JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY AND URBAN SPACE DEVELOPMENT
Year:2016 | Volume:2 | Issue:2 (3)|Papers Count:11

Introduction: Tourism as one of the most important phenomena of the third millennium has significantly influenced the growth and economic dynamism, and cultural exchanges of countries over the past half century. As such, many scholars have called this period the century of tourism.

Introduction: Urban green space is one of the land uses whose distribution and dispersion throughout cities is of paramount importance and constitutes an inextricable part of city structure. Thus, city green space is a sort of urban land use covering manmade vegetation and boasting both social and ecological output. City parks should be geographically distributed in ways that are easily accessible. Moreover, along with the rapid growth of urbanization and constructions in recent decades, the appearance of the city of Mashhad, the second metropolis in Iran, has changed in such way that a dire dearth is noticeable in terms of the land use of city parks.

Introduction: Nowadays, management knowledge and planning for cities has become an interdisciplinary science in which it is believed that the main obstacles to sustainability in cities are more socio-cultural and managerial than technological ones (Button, 1992). The urban sustainability of Iranian metropolises has increasingly distanced from urban stability and has thus endured much instability (Rezvani, 2001). The structural inadequacies and contradictions in the duties of civil administration have become routine and have distanced from the principles of the sustainability of scientific management models (Burgess et al., 1997).

Introduction: Every year, a considerable amount of Iranian national resources are squandered due to traffic jam disorganization. In Iran, car accidents take the second place after heart attack in the ranking of major causes of death. Engineering, education, and enforcement are the three pillars of traffic management. Needless to say, two of the previously mentioned factors (i.e., education & enforcement) directly point to human behavior and the way it is controlled. In fact, users of routes who are people including drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are the paramount factors in traffic equation which needs to be guided and controlled with a full understanding. Abnormal traffic behavior of some users of transportation systems is one of the reasons of an increase in the rate of traffic problems in various routes. Such a condition is contrary to the urban principles of smart growth and sustainability. Studying traffic anomalies, as a symbol of traffic etiquette in the society, can guide urban planners toward making correct decisions. The present study aims to determine the geographical distribution of traffic anomalies in Mashhad and find a logical link between geographical features of various districts and their rate of traffic anomalies.

Introduction: The fast growing trend of urbanization in the past few decades has developed an idea suggesting that the city and its components are integral parts of human life today. Following the growing development of cities, poverty, expansion of social inequalities, environmental degradation, spread of pollution in urban areas, and the growth of social and cultural abnormalities, have caused the developing countries to face with numerous adverse crises of the fast growing globalization. This issue has made urban instability as one of the most challenging urban issues in twenty-first century.

Introduction: Security is considered as one of the most striking aspects of development of a society which provides growth, development, and stability. In fact, security is one of the most important goals, resources, and sustainable values of society. Meanwhile, dynamic growth of a city and its livability for the citizens cannot be obtained except by providing security. It is obvious that without security, we can expect the efficiency of the urban structure as a system of components for citizenship and life settlements with prosperity and human dignity. Security in urban structure and the citizen’s enjoyment of a sense of security is increasingly important and is a fundamental component of sustainable social development.

Introduction: The international studies in the past years have focused on the high significance of nature for the welfare of urban people, and that alone suffices to show the urgent need for making the cities green. Taking into account all economic, social, and environmental issues, the greenway is capable of providing great help in sustainable development. To achieve such goals, planners suggest multi-purpose urban greenways that are capable of helping urban form, picnic spaces, recreational areas, places for physical fitness practice, protection of environment and biodiversity alongside economic development. Through greenways, high traffic places of the cities such as shopping and commercial centers, public transportation stations, recreation centers, schools, universities, parks, and beautiful landscapes of suburban areas are interconnected.

Introduction: The establishment of social councils of Mashhad's neighborhoods is one of the approaches in making citizens participate in affairs so that better cooperation and interactions with the urban management are achieved. Undoubtedly, of the factors affecting the council performances, mention could be made of the level of trust among the members in the form of members' social capital indices. This study aims to examine trust in the municipality, trust in the efficacy of councils, trust in the abilities of the other members of the council as social capital indices and a feeling of belonging to the neighborhood, as a variable affecting social capitals and members' tendency towards participation in the neighborhoods' affairs, among the members of social councils of neighborhoods in the region 9 of Mashhad's municipality.

Introduction: More than 45 percent of the world population lives in cities which will reach over sixty percent until 2030 (Small & Miller, 1999). The urbanization, population growth, physical development, land-use changes to benefit from construction, and.urban micro-climate makes urban climatology. An increase in urban surface temperatures in relation to the suburban is called heat island. Temperature differences between downtown and the suburbs is occasionally 5- 6˚C. On calm and clear nights, the temperature is reported even 6-8˚C in big cities (Barry & Chorley, 1987). “With TM images of Landsat on 5 July 1992 and 6 August 2002, heat island of Mashhad is determined” (Mosavi Bayegi, Batool, Farid Hossaini, Mianabadi, 2012, p.35).

Introduction: Life quality is a transdisciplinary concept which has been recently explored in human fields. The concept has been proposed in social and economic analyses and emphasized the accessible resources in cities. According to the available statistics, nearly half of the world population is living in cities, which is expected to rise in the forthcoming decades. In general, this may be due to the efforts of many people to satisfy their needs and appropriate facilities in the urban life.

Introduction: Health tourism is a form of travel for the purpose of obtaining health and medical care in addition to entertainment, leisure and comfort. Medical developments and availability of state of the art medical equipment in Iran have created new opportunities for tourism industry and especially health tourism. Mashhad as the capital of the province and a main hub offering a variety of premium services, particularly in healthcare in the field of dialysis, dentistry, cardiac surgery, plastic surgery, and eye surgery, etc., is of a special position not only throughput the province of Khorasan Razavi but also at the national and international levels. These conditions along with well-founded mode of transportation (roads, railway, international airport, etc.), residences, entertainment, and tourism centers especially religious tourism have provided an appropriate situation to attract medical and health tourists.