Evaluation of the ecological potential for the development of Shabestar city Using geographic information system and network analysis process

Subject Areas :

Dariush  Sattarzadeh ¹ (Associate Professor, Department of Urbanism, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. (Corresponding Author) dariush [e-mail])
Mohammad  Zanghaneh ² (Department of Urbanism, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran)
Nasrin  Ashrafi ³ (Department of Urbanism, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran)

Received: 2022-07-20 Accepted : 2022-09-13 Published : 2022-08-23

Keywords: Sustainable Development, Geographic Information System, network analysis process, Ecological Capacity Assessment,

Abstract :

Planning to achieve sustainable development by using the evaluation of ecological capacity in order to choose the best places for development, is a new approach that nowadays, has attracted the attention of urban and regional planners and is considered as an important factor to achieve it. In this research, using the integration of network analysis process and geographic information system, the ecological potential of urban development in Shabestar city has been evaluated in order to determine the suitable areas for this purpose. In order to achieve the goal, first the effective criteria in urban development were identified according to the research conducted and experts' opinions were collected through the Delphi method, and finally 7 criteria and 11 sub-criteria were selected. Then, using the pairwise comparison method, the importance of the criteria was determined relative to each other, and the criteria were weighted using the network analysis process. Finally, the information layers needed in the GIS environment were applied to them based on the fuzzy logic of valuation and the obtained weights, and the ecological power map was obtained using the weighted superimposition of the layers. The results obtained from the research show that 28% of the area of Shabestar city has completely adequate capacity, 24% has adequate capacity, which indicates the high capacity of the region for development. These areas mainly include the southern part of the city, which extends from east to west. On the other hand, only 14% of the area is completely unsuitable and 17% is designated as unsuitable, which includes the northern heights of the city. Based on these matters and according to the final classification map, it can be concluded that the favorable areas for the future physical development of Shabestar city are mostly in the southern part of this city.