Explanation of the regional dynamics and imbalances of Zanjan urban settlements

Subject Areas : Regional Planning

Somaye Ghezelbash ¹ (Ph.D. of Geography & Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran)
Jila Sajadi ² (Associate Professor, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran)
Mozaffar Sarrafi ³ (Associate Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran, Iran)
Mohsen Kalantari ⁴ (Associate Professor, Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran)

Received: 2019-09-28 Accepted : 2019-12-28 Published : 2021-04-21

Keywords: Zanjan Province, Regional imbalance, urban system,

Abstract :

The spatial pattern and transformation of urban systems is an important manifestation of social, economic development processes that reflect the spatial, social, and behavioral transformation of society. These changes and patterns are the basis of sustainable development research. The purpose of the study is to investigate the dynamics and imbalances of the urban system in Zanjan. The paper is descriptive, analytical research and the method of data collection is documentary. The characteristics of the urban system and its changes have investigated in two sections: demographic and functional. To analyze the demographical dynamics and imbalances, acceleration of urbanization index, gravity and rank-size model, and urban primacy index and time series have been used. The acceleration of urbanization in the province is 2.53, which is higher than in the country (1.81). The most attraction between the cities is found between the Zanjan, and Abhar and Khorramdareh. The urban primacy index in the province (0.61) has always been higher than the country (0.15). Also, the rank-size slope value was more than -1 in all periods, indicating urban primacy. But modeling the demographic changes of the first six cities shows some sort of balance. Also, we applied the service-centric index to analyze the functionality of this system, the results of which indicate the dominant role of Zanjan. Numerical taxonomy has been used to investigate the position of urban areas in communications and interconnections. The results showed that Zanjan is the only settlement that has a higher value of flow power than the upper limit, which indicates the long-distance of Zanjan from other settlements. Although Zanjan has a weak position in the urban hierarchy of Iran, it is the dominant settlement in the province and different flows of population, capital, goods, and travelers flow unilaterally from other parts to this city. The difference between Zanjan as the prime city and other areas has caused a gap in the settlement system and regional imbalances.
Extended Abstract
Introduction: The spatial pattern and transformation of urban systems is an important manifestation of social, economic development processes that reflect the spatial, social, and behavioral transformation of society. These changes and patterns are the basis of sustainable development research. Today, there is no independent demographic center, and all the transformations of human societies arise from belonging to the so-called 'geographical space', 'system' or 'network'. The urban system is not only confined to the physical set of urban settlements, but also to the flows and communications between these settlements. These streams include the flow of population, capital, and factors of production, ideas, information and innovation. The urban system of Zanjan province, consisting of 21 cities, is currently in a state of disruption and failure like the general trend of the country. The pattern of the network of urban settlements is a linear pattern with a northwest, southeast direction. The present study aims to explain how the urban system of the province has evolved over the past decades and also to evaluate the dynamics and spatial imbalances in the province's settlement system. Also. It seeks to answer the following questions: what was the trend of the Zanjan urban system in the past and what is the result of these changes in the present system? What are the functional and demographic characteristics of the province's urban system? What are the most important challenges and regional imbalances in Zanjan's urban system?
Methodology: The paper is descriptive, analytical research and the method of data collection is documentary. The characteristics of the urban system and its changes have investigated in two sections: demographic and functional. To analyze the demographic dynamics and imbalances, some indexes and models have been used, including: acceleration of urbanization index, gravity and rank-size model, and urban primacy index and time series (simple linear regression with least squares method). In this study, in order to analyze the functional features of this system, the service centricity index was used, which is one of the valid methods for determining the status of each city in terms of power and intensity of services or the degree of centralization of settlements. Also, numerical taxonomy has been used to study the position of urban settlements in the volume of communications and interconnections and their power.
Results and discussion: Zanjan province is located in the northwestern of the country with an area of more than 22,000 km². According to the latest political and administrative divisions in 2013, Zanjan province has 8 parishes and 21 cities. The proportion of urban population in the province is 65.2 percent and below the national average (74 percent). Study the urban population in 8 parishes of the province shows that Zanjan parish had the highest share of urban population (61%). The acceleration of urbanization in the province is 2.53, which is higher than in the country (1.81). In the last 30 years, this index was higher in Zanjan and Abhar parishes than other cities and even higher than in the country. This indicates the rapid growth of urbanization in these two parishes. The results of the gravity model between Zanjan as the center of the province with other settlements showed the most attractions is found between Zanjan and Abhar and Khorramdareh and the least amount between the Zanjan and Noorbahar and Nikpey. Analyzing the urban primacy index in the province and comparing it with the country showed that during the past 35 years, this index has always been higher than the country (0.61 in the province and 0.15 in the country in 2016). This indicates the greater distance of Zanjan from other settlements in the province. Also, the rank-size slope value was more than -1 in all periods, indicating urban primacy. The results of modeling the demographic changes of the first six cities by time series based on the population of year 1976 shows some sort of balance in these cities, which means, if the population of each city is compared to the situation of the same city, there is some balance in the process. But when these cities are compared in a hierarchical system, the imbalance in the urban system of the province becomes apparent. Also, we applied the service-centric index to analyze the functionality of this system, the results of which indicate the dominant role of Zanjan. Abhar and then Khorramdareh and Qeidar are next in line, with a considerable distance of Zanjan. Numerical taxonomy has been used to investigate the position of urban areas in communications and interconnections. The results by using 20 indexes showed that Zanjan is the only settlement that has a higher value of flow power than the upper limit, which indicates the long-distance of Zanjan from other settlements.
Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that although Zanjan has a weak position in the urban hierarchy of Iran, it is the dominant settlement in the province. Due to the political, administrative, economic, physical and infrastructural features of the city, different flows of population, capital, goods, and travelers flow unilaterally of other parts to this city. Irrespective of the significant volume of national and government funds spent in this city, a significant portion of the funds from other cities and villages are also used to attract Zanjan's goods and services. These conditions have made the city to have the highest attraction power in the province. The difference between Zanjan as the prime city and other settlements has caused a gap in the settlement system. However, in recent decades, the creation of small towns as new urban settlements has helped to some extent repair the rupture. The two cities of Abhar and Khorramdareh have been relatively successful in attracting capital and investment over the past years compared to other cities in the province. However, compared to Zanjan, there is still a lot of distance. The reasons for this success can be attributed to the location of the two cities near the dense growth axis of the province and the appropriate access to communication infrastructure and interaction with Tehran, Karaj and Qazvin metropolises.

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