Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Geography, Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Humanities, Zanjan; Iran
2
PhD student in Geography and Urban Planning, Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
3
PhD student in Tourism, Department of Tourism, Faculty of Geographical Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
4
Master's student in Geography and Urban Planning, Department of Human Geography and Planning, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The physical expansion of cities, influenced by urbanization, migration, the growth of transportation networks, and globalization, has become a fundamental issue in urban planning. expansion occurs at the expense of increasing distances, rising public and private costs, and the destruction of surrounding natural and agricultural landscapes. A major form of urban expansion is urban sprawl, which refers to the low-density, dispersed, and horizontal spread of cities. This study aims to identify the key drivers of urban sprawl in the Zanjan city and to formulate strategies to counteract this phenomenon. In this applied research, a descriptive-analytical method was employed. First, indicators affecting urban sprawl were identified and extracted through a review of documents related to the subject area. Subsequently, to evaluate the degree of influence and interdependence of these indicators and to determine the key drivers, the Cross-Impact Analysis method was utilized by distributing questionnaires among experts. Following the identification of the key drivers of the system—which were: population density, land price, zoning, equitable distribution of public services, building density, mixed land use, and rural-to-urban migration, along with construction monitoring on the urban periphery—the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) method was applied in the next step to develop strategies for combating urban sprawl. The results indicated that factors such as controlling population density, managing rural-to-urban migration, and monitoring construction on the city's outskirts are of critical importance in an effective strategy to counter sprawl. Regarding the first two factors, a significant importance-performance gap was found in the urban planning of Zanjan.
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