Providing Optimal Patterns for Developing Desert Cities with Emphasis on Geomorphologic Factors (A Case study: Damghan City)

Given the fact that the physical development of cities causes them to be confronted with the topographic and geomorphological units around them, and given the dynamics of these units, if the physical development of the city does not take place in the right direction, it will cause the dynamic balance of the environment to be lost and may cause damage. The purpose of this study is to investigate geomorphologic constraints and provide optimal directions for physical development in Damghan. For this purpose, firstly, the study area was determined using satellite images and aerial photographs. In the next step, the conditioning factors in physical development of the city were determined using the literature review and extensive field surveys and were provided in ArcGIS10.1 environment. In the next step, the factors were weighted using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and then, using the TOPSIS model, optimum directions were obtained for the physical development of Damghan. According to the results, land use, slopes and geomorphological barriers factors have the most impact on the physical development of the city of Damghan. The results of the research indicated that the western and southwest directions were rated as the most favorable with 0.886979 and 0.759.592 score and south and north directions, with the score of (0, 0373/0) was considered the most unfavorable aspect of the city's physical development. Respectively. In the southern regions, clay and salt slabs and the influx of sandy soils to residential areas and urban equipment, and in the northern regions flood conifers and local floods are the main geomorphology obstacles to urban development, in contrast, the western and southwestern parts of the country were recognized due to proper slope and lithology, lack of geomorphological barriers and lack of agricultural use for physical development of the city. The results of this research can help urban managers and planners in the field of physical development of the city.