Comparative Analysis of the Role of Free Trade Zones in the Physical Expansion of Cities (Case Study: Free Trade Zones of Tianjin in China and Chabahar in Iran)

Nowadays, free trade zones can serve countries as opportunities and instruments with a high capability to play an economic role or to create various future perspectives. Cities created and expanded under the influence of free trade zones, will face an increase in the population, which will significantly promote economic activity and investment. Ultimately, the physical organization and structure of the cities will go through significant changes. The main objective of the current study is to evaluate and analyze the physical impacts of free trade zones on the development and growth of Chabahar and Tianjin Cities as well as the consequences and outcomes of this development. The study utilizes a descriptive analytical methodology. The required data were collected using public documents, statistical reports, and satellite images. Therefore, in order to determine the extent of the expansion of these cities, the Landsat satellite images in 1991, 2001, and 2004 for Chabahar City and in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 for Tianjin City were processed in Envi 4.8 software application. The general results of the study show that the physical development of these cities has been influenced by the activities in the free trade zones, and with the growth of economic activities, the trend of physical expansion has accelerated. For Chabahar City, the analysis of satellite images shows that the limits of the city have increased from 991 hectares in 2001 to 1646 hectares in 2014. However, this increase has not been consistent and it has been due to the migration of rural residents to the city, living in informal residences. Moreover, the limits of Tianjin City have experiences a significant growth after the creation of the free trade zone, in a way that the city expanded from 124,000 square kilometers in 2005 to 200,000 square kilometers in 2010. In fact, the models of development scale cycle in Tianjin not only caused the expansion and development of human residences and service centers, but it also caused industrial and infrastructure development. Indeed, development cycle models have prevented the spiral development of urban lands.