Journal of Urban Research and Planning
Year:2011 | Volume:2 | Issue:6|Papers Count:7

Regional differences in national development process are major issues in development planning and Policy making. Using growth Pole model and emphasis on developed regions or development Polarization causes a deep gap between regions in development issues. Different income per capital in different regions is one of the outcomes of this process. This differentiation in western Azerbaijan Province especially in southern townships is very distinctive. The methodology of this research is descriptive – analytical and in order to measure development levels in south townships, data were gathered and using numeral taxonomy model townships were classified based on eight indices that indicate industrial development in these regions. The results show that vicinity to international borders not only has no effect on development ratio in these townships but some ethnic and language differentiations determine development level.

In recent years, the need to study the positive effects of tourism development is being felt well. Appropriate accommodations can be a means to improve the image of the destination, local people's sense of pride and honor. Tourism development in the northern towns and villages can have long-term effects on the local economy, infrastructure, cultural aspects - social and business and should be considered as a factor affecting the development and improvement of economic situation (increasing income and employment) and improve the image of these areas (awareness and knowledge of regional visits). Hence, this study examines the relationship between mental image, perceived value as well as perceived quality of tangible and intangible factors. Thus, first the conceptual model was designed based on theory and then the tests were subjected to the survey - analytical method. The population under study was 200 tourists of Caspian Sea coast randomly selected based on the Cochran formula. The data obtained by a distributed questionnaire were analyzed through structural equations and partial least squares method through the following software PLS. The results indicated that perceived quality is more important than perceived value as the consequences of tourist's mental image. It was also found that the quality of intangible factors does not significantly affect tourist’s mental image.

The increase in urbanization trend and environmental, social and demographical consequences has led to the reaction of health city’s advocates focusing on health and sanitation of human society. Therefore, in the middle of 1980, health city approach was proposed as a way of achieving individual and social desirable life. The aim of this research is Spatial Analysis of Health City Indicators Situation. The research methodology is descriptive-analytical and based on secondary formal data. In this study, fuzzy clustering analysis (C-Means algorithm) was used to cluster cities in Mazandaran and for more accuracy Topsis model was used. The results show that cities membership is independent of spatial factor of distance from center. Also, cities membership in fourth cluster rejected probability of difference between west, center and east cities in province. On the other hand, albeit it was supposed that center county’s cities are in a better condition in comparison to other counties, it was not the case and they got the seventh rank.

The improvement and renovation of urban exhausted textures are important challenges that urban management in such developing countries as Iran is confronted. Physical and functional exhaustions and their social consequences in some urban quarters, particularly central ones to which not considerable attention have been paid by urban management and planners in modernism era, give the impression that they are problematic regions entering post-modernism era. The regressive trend as proper and adequate governmental facilities were not provided, according to an accurate estimate of necessary expenses for improvement and renovation, will not undoubtedly take a responsible approach upholding citizenship rights to these kinds of texture; while what distinguishes some of these quarters with physical exhaustion from other urban quarters is the presence of some elements of social sustainability that is essential for the survival of the cities. Sarcheshmeh Quarter (the old texture), located in the downtown of Sardasht City with a population of 1132 people, as the studied area of the research is not an anomaly to the rule and started to decay in an exhaustion cycle. The examination of the study area in socio-economic and physical-spatial terms for providing effective solutions to the improvement and renovation indicated that there is some evidence of sense of place as the most important factor of social sustainability. The factor can be used as a parameter to establish public-based organizations and institutes, NGOs and CBOs for the improvement and renovation of the quarter. But, physical-oriented approaches cause urban management to neglect such an important factor in the renovation of these kinds of texture. The research was followed by a descriptive-analytical method and positivist approach and the data were collected from literature and field surveys.

Nowaday assessing studentʼs satisfication in universities is very essential in different cities. On the other hand, primary studies show that universities do not satisfy the needs of cities. This disharmony causes difficulities in economic, social, political and cultural area throughout the country. Establishing a university in a city demands its own infrastructures. It is absolutely essential to pay attention to these potential infrastructures along with suitable potentials in line with universities' and studentʼs needs. The current study aims to investigate studentʼs satisfaction of Babolsar University. To collect the required data, the researcher used library-based methods, documentation and survey. Participants were 370 students of Mazandaran University. To this end, using one sample T-test, the researcher investigated studentʼs satisfaction in SPSS and then other influential parameters affecting studentʼs viewpoints were assessed using multi-variate Regression.The T-test results show that students were just satisfied with Transportation and facility services. However, there was no significant relationship among other parameters. The investigation of influential parameters shows that residency index (b= 0.545) and relief (b= 0.530) were very effective. On the other hand, athletic services index (b= 0.478) and employment facilities (b= 0.430) had the least effect on the studentʼs satisfaction in Babolsar.

Today, public and open spaces have been considered by many researchers and urban policymakers. Development of these open spaces such as parks, public spaces and green spaces play a significant role in improving the quality of citizens' lives. One the of the most crucial public places is car free streets that have been designed as the most vibrant places in development countries. These places with social activities enhance face to face relationships; so, they encourage citizens to walk and use less private cars. In this research, one of the most chief and crowded streets with high level of services in Shiraz-Afif Abad Street- has been chosen and evaluated to modify to a pedestrian street. The initial data were collected from specific questionnaires which were completed by residents and employees who reside and work in the study area. Also, the relation between satisfaction of people with a pedestrian street and socio- economic, traffic and behavioral characteristics have been investigated by Binary Regression. The findings demonstrate the fact that only some of the socio-economic, traffic and behavioral attributes have significant impact on the factor of individual satisfaction. Overall, results show that making a pedestrian street needs decent means of public transport and it should be advocated by urban managers with some encouraging policies.

The industrial revolution made huge developments in urban areas specifically their environment, culture, political features, economy, space of physical specifications, society, mentality and sanitary. One of the outstanding goals of locating industrial towns adjacent to old ones is employment factor which paved the way to improve economy circumstances. So, this factor and its economic consequences make it possible to improve urban life and organize production and develop the economical system including social, cultural, spatial and physical features. Establishing Albourz industrial town adjacent to Alvand village in mid1350s paved the way to improve employment which attracted a large number of populations and developed urban spatial-physical feature. The aim of this research is to recognize Alvand town's essential developments using the change of employment structure. In this research, population which determines the size of town has been considered as a dependent variant and agriculture, industry and service sectors have been considered as independent variants. Using these variants helps us study Alvand town's population and its employed population during four decades. The results indicate that there is no meaningful relationship between the size of town and agriculture sector; but there is a meaningful relationship between the size of town and industry and service sectors.