TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING
Year:2019 | Volume:11 | Issue:1|Papers Count:7

Distribution of production activities and establishment of industrial units in different regions depend on the decision of firms regarding their location, but there are many important factors that affect the decision-making process. This research main goal is to understand the relationship between industry specialization, diversity of industries, competition between industries, and the concentration of industries over time. The research method is quantitative and follows the method employed by Glaeser et al. (1992). The effect of specialization, relative diversity of industries and competition between industries on industrial concentration have been investigated using geographically weighted regression method. The result of this assessment shows that during the study period with the increasing specialization of industries in the county, in most industrial sectors, increasing industry concentration has occurred. But between the relative diversity of industries and industrial competitiveness and the geographic concentration of industries no significant relationship in the counties was observed.

The structure of urban development planning in our country has non-flexible, inefficient foundations, and the functional geometric approach that theoretical and methodological inadequacy of its paradigm, namely planning focused on its weaknesses and inefficiencies, is transparent, confirms it more and more. In this process, the strategic planning approach, with transforming the planning structure within two parts of the decision-making and decision taking, has proposed some flexible, transparent, and participatory foundations in the field of urban development design. Exercising this approach requires recognizing the priorities, influences, and challenges ahead to understand its existing reality in the urban development process. In this regard, the present study has been carried out with the "application-development" nature and with the "descriptive-analytical” methodology. The sample population of the research is 50 experts and elites related to the research topic selected in a targeted Delphi manner. The analytical tool of the research, due to the goals, is the FLLS model and the structural equation modeling AMOS. The results indicate that: policymaking is the most important stage in the strategic decision-making structure; the stage of reforming and reviewing the plans is the most important stage of the decisiontaking strategic structure. These two possess the highest priority for structural changes in Isfahan metropolis. Explaining the Structural Relationship of the Structural Steps to explain the Strategic Planning Implementation in Isfahan's Metropolitan Area shows the significance of the structural relationship and the weighted regression coefficients achieved in this process. It shows the importance of the stage of the reforming and reviewing of the plans in explaining the structural relationship rather than other stages.

Integrity and connectivity of habitats are among the important factors for the conservation of plant and animal populations within protected areas, particularly when the habitats are connected. Investigating on the integrity of these areas could help interconnecting islanded patches and preventing the negative impacts of fragmentations. This study aimed to quantify the fragmentations of different regions within the protected area of Jajroud. Landuse map was extracted using remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. The acquired data were employed to study the fragmentation of the regions considering the landscape metrics. The results indicate that the northern parts of the region, including the national parks of Khojir and Sorkheh Hesar, in general, possess larger patches and a higher level of connectivity, while the southern part is tending towards small-grain structure. In addition, results support the applicability of landscape metrics in assessing the management of the protected areas and identifying the protection patches in order to prioritize the protection of landscape patches.

One of the important strategies that have been taken into consideration in the last halfcentury to counter regional imbalances, caused by the increasing growth of large cities, is the creation of small cities. Due to the availability of some facilities and services, small cities are considered as one of the important centers for bringing balance to regional development. The method of the present research is a descriptive-analytical one, and the purpose of this research is to study the status of changes in the urban system of the small cities of Alborz province in order to bring balance to the regional sustainable development. In order to find out the status of small cities in the urban system in a 30-year period (19862016), rank-size models, as well as entropy and balance sheets models were used, and then their role in bringing balance to the regional development was evaluated. The results of the study show that the Entropy coefficient without counting the small towns, will still have imbalances. The rank-size logarithmic model, by counting small cities with the slope of the line amounting to-1. 94 and without counting small cities reduced to-1. 21, indicating the undeniable role of small cities in the urban system. Also, the results of the balance sheet model show that component changes are mainly intra-class and are due to the growth of cities. Moreover, concerning the process of changing villages to cities, changes resulted from the formation of new cities can be seen only in 2006.

Relationships between urban network cities are shaped by demographic trends and the factors affecting it. This research, using two concepts of occupation distribution and urban network, seeks to study the effective factors in the occurrence and intensification of inequalities in the Isfahan city spatial network. In the same way, the changes and transformation of the Isfahan network (including 37 cities of Isfahan approved by CityRegion Plan) are considered by employment indicators as well as distance between cities, using network mapping in social network analysis software (Gephi) in three periods: 1996, 2006, 2016. The research method is applied in terms of purpose and application. The data were gathered through library studies and review of documents. The data analysis method is also quantitative. For employment at any time, a separate network is mapped and analyzed. The results indicate that in Isfahan city network at the time of research, demographic changes in populated cities and low population centers do not directly correlate with the shift of employment in the urban network, while there is a direct relationship between cities with a moderate population and the flow of employment. In addition, the metropolis of Isfahan, with a significant percentage of facilities, resources, financial flows, political power, and population flows, does not have decent employment flows rank in urban network cities.

Researchers believe that population density is defined as the estimation of the amount of population and their activities. Put it differently, it is equivalent of spatial congestion. This concept is measured based on some environmental indexes. Also, it is closely related to the environment`s design style and culture and environmental indexes. Thus, the environment has a substantial influence on the perception of density which is assessed as spatial configuration. As a result, the environment has a great impact on density perception, which we consider as a spatial configuration. Configuration, in other words, is a set of relationships between spaces that exist in a particular situation in time and affect the perception of density by citizens and environmental quality. In this regard, the present study was conducted with the aim of using condensation tools in urban planning and trying to create a favorable environment for the residents of Shahid Beheshti residential town of Hamadan. The type of research is applied and its method is descriptive. The information is collected through observation and questionnaire adjusted with the Likert spectrum. The statistical population of the study in Beheshti town of Hamedan is 7652 people, and the sample size is 366 people using Cochran formula. Data analysis was also performed through Spatial Distance Index (SOI) calculations and one-way ANOVA and multiple regression (HMR) tests. Finally, it was found that the lower the spatial distance index (SOI), the more enclosed and compact space, the lower the environmental quality, and the higher the SOI, the higher the openness and extent, and ultimately the higher the environmental quality. As a result, the present study has presented a conceptual framework for planning and designing standard and appropriate spatial configuration of urban space with respect to the level of citizens' perception to improve the quality of the urban environment.

Physical expansion of cities, particularly those that have experienced unusual growth due to economic, social, and political transformations, has led to numerous problems. To this end, the purpose of this study was to investigate conditions of Birjand City regarding flooding and hazard zoning caused by this important natural event. The present study is applied regarding the objective and descriptive-analytic considering its methodology. The study was descriptive-analytic and performed through prediction of the scope of damages caused by floods and based on hazard zoning. Data gathered regarding land use, population density, features of existing watercourses, slope, residential and population density, CN coefficient, runoff, the age of buildings, open spaces, and other influencing components. Collected data were weighed after correction and conversion, and required maps were prepared after conducting paired comparisons and determination of eventual coefficients for each layer. AHP model and associated software, particularly Expert Choice, and ArcGIS, were used to determine final weights and coefficients. According to the results, given that development of Birjand City has been done on the sub-basin of the existing watercourse, all the city is exposed to the risk of flooding. However, southern and southeastern zones with almost 20% of the city area are subject to high and very high risk; northwestern and southeastern with 50% of the area are subject to average risk; and other zones of the city with less than 30% of area are subject to low and very low risk. As a result, the operation of flood control and flood warning systems in areas with greater vulnerability should be considered, while illegal occupation of flooding basins and watercourses should be dealt with.