Integrating Methods of Urban green Space ranking Using the Copeland Model (Case study: Ardabil City)

Urban green space is one of the land uses that its distribution across the city is crucially important. Ardabil can be considered as a city with an inappropriate distribution of green space. The allocated green space per capita in Ardabil is 7.3 square meters. This figure is quite far from the indices determined by the United Nations Environment Organization which considers 20 to 25 square meters for each person. The present study was aimed at analyzing 44 neighborhoods of Ardabil city based on 11 selected indicators of green space availability set by experts. Based on type, the present study is an applied research with a descriptive-analytical method. The required data was obtained from the parks and green space organization of Ardabil in 2015 as well as through a field study. Then, in order to rank all 44 neighborhoods of Ardabil city according to their existing green spaces we have applied the Copeland model to integrate several multi-criteria decision-making models including TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTERE, and SAW. As a result, all neighborhoods of Ardabil were grouped into four categories namely: enjoyed, semi-enjoyed, deprived, and very deprived. As seven neighborhoods of the city lacked any kinds of green space, and most of the other neighborhoods fall in the deprived category, it can be said that the distribution of urban green space in Ardabil is an unbalanced distribution.