Application of scenario-based planning in the Walkability of urban Streets (case study: Akhund-e- Khorasani Street of Mashhad City)

toktam hanaee ¹ ( Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran )
Seyede Elahe Rezvanian ² ( Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran. )
farid bashian ³ ( Ph.D Student, Department of Urbanism, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran. )

Submited date : 2022-12-04 Accepted date : 2023-06-09

Keywords: Mashhad, walkability, scenario-based planning, Akhund-e Khorasani Street,

Abstract :

Walking has long been considered one of the easy transportation methods. In addition to promoting public health, foot traffic increases social presence potential and social vitality in urban spaces.The appearance of problems caused by the priority of cars in the cities today has caused the attention of urban managers to promote pedestrian-based transportaion. The aim of the present study is to identify the probable future of walkability in one of the Streets in Mashhad city, Akhoond-e-Khorasani, by taking advantage of scenario-based planning.The present research is applied, in terms of purpose, and descriptive-analytical, in terms of method. In this research, based on the scenario planning approach, the library study and fieldwork are the sources for data collection. In addition, in order to analyze the data, the instant Delphi technique, STEEP technique and SMIC PROB-EXPERT scenario planning methods were used. The Akhoond-e-Khorasani street is one of the Identity way of Mashhad city. Its location in relation to Imam Reza's holy shrine, the presence of commercial activities and the passage of pilgrims indicate its capabilities to become a Walkable Street. According to the variables obtained from the opinions of the statistical society, 5 hypotheses and 32 scenarios were extracted about converting it to a Walkable Street. According to the results, the most probability of occurrence is for scenario 3 in which 4 hypotheses happen: increase in social vitality, decrease in social anomie, increase in traffic in the adjacent Street and increase in economic prosperity and 1 hypothesis doesn’t happen: resistance of the tradespeople against Walkability. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that among the existing hypotheses, the "resistance of the tradespeople" is the most influential variable on Walkability.