban management, Tehran remains behind in adopting these strategies. 5. Low quality of life and urban livability: • The GLI index ranked Tehran 156th out of 156 cities in terms of quality of life, citing weaknesses in public health infrastructure, housing affordability, urban mobility, and cultural vibrancy. • Public safety concerns and social inequalities have further contributed to Tehran’s declining attractiveness as a livable city. These findings align with previous studies on urban competitiveness, which emphasize the importance of governance, innovation, and infrastructure development as key pillars for global city rankings (Giffinger et al., 2010; Chuang & Grant, 2012). The challenges identified in Tehran’s rankings demonstrate that without significant urban policy reforms and structural improvements, the city will continue to struggle in global assessments. Improving Tehran’s position in global city rankings requires comprehensive governance reforms, economic modernization, investment in innovation ecosystems, and substantial improvements in urban infrastructure and environmental resilience. The experiences of leading cities demonstrate that a multi-dimensional approach—encompassing governance efficiency, digital transformation, and sustainable urban planning—is essential for enhancing global competitiveness. To address these challenges, policymakers should prioritize the following strategic actions: 1. Enhancing governance and regulatory frameworks: Establishing transparent and accountable urban governance structures that support sustainable policymaking, attract investment, and foster public trust. 2. Developing a knowledge-based economy: Encouraging entrepreneurship, high-tech industries, and digital economy initiatives to improve Tehran’s economic resilience. 3. Investing in environmental sustainability: Implementing green urban policies, reducing air pollution, and promoting sustainable energy solutions to enhance Tehran’s livability. 4. Advancing smart city initiatives: Accelerating digital transformation and AI-driven governance to improve urban efficiency and global competitiveness. https://www.jscity.ir/article_240695.html Extended Abstract Introduction Traditional Iranian cities have historically been shaped upon principles of morphological harmony, social cohesion, and climatic adaptability. Among the fundamental components of this urban fabric, passageways (gozar) played a multidimensional role, functioning not only as routes of mobility but also as spaces for social interaction, cultural exchange, and economic activities. With their spatial-climatic configuration, these passageways substantially contributed to the thermal comfort of residents. In contemporary times, however, morphological transformations induced by urban expansion, the reduction of vegetative cover, and the intensification of impervious surfaces have triggered severe thermal stresses in urban environments, underscoring the necessity of re-examining historical spatial models. While numerous studies have addressed outdoor thermal comfort, most have focused either on limited thermal indices or on single-dimensional elements, leaving comparative typological studies of historical passageways in relation to microclimate largely unexplored. The present research seeks to analyze and classify the typologies of Shiraz’s historical passageways through the theoretical framework of climatic comfort and microclimatic simulation, and to propose strategies for improving their environmental performance. Methodology The methodology integrates literature review, field analysis, and simulation modeling using ENVI-met. First, the theoretical foundations of outdoor thermal comfort and key indicators—including Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), Potential Air Temperature (Ta), Relative Humidity (RH), Wind Velocity, and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI)—were reviewed, leading to the development of the conceptual framework. The historical fabric of Shiraz within District 8, encompassing 360 hectares with multiple historically significant passageways, was selected as the study area. Within this scope, twelve passageways with diverse morphological and orientational characteristics were identified and classified into four principal typologies. From each typology, one representative passageway (Sang-e Siah, Emamzadeh Zanjiri, Shahzadeh Mansur, and Haft-Pitch) was chosen for microclimatic simulation under extreme summer conditions (1 July, 14:00). Meteorological data were extracted from the 50-year EnergyPlus database, while standardized human and climatic parameters were defined for UTCI calculation. Simulation outputs were generated as climatic maps and numerical datasets, further analyzed through Leonardo and Microsoft Excel. Additionally, several receptors with varying morphological parameters (height-to-width ratio, presence or absence of sabats, pavement materials, and vegetative cover) were embedded in each passageway to allow precise evaluation of individual factors. Results and discussion Findings revealed that morphological and spatial variations across passageways exerted significant and direct impacts on microclimatic indices. Regarding Potential Air Temperature, Sang-e Siah—with its high openness and lack of shading—registered the highest temperatures and lowest comfort levels, whereas Shahzadeh Mansur, benefiting from favorable height-to-width ratios and the presence of sabats, demonstrated cooler and more balanced conditions. Mean Radiant Temperature emerged as the most decisive factor: in Sang-e Siah, MRT peaked at 73°C, indicating severe inefficiency in solar radiation control, while Haft-Pitch—with its twisted geometry and narrow profile—recorded markedly lower values. Relative Humidity analysis indicated that, despite its thermal shortcomings, Sang-e Siah benefited from vegetative cover and openness, performing better than other passageways, though still unable to achieve comfort thresholds. Conversely, Emamzadeh Zanjiri exhibited the poorest RH values. In terms of wind velocity, Emamzadeh Zanjiri, owing to its alignment with prevailing winds, achieved relatively effective ventilation, while Sang-e Siah and Haft-Pitch experienced poor airflow due to blockages. The integrated UTCI analysis—representing human thermal perception—demonstrated that Shahzadeh Mansur offered the most favorable comfort conditions, Haft-Pitch performed moderately, and both Emamzadeh Zanjiri and Sang-e Siah fell within the category of severe heat stress. Comparisons across receptors further underscored the critical influence of morphological parameters. Results showed that increasing the height-to-width ratio (H/W) could lower MRT by several degrees, with taller and narrower passageways yielding more favorable climatic conditions. Vegetative cover, in certain segments, reduced MRT by over 6°C, while the presence of sabats—a vernacular architectural element—proved highly effective in moderating peak summer heat and sustaining pedestrian usability. Pavement material, although less impactful, revealed asphalt to slightly intensify ambient heat due to higher solar absorption. Conclusion Overall, the study emphasizes the decisive role of morphological configuration and spatial design in enhancing outdoor climatic comfort. Shahzadeh Mansur, characterized by effective climatic modifiers such as sabats, shading devices, and optimal height-to-width proportions, performed most successfully, while Sang-e Siah, with excessive openness and absence of climatic mediators, experienced the most critical conditions. Haft-Pitch offered moderate success in controlling radiation and air temperature yet was deficient in ventilation and humidity regulation. Emamzadeh Zanjiri, despite acceptable airflow, provided overall the least favorable comfort levels. These findings highlight that the revitalization of historical passageways and the design of contemporary urban corridors must prioritize proportional street canyons, effective shading structures, integration of vegetation, climatically responsive materials, and facilitation of wind flow. https://www.jscity.ir/article_244183.html Climate change and rapid urbanization have significantly altered the hydrological conditions of cities, making urban flooding and runoff a major environmental hazard. Urban flooding is a multi-dimensional problem with economic, social, and environmental consequences. In response, numerous studies have been conducted in Iran, focusing on hydrological/hydraulic modeling (e.g., SWMM, HEC-HMS, HEC-RAS) or GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for flood hazard zoning. However, most research concentrates on physical dimensions (depth, extent, drainage performance) while neglecting social, economic, and physical vulnerability components. Furthermore, the diversity of models without a coherent analytical framework has led to fragmented knowledge. This systematic review aims to answer: What approaches, models, and analytical frameworks have been used in Iranian urban flood management studies? What input data and validation methods are employed? What are the strengths and limitations of these approaches? This mixed-method (quantitative-qualitative) systematic review follows PRISMA guidelines. A comprehensive search of Persian-language databases (Civilica, IranDoc, Google Scholar) using keywords related to urban flood, runoff, risk management, vulnerability, and GIS was conducted in January 2026 (Dey 1404). The initial search identified 112 records. After removing duplicates (n=10), screening for relevance (n=12), and excluding inaccessible full texts (n=5), 85 records were assessed. Following a full-text review against inclusion criteria (clear thematic relevance, use of hydrological/topographic/land-use data, link to urban planning/flood management), 18 records were excluded, leaving 67 studies for final synthesis. Data were extracted using a coding protocol in Excel. Analysis combined descriptive quantitative statistics (temporal distribution, spatial scales, models) with qualitative thematic analysis to identify conceptual patterns and develop an integrated framework. The 67 sources comprised 50 research articles (74.6%), 10 conference papers (14.9%), 6 master's theses (9.0%), and 1 doctoral dissertation (1.5%). Temporal distribution shows gradual growth from 2007-2008, with a significant increase after 2017. The highest publication year was 2018 (13.4%), followed by 2024 (11.9%). Subject areas were categorized into six themes: quantitative runoff simulation, spatial flood hazard/vulnerability assessment using GIS-MCDM, green infrastructure/Low Impact Development (LID) performance, social/institutional dimensions (limited), remote sensing applications, and data-driven machine learning models (emerging). The city scale was most frequent (32 studies), followed by sub-city (e.g., districts) and beyond-city (e.g., watersheds). Geographically, Tehran dominated, followed by Mashhad, Tabriz, and others, indicating uneven spatial distribution. Five model categories were identified. (1) Hydrological models (SWMM, HEC-HMS, SCS-CN) were widely used for rainfall-runoff simulation. Their strength is quantitative estimation of runoff and peak flow, but accuracy depends on input data quality and calibration. (2) Hydraulic models (HEC-RAS 1D/2D, StormCAD, SewerGEMS) enabled analysis of flow behavior, water depth, and inundation extent, making them essential for hazard zoning. (3) Ecosystem service models (InVEST, regulatory service frameworks) were less common, offering an interdisciplinary view linking floods with ecological structure and resilience, though with lower spatial-physical precision. (4) MCDM models (AHP, ANP, TOPSIS, COPRAS, PROMETHEE II, fuzzy logic combined with GIS) were heavily used for hazard zoning, vulnerability assessment, and site selection. Their strength lies in integrating quantitative and qualitative criteria, but results depend on expert judgment. (5) Machine learning models (Maxent, PLS, Ridge Regression, LSTM) are emerging, capable of representing non-linear patterns, but suffer from lower interpretability and generalization challenges with limited data. Key inputs included topographic data (DEM for slope, flow direction), rainfall/hydrological data (often limited sub-hourly data), drainage network data, observational flood data (rare but crucial for calibration), climate and scenario data (very limited climate scenarios; mostly land-use or LID management scenarios), remote sensing data (Landsat, Sentinel), and integrated datasets for MCDM. Weak validation and lack of observational data were recurring issues. Only 23.9% of studies had full or adequate validation. 43.3% had limited validation, and 31.3% lacked explicit validation. Validated studies used statistical methods (NSE, RMSE, R²), consistency checks, or spatial mapping against historical events. The absence of validation is a critical flaw, undermining reliability. Most studies (41) made no official reference to ecosystem services. Sixteen implicitly referred to ecosystem functions, 8 made explicit but non-framework references, and only 2 used a formal ecosystem service framework. Attention to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) was similarly low, with most studies not simulating NbS scenarios. Regulating services (flood risk reduction, runoff regulation) dominated, while multi-service approaches and socio-economic integration were rare. Most studies remained purely technical (31), with 13 adopting multi-dimensional approaches. The findings indicate a dominant engineering paradigm with limited integration of ecological and socio-economic dimensions. The literature follows a dominant engineering-technical paradigm, treating floods as a primarily hydrological problem. This conceptual narrowness neglects social, institutional, and ecological complexities. There is a disconnect between physically accurate models (weak in socio-economic integration) and MCDM models (subjective but integrative). Poor validation and scarce observational data create a gap between research and operational application. Compared to international trends (integrated flood management, urban resilience, NbS), Iranian research has not fully transitioned. The concentration of studies in major cities (Tehran) reflects data and infrastructure disparities. Limited access to high-temporal-resolution rainfall data and historical flood records hinders validation. The past two decades have seen growth in Iranian urban flood research, but the field suffers from conceptual and methodological heterogeneity. The dominant engineering-technical paradigm needs to shift toward integrated, multi-dimensional frameworks (social, economic, institutional, ecological). While GIS-MCDM methods are widespread, they often lack validation and transparency. Emerging machine learning and NbS approaches signal a paradigm shift, but it remains immature. Key policy implications include: moving toward integrated risk management, strengthening data infrastructure (high-resolution rainfall, observational flood data), developing model validation standards, and promoting NbS/green infrastructure. Research limitations include the exclusive focus on Persian-language databases, heterogeneity in study quality, and potential interpretive bias. Future research should focus on: integrating physical models with socio-economic analysis; conducting empirically validated studies; applying ecosystem service and NbS frameworks in scenario-based studies; hybridizing machine learning with physical models; and expanding geographic coverage to understudied cities. The persistence of urban flooding in Iran is not due to a lack of studies but to the gap between knowledge production, methodological quality, and urban decision-making processes. https://www.jscity.ir/article_246502.html Introduction The dynamics of urban life, especially in mid-sized cities like Izeh in southwestern Iran, have introduced complex challenges in recent decades. Rapid urbanization, unbalanced physical development, and population migration from rural to urban areas have led to various environmental and social problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and weakened community interaction. These issues often diminish the overall quality of life and make the urban experience emotionally and physically draining for residents. Hence, understanding the physical, social, and psychological dimensions of urban environments has become a priority in urban planning. Urban neighborhoods, as the smallest spatial units of cities, play a vital role in shaping residents' identities and sense of belonging. They are no longer just physical territories but rather places infused with meaning, memory, and emotional ties. In this context, the concept of responsive environments—urban spaces that effectively respond to users’ needs and foster interaction, safety, and diversity—has received attention for its capacity to enhance place attachment. This emotional connection is crucial for urban sustainability, social participation, and quality of life. In the case of Izeh, many neighborhoods suffer from poor urban design, lack of diversity in land use, and insufficient public amenities. These deficiencies have weakened residents’ engagement with their environment and reduced their attachment to place. This study, therefore, investigates how citizens perceive the responsiveness of their local environments and how these perceptions influence their sense of place attachment in 15 neighborhoods of Izeh city. Methodology This research is applied in purpose and descriptive-analytical in method, conducted through a field survey. The study population includes all residents of the 15 neighborhoods of Izeh, with a total population of 198,871. A sample of 400 individuals was selected using simple random sampling based on Cochran's formula. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire validated through expert judgment (face and content validity) and tested for reliability using Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.77). The questionnaire evaluated five main constructs based on Bentley et al.'s (1985) theory of responsive environments: 1. Physical and spatial quality 2. Perceived safety and life satisfaction 3. Social participation and responsibility 4. Aesthetic and cognitive urban design 5. Place attachment (dependent variable) Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent t-tests, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via Smart PLS were used to analyze the data. Model fitness was assessed through KMO, Bartlett’s test, and composite reliability (CR). Results and Discussion The findings indicate that citizens generally rate the responsiveness of their neighborhoods as moderate. Among all components, “urban design and aesthetics” received the highest mean (3.33), followed by “safety and life satisfaction” (3.27), and “place attachment” (3.29). The lowest-rated dimension was “physical and spatial quality” (3.18), indicating existing weaknesses in public spaces and urban services. Correlation analysis revealed significant and positive relationships between place attachment and other dimensions, notably: • Safety and satisfaction with life (r = 0.517) • Social participation (r = 0.411) • Urban design and aesthetics (r = 0.610) Path analysis confirmed that: • Safety and life satisfaction had the most substantial effect on place attachment (β = 0.337, t = 6.918) • Social participation also showed a strong effect (β = 0.285, t = 6.208) • Physical and spatial quality had a moderate but significant effect (β = 0.202, t = 3.334) • However, aesthetic design, despite its high descriptive score, did not show a statistically significant direct effect on place attachment (p = 0.055) Gender-based analysis showed that women rated physical quality and aesthetics higher, while men reported higher scores for safety, participation, and place attachment. These differences are attributed to behavioral patterns and gender-specific experiences in urban environments. Furthermore, model fit indices supported the structural validity of the research framework: • R² for place attachment = 0.436, indicating that about 44% of its variance is explained by the independent variables. • GoF = 0.278, demonstrating a good overall model fit. • The AVE and CR values for all constructs were above acceptable thresholds, confirming convergent validity. Conclusion • The study underscores the critical role of responsive urban design in enhancing citizens’ place attachment in mid-sized cities. Among all dimensions, safety and life satisfaction emerged as the strongest predictors of place attachment, highlighting the need for peaceful and secure environments. Social participation was also essential, suggesting that inclusive planning can strengthen emotional bonds with place. • Interestingly, although aesthetic qualities received high ratings, they did not translate into higher levels of attachment unless combined with functional and social dimensions. Therefore, relying solely on beautification without addressing social and psychological needs may not be sufficient for fostering place attachment. • The study recommends that urban management and policy-makers adopt an integrated and participatory approach to urban planning, focusing not only on the visual and physical aspects but also on social interaction, security, and citizen engagement. Future research should employ qualitative methods, such as interviews and ethnographic observation, to deepen the understanding of place attachment and responsive environments, especially in contexts with distinct cultural and socio-economic characteristics like Izeh. https://www.jscity.ir/article_246504.html Historical bazaars in Iran are among the most important contexts for the formation of collective place identity. The Historical Bazaar of Qazvin, through its complex spatial organization, movement system, and physical structure, is considered a prominent example in the reproduction of place identity. This study aims to explain the impact of the formal structure of the Qazvin Bazaar on place identity, focusing on social interactions, territoriality, and visual sensitivity. The research adopts a qualitative, analytical–interpretive approach based on Herdeg’s framework of formal structure. Data were collected through documentary studies, field surveys, plan analysis, and a seven-axis reading of formal structure in four key nodes of the bazaar: Small Chahar Suq, Grand Chahar Suq, Sa’adat Square, and the Central Bazaar. To enhance the validity of the findings, the results were verified using Space Syntax analysis and Visual Graph Analysis (VGA) in Depthmap software, based on Global Integration, Local Integration, Choice, Connectivity, and Visual Integration indices. Findings illustrate that Small Chahar Suq strengthens micro-scale social interactions and local identity, Grand Chahar Suq enhances symbolic centrality and spatial integration, Sa’adat Square organizes urban-scale interactions and legibility, and the Central Bazaar connects the spatial network and maintains continuity of social flows. The results indicate the highest overlap between Herdeg’s framework and syntactic and visual measures in central, functional, movement-accessibility, and visual-spatial axes. In conclusion, place identity in the Historical Bazaar of Qazvin emerges from the interaction of formal structure, spatial organization, movement patterns, and visual perception, through the synergy of form, function, and meaning. https://www.jscity.ir/article_246505.html The rapid growth of urban populations and uncontrolled construction in Iran’s southern cities has increasingly attracted the attentions to social sustainability indicators in residential complexes. Bandar Abbas, as one of the most populous cities in southern Iran, faces challenges such as declining quality of life, social interactions, and resident satisfaction in their communities. This study aims to identify the factors affecting social sustainability in residential complexes and to explore their diverse dimensions initially. In the next step, the study examines those factors in four residential complexes of "Payambare Azam" district - a recently constructed area in Bandar Abbas - in order to propose design strategies for enhancing social sustainability. With this aim in mind, the role of five dimensions based on literature review including: social participation, resident satisfaction, social identity, sense of security, access to services and facilities and sense of security; were examined using a survey methodology. Data were collected through a questionnaire administered in four selected communities in "Payambare Azam" district and in total 384 residents were interviewed. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software utilizing different analyses including Pearson Correlation, ANOVA test, and Regression analysis (by two models). The results indicated that although all five mentioned dimensions indicated meaningful correlation with social sustainability (P-value<0.05) but in the ANOVA test only “sense of security” had a significant difference among respondent groups (sig= 0.12, F=3.72). On the contrary, the regression analysis emphasized on the satisfaction (sig=0.00, T= 0.483) and social participation (sig= 0.00, T= 0.683) as the key predictors for social sustainability. https://www.jscity.ir/article_247411.html The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the latent vulnerabilities inherent in urban systems, necessitating a paradigm shift in urban planning. This research seeks to delineate the resilience trajectories of Tehran’s neighborhoods during both pandemic and post-pandemic eras, while examining spatial heterogeneities across geographical clusters. Utilizing an exploratory–explanatory mixed-methods framework, the study synthesized data from secondary sources, a survey of 245 participants across 15 neighborhoods, and semi-structured interviews with 22 key stakeholders, including residents and urban specialists. Quantitative rigor was ensured through factor analysis, ANOVA, and Tukey’s post-hoc tests, complemented by qualitative thematic analysis. Empirical results indicate that Tehran’s average neighborhood resilience during the pandemic stood at 2.83 out of 5, signifying a moderate-to-low threshold. A profound spatial divide was observed between the northern (3.31) and southern (2.50) clusters, confirming a systemic pattern of spatial dualism within the city. Notably, the institutional-managerial dimension, despite exerting the most significant explanatory power (21.7%), emerged as the most critical bottleneck due to its low score. Qualitatively, “crisis management” and “local social networks” were identified as pivotal determinants. Post-pandemic assessments showed an incremental rise in mean resilience to 3.18, yet spatial inequities remained entrenched. The findings demonstrate that neighborhood resilience is a spatially embedded phenomenon inextricably linked to local governance quality. Consequently, bolstering resilience requires fortifying institutional frameworks and mitigating spatial disparities. This study advocates for the prioritization of spatial justice to facilitate equitable resilience during future exigencies. Embracing neighborhood-centric crisis management is essential for fostering long-term urban sustainability. Keywords: Urban neighborhood resilience, COVID-19 pandemic, spatial inequality, post-pandemic. https://www.jscity.ir/article_248382.html Urban regeneration in deteriorated urban fabrics cannot achieve sustainable outcomes solely through physical interventions or symbolic forms of resident participation. Understanding the socio-institutional mechanisms shaping regeneration success is therefore essential. This study examines the role of local empowerment as a mediating mechanism in the relationship among dynamic participation, social capital, and the success of urban regeneration in the deteriorated urban fabric of Hamedan. Adopting a quantitative–analytical approach, the research utilizes Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Survey data from 412 validated responses from Hamedan residents were analyzed via SmartPLS, supplemented by qualitative insights from in-depth interviews with neighborhood residents to ensure a comprehensive understanding. The measurement model confirmed strong reliability and validity, with all factor loadings exceeding 0.70 and HTMT values within the 0.38–0.67 range, ensuring discriminant validity. Structural findings reveal that dynamic participation ( 𝛽=0.28) and social capital (𝛽=0.31) exert significant direct positive effects on the success of urban regeneration. Furthermore, the model demonstrated substantial explanatory power (𝑅2=0.41) and acceptable predictive relevance (𝑄2=0.28). Crucially, local empowerment was identified as a significant partial mediator, with indirect effects accounting for 26.3% and 22.5% of the influence from dynamic participation and social capital, respectively. This indicates that empowerment is a vital mechanism for translating participatory capacities into tangible outcomes. The study conceptualizes local empowerment not merely as a social outcome, but as a crucial socio-institutional mediator. The results suggest that successful regeneration requires shifting from project-based to people-centered approaches, fostering local-level decision-making power, and strengthening institutional facilitation. These insights provide practical guidance for policymakers seeking to design more inclusive and sustainable urban regeneration frameworks. https://www.jscity.ir/article_248070.html A B S T R A C T Recent health crises, especially the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the need to review the principles of neighborhood design with an emphasis on promoting health, resilience, and urban sustainability. Despite the proliferation of related studies, no comprehensive framework has yet been developed that systematically integrates health, resilience, and physical quality considerations within neighborhood design. Therefore, this study aims to explain the design pattern of sustainable neighborhood units in the face of health crises. This research was conducted with an applied purpose and a qualitative approach based on content analysis. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with residents and experts in the fields of architecture, urban development, and urban planning. Data collection proceeded until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis was conducted based on Brown and Clark's six-step method using MAXQDA software. The findings exhibited that the sustainable neighborhood design model is based on five main themes, including physical health, mental health, social health, neighborhood resilience, and design strategies, which were extracted from a set of sub-themes and initial codes. The results indicate that improving the quality of indoor environment, developing open and semi-open spaces, the quality of social capital, increasing access to neighborhood services, physical flexibility, and pedestrianization are the most important strategies for improving the resilience of neighborhood units against health crises. The innovation of the research lies in providing an analytical framework for systematically linking stakeholder experiences, extracted themes, and health-oriented design strategies towards realizing a sustainable city. Extended Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic posed an exceptional challenge to traditional planning of neighborhoods by demonstrating inadequacies of residential environments when dealing with public health crisis situations. In the period of long-term quarantines and lockdowns, the neighborhood served as the main arena of life, which showed the crucial significance of local spatial qualities for promoting physical, psychological well-being, and community interaction. These exceptional conditions shifted academic focus from physical features of residential environment towards more complex and human-oriented perspectives on neighborhood design. A large body of literature has examined particular aspects of sustainable urban development such as Healthy Cities, Urban Resilience, and Sustainable Urban Design. The findings indicate that green infrastructure, walkability, public open spaces availability, and neighborhood accessibility play a significant role in increasing the quality of life in times of health crisis situations. At the same time, resilience research highlights the aspect of adaptability of urban systems, whereas healthy city research concentrates only on the environmental determinants of health. However, these three research strands remain separated from each other, resulting in a fragmentation of knowledge about relationships among different aspects of neighborhood sustainability. Also Most prior studies have used quantitative methods with pre-defined indicators. In this regard, they offer little insight on the experience of the people living in these neighborhoods and the mechanisms through which they impact the perception of health and resilience among the residents in crisis periods. Given this context, there remains a significant theoretical and empirical lacuna with respect to a conceptual framework that integrates both experiential insights from residents and professional expertise to inform sustainable neighborhood design. Therefore, in order to address this gap, this study adopts four different theoretical perspectives; that is the Neighborhood Unit Theory, Healthy Cities Theory, Urban Resilience Theory, and Sustainable Urban Design. This paper aims to analyze the relationship among these theories qualitatively. With this in mind, the key goal of this research project is to develop a conceptual framework for sustainable neighborhood design based on the experiences of residents and the urban planners. This study is guided by the following research question: How can the lived experiences of residents and the perspectives of experts contribute to the development of an integrated conceptual framework for sustainable neighborhood design in times of public health crises? Methodology This study adopted a qualitative research design with an applied approach, employing thematic analysis as the methodology for investigating residents' experiences in relation to space. The analysis process took into consideration the principles of the constant comparative logic suggested by Strauss and Corbin to allow for the constant movement among data, initial codes, sub-themes, and themes. An empirical study was carried out in Ekbatan Town, Tehran, which is one of the biggest planned residential neighborhoods in Iran. The neighborhood of Ekbatan was selected due to its unique neighborhood design, comprehensive public and semi-public space networks, mixed residential density, and developed local services. Data collection was carried out with the help of semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 people, including both the neighborhood’s residents and urban planning experts. Purposive sampling was used to make sure that there was enough variation among the interviewed people in terms of demographic features and expertise. The interview guide was developed based on a number of themes including spatial perception, the neighborhood’s health status, environmental quality, social interaction, sustainability and resilience in the period of the pandemic. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and then coded using MAXQDA software. Data analysis followed an iterative thematic coding process involving familiarization with the data, initial codes generation, categorization into subthemes, the identification of overarching themes, and continuous refinement through constant comparison. The analysis ultimately resulted in five principal themes representing the multidimensional characteristics of sustainable neighborhood design. Several qualitative validation techniques were employed to enhance the trustworthiness of the findings. Member checking was conducted by sharing thematic interpretations with selected participants to verify the credibility of the analytical interpretations. Furthermore, 20% of the interview transcripts were independently coded by a second researcher, resulting in an initial intercoder agreement of 86%. Coding discrepancies were resolved through collaborative discussion and repeated examination of the interview transcripts until consensus was achieved. These procedures substantially strengthened the credibility, dependability, and confirmability of findings. Results and Discussion The thematic analysis generated five interrelated key themes that together provide a comprehensive explanation of the multi-dimensional dimensions of sustainable neighborhood designs in public health emergencies: physical health, psychological health, social health, neighborhood resilience, and strategies for sustainable design. These themes do not present independent findings; rather, they have been developed by constant comparative analysis of the stories of participants to understand the complex links among the spatial features, human behavior, and the perception of health and resilience. The first theme, physical health, indicated that the spatial features like natural ventilation, sufficient light, the neighborhood walkability, and access to open spaces are crucial elements of healthy living amid the coronavirus pandemic. The study participants constantly related these spatial features to a lower risk of getting ill and higher confidence about the use of neighborhood spaces. This clearly indicates that physical health is dependent on both the performance of buildings and the spatial arrangements of neighborhoods. The second theme, mental health, demonstrated that semi-open spaces, including balconies, terraces, and private outdoor areas, played a significant role in alleviating psychological stress caused by prolonged confinement. Participants described these spaces as opportunities for restoring emotional well-being through exposure to fresh air, daylight, and visual contact with the surrounding environment. This finding indicates that psychological resilience is closely linked to the availability of flexible intermediate spaces that mediate between indoor and outdoor environments. The third theme, social health was about the role of communal areas in fostering social interaction despite the physical distancing regulations. Respondents pointed out that well-designed communal areas would promote social cohesiveness, create a stronger sense of neighborhood and informal support systems amid the pandemic. In sum, the results indicate that social sustainability requires not only the amount of interaction but also the spatial quality which makes such communication safe and fruitful for the inhabitants. The fourth theme, neighborhood resilience is the outcome of the interplay of accessibility, local amenities, flexibility, and adaptability. Respondents stated that the neighborhood which had easily accessible daily amenities, walkable environment and multifunctional public spaces was better at dealing with sudden crises. Thus, the results contribute to the understanding of resilience in a wider context than physical infrastructure alone. The fifth theme, sustainable design strategies can be viewed as the conceptual synthesis of the above-mentioned 4 themes, and not an independent theme at all. The comparative analysis exhibited that the sustainable design of neighborhoods cannot be reached via single physical measures only. Rather, it presupposes the consideration of environmental, health, social and adaptive aspects simultaneously. Thus, the proposed conceptual framework allows turning the residents' experience into physical strategies, such as spatial flexibility, increase in open and semi-open space, walkability, natural ventilation, and access to services in the neighborhood. Generally, the findings showed that neighborhood sustainability is a dynamic relationship between physical settings and the experience of the people. In contrast to previous studies addressing the topics of Healthy Cities, Urban Resilience or Sustainable Design independently, this study unites those theoretical approaches into a framework based on qualitative evidence. Therefore, the proposed framework is valuable both for theory and practice due to its explanations of mechanisms that relate spatial design to health, resilience, and social sustainability in crisis situations. Conclusion In this paper, the conceptual framework for sustainable neighborhood design was created, relying on the residents' experience and the opinion of urban planning experts during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is revealed that the concept of neighborhood sustainability not only consists of environmental quality physical aspects but also requires interaction among health, social relations, spatial flexibility, and neighborhood resilience. Thus, the five themes described in the research together explain how each dimension impacts the life of the residents and serve as a basis for evidence-based sustainable neighborhood planning. The main contribution is the combination of theoretical principles of the Neighborhood Unit, Healthy City, Urban Resilience, and Sustainable Urban Design theories into one framework, supported by qualitative data. Through examining the interconnections among the identified themes, this study transcends the mere cataloging of design elements to propose a conceptual model for sustainable neighborhood development grounded in health and resilience considerations. From a practical point of view, the results may become the basis for future changes in the design guidelines for residential neighborhoods, including the focus on flexible spatial arrangement, natural ventilation, accessibility to public and semi-public spaces, walkability, and services provision. Although the study provides valuable insights, its findings are limited to a single residential neighborhood and are therefore context-dependent. Future research is encouraged to examine the applicability of the proposed conceptual framework in different urban contexts and to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches for further validation of the identified relationships. Funding There is no funding support. Authors’ Contribution The first author was responsible for the research design, literature review, data collection, interviews, coding and analysis of qualitative data, writing the initial draft, and making revisions to the article. The second author contributed to the research by providing scientific guidance, supervising the methodology, critically reviewing the text, interpreting the findings, and approving the final version of the article. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the article. Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper. https://www.jscity.ir/article_250233.html Population growth and urban sprawl have made physical change more complex, driven by land-use policies.The District 22 of Tehran, as the capital's new development hub, has experienced distinctive spatial dynamics. This study aims to analyze the morphological transformation of District 22 within the framework of urban physical expansion management strategies. The research is applied in purpose and quantitative in methodology. Spatial data on built-up areas for 2006, 2016, and 2024 were extracted through visual interpretation of satellite imagery using Google Earth Pro. The Holdren model and landscape metrics were then employed to distinguish the contribution of different factors and to analyze the landscape structure. The Holdren model results for the first period (2006–2016) indicated that population growth, with a contribution of approximately 128%, was the primary driver of physical development, while per capita land consumption decreased by 28%. However, landscape metrics revealed increasing shape complexity and patch fragmentation, indicating that this expansion lacked a structural guidance and a coherent development strategy. During the second period (2016–2024), although the Holdren model showed a positive 15% contribution from per capita land consumption, declining trends in the Shape-MN and ENN-MN metrics demonstrated that new land consumption primarily occurred through infill development and the utilization of vacant internal spaces in a more compact and orderly pattern. Over the entire 18-year period (2006–2024), population growth, accounting for 113% of the total contribution, remained the principal driver of the district's physical expansion. District 22's macro-structure has inadequate sprawl and progressed toward smart growth principles. . . https://www.jscity.ir/article_250408.html Background and Objective: The city of Zanjan, due to its location within an active tectonic zone and its proximity to the Soltaniyeh and North Zanjan faults, together with the accelerated pace of urban development in recent decades, is exposed to a high level of seismic risk. The present study was conducted with the aim of seismic hazard zonation in Zanjan, with emphasis on urban development components and assessment of the degree of physical and spatial vulnerability. Methodology: In terms of purpose, this research is applied, and in terms of nature, it is descriptive-analytical. To assess vulnerability, 5 main criteria and 21 sub-criteria were identified based on the theoretical foundations and the opinions of 20 experts. The weighting of the criteria was carried out using the Analytic Network Process (ANP), and the limit supermatrix was extracted. Spatial layers were standardized in the ArcGIS environment using fuzzy membership functions and were integrated through the Raster Calculator tool. Findings: The ANP results showed that the physical-structural criterion, with a weight of 41.839%, and the natural criterion, with a weight of 22.150%, had the greatest influence on the seismic vulnerability of Zanjan. The areal assessment of the overall hazard zonation indicated that 18.4% of the city’s area lies within the very high-risk zone, 32.1% within the high-risk zone, 28.5% within the moderate-risk zone, and 21.0% within the low to very low-risk zones. The southern and western areas of the city, as well as the northeastern areas are the most unsafe parts of the city. Conclusion: Continuous spatial analysis shows that Zanjan’s vulnerability follows a patchy and heterogeneous pattern. In order to enhance urban resilience, it is essential to formulate strict construction regulations for new developments in the northeast and to undertake physical regeneration of the deteriorated central and southern urban fabrics. https://www.jscity.ir/article_250447.html Abstarct Rapid population growth and the physical expansion of metropolitan areas, efficient urban waste management has become a critical environmental, economic, and administrative challenge. Among its components, the collection and transportation of waste account for a significant portion of operational costs and energy consumption. Inefficient route allocation for waste collection leads to resource misallocation, increased fuel usage, environmental pollution, and disruption in municipal services. This study aims to propose an intelligent and realistic multi-objective framework for optimizing the routing of municipal waste collection fleets in Tabriz, Iran. To achieve this, the urban transportation network was extracted from OpenStreetMap data, with the geographic positions of waste bins and disposal sites precisely identified. A robust database incorporating diverse route allocation scenarios was then compiled to support decision modeling. Using multilayer perceptron neural networks, a predictive model was developed to estimate operational costs, including total distance, travel time, and fuel consumption. Subsequently, the NSGA-II algorithm was applied to simultaneously optimize the three objective functions, generating a set of non-dominated solutions in the form of a Pareto front. Empirical results demonstrated that the proposed neural network model achieved high predictive accuracy (with R² values exceeding 0.96 for some metrics), and the use of NSGA-II led to substantial improvements in operational performance: fuel consumption was reduced by up to 43%, collection time by 35%, and total traveled distance by 35%. This research underscores that combining machine learning with evolutionary optimization can offer an effective solution for intelligent and sustainable urban waste management in large cities.. https://www.jscity.ir/article_253981.html Presence occurs when a person perceives their environment and external space to have favorable conditions. Accordingly, the amount of voluntary presence, which is the source of presence for social interactions, increases and prepares the space for such fields (communications).In this study, an attempt was made to analyze and investigate the impact of social events on citizens' presence in public spaces of the city. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. The statistical population of the study consisted of citizens living in Qazvin, whose number is 409,535 people. The sample size was estimated to be 384 people using the Cochran formula. The validity of the research tool was calculated using the confirmatory factor analysis model and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach's alpha. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and SMART PLS software with descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling. The findings showed that recreational, sports, business, and cultural events have a positive and significant impact on citizens' presence. Among the variables studied, cultural events had the most impact with a path coefficient (β=0.377), such that this variable is able to explain 14.2 percent of the variance of the dependent variable. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that policymakers and urban planners in Qazvin need to plan for events and organizing urban events, thereby providing the basis for citizens' presence in publicariable. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that policymakers and urban planners in Qazvin need to plan for events and organizing urban events, thereby providing the basis for citizens' presence in public https://www.jscity.ir/article_254305.html The 15-minute city has emerged as a significant approach in urban planning literature for reconfiguring the relationship between time, space, and access to everyday needs. This study aims to identify and reinterpret the components of the 15-minute city within the spatial and functional context of dense metropolitan areas. The research adopts a qualitative methodology based on an exploratory literature review, thematic and conceptual refinement, analytical screening, and thematic analysis. In the initial stage, more than 200 scholarly and policy-oriented articles, reports, and documents were examined. Following several stages of refinement, 15 studies were selected for in-depth analysis and thematic extraction. These studies were not treated as a statistical sample of the overall body of literature; rather, they constituted the analytical corpus of the research. The findings indicate that human-scale design, carbon reduction, proximity, and walkability are among the most frequently identified components in the selected studies, whereas components such as digitalization, smart transportation, and local and extra-local connectivity receive comparatively limited attention. The analysis demonstrates that the realization of the 15-minute city cannot be evaluated solely on the basis of proximity or the temporal distance to services. Instead, the quality of accessibility, social conditions, the performance of mobility networks, and the relationship between the local scale and the broader urban structure must also be taken into consideration. Accordingly, this study proposes reconceptualizing the 15-minute city from a predominantly distance-based model into an approach for organizing feasible, multiscalar accessibility in dense metropolitan areas—an approach in which local accessibility is preserved while being considered in conjunction with the wider urban network and complementary mechanisms of access, including digital and transportation capacities. https://www.jscity.ir/article_254590.html Public interest is one of the most fundamental concepts in urban planning, but in practice its realization is shaped by power relations, institutional structures, and dominant discourses. Meanwhile, neighborhood development has been proposed as an approach to strengthen participation, spatial justice, and local governance. However, how it contributes to reproducing the concept of public interest in the Tehran metropolis still requires clarification. Therefore, the present paper was conducted with the aim of analyzing the position of neighborhood development realization in the reproduction of the concept of public interest. This paper employed a qualitative approach within the interpretive paradigm framework. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using inductive qualitative content analysis with MAXQDA software. The results indicated that the reproduction of the concept of public interest at the neighborhood level is formulated within six main categories, including: redefining the neighborhood in the modern era and innovation, the system of regulations and the rule of law, reconstruction of identity and social capital, the political economy of land and conflict of interest management, neighborhood-centered governance and participatory institutionalization, and spatial justice and standardization of services. Furthermore, themes such as the conflict between private and public interests, equitable distribution of facilities, bottom-up processes in identifying needs, provision of local per capita standards, fostering a sense of belonging, and confronting law evasion were found to be of the greatest importance in the participants' perception of public interest. The findings reveal that public interest in neighborhood development is a dynamic and context-dependent concept, reproduced through the interaction among institutional structures, power relations, dominant discourses, and the participation of local actors. Therefore, its realization requires strengthening neighborhood-centered governance, increasing transparency, managing conflicts of interest, reducing centralization, and expanding effective citizen participation in urban decision-making processes.