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In residential areas, public open spaces offer various opportunities for children's desired activity. Examining children's activities at specific locations highlights the environmental affordances offered by the environment, informing potential interventions and future design considerations. To study children's play in a densely populated affordable housing complex, we used behavioral mapping to observe their activities in open areas over a year. We recorded 4,453 activities among children aged 2 to 18. These records captured place-centered data related to their age, gender, postures, and the individual/group mode of activity. By inputting this data into a Geographic Information System (GIS), we were able to produce place-oriented maps that highlighted where and how these activities occurred. Qualitative analysis of the GIS maps helped us gain a comprehensive understanding of the socio-spatial features that support playful activities. These features include spatial characteristics, temporal elements, and social dimensions. Additionally, we employed non-parametric statistical methods to analyze the qualitative data related to age, gender, and activity types. The study revealed that playful activities were the most common way children used the open spaces. These activities, however, are varied based on  age and gender, and were also influenced by the spatial layout. Boys, particularly from the age of six onwards, were more prominent and unrestricted in their presence and activities within the open spaces compared to girls. This difference peaked during adolescence. The spatial layout of these areas played a significant role in shaping children's play. Areas closest to apartment buildings provided a safe and engaging environment for younger children (under six) and activities requiring adult supervision and socialization. These areas typically offered settings suitable for quieter activities. In contrast, boys over six often dominated areas further away from the buildings, engaging in active physical play. These areas typically had open centers suitable for running and games, often found near pedestrian areas, riding paths, and parking lots. Although the study identified some gender differences in play patterns across different zones, both areas near and far from apartment buildings offered important features that supported play. By providing both sociable edges suitable for quieter activities and open centers for active play, these features catered to a range of developmental needs. To encourage children’s safe exploration beyond their immediate surroundings, a two-zone design strategy is proposed. Zone 1, situated in close proximity to apartment blocks, would function as semi-private spaces designed to accommodate a variety of recreational, physical, and social activities for resident children. This zone would prioritize features that enable parental supervision while mitigating vehicular interference. Zone 2, encompassing public spaces further from the buildings, would cater to children's independent playfull activities. These zones would be interconnected through a network of pedestrian and cycling paths. Adult superviosion in these zones would create safe settings for all children to engage in playful activities, especially those who might feel less comfortable alone (younger kids and girls). This two-zone approach, with both supervision and connectivity, has the potential to make affordable housing complexes more inclusive and stimulating for children.

In the last few decades, the issue of urban management in the country has been analyzed from various political, social, infrastructural, administrative, legal, etc. dimensions, and integrated management has always been proposed as an answer to current problems. However, the role of information and its infrastructure in this cycle has not been considered much. Therefore, this research aims to identify the weaknesses of the information mechanisms of the urban management complex of Baneh, while providing practical solutions to solve them by using the capabilities of the web-based spatial information system. The statistical population of the current research was all managers and specialist personnel of Baneh Municipality, from whom 10 managers and personnel were randomly selected. The necessary information was collected using specialized interviews and analyzed by the coding method (open, central, and selective) in Nvivo11 software, the general results of which were the weakness in accessing and classifying the information of all departments, as a result of the lack of it shows the appropriate infrastructure for data classification. Finally, after prioritizing the problems of different departments, with the help of personnel and managers, a comprehensive information system for the management of municipal construction charges was designed on the web platform to solve the mentioned problems. In this regard, we designed the frontend part of the system with HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap5, and developed the backend part with JavaScript and Python programming language in the Django framework and using the open-source database PostgreSQL11. The results of the implementation of this structure show that in addition to being justifiable, the economy is to improve various mechanisms in this field, including acquisition and management of spatial data, data classification, instant updates with a simple user interface, the possibility of instant reporting of the status of payments, observation of cash and other cash transactions, control of municipal employees and automatic recording of their activities, access to all the data available without the time and place restrictions with the possibility of determining the level of access to them, and instantly view the changes in the desired time interval. Also, an advanced search system has been implemented on the database with 43 information fields, which allows applying any type of filter on the information. Finally, the implementation of the information management system of construction charges has paved the way for the development of complementary systems for urban planning, waste, worn-out fabric, etc.

Cities are currently facing significant challenges. Urban life has been profoundly impacted by climate change. The rise in the Earth's average temperature is a key factor driving the increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, which directly affect the lives and well-being of millions of people and the environment. Additionally, cities are rapidly expanding, consuming land and water in surrounding areas, often at the expense of agricultural lands. Many cities around the world suffer from inadequate infrastructure and unequal access to essential services, which disproportionately affect vulnerable groups. Urbanization and growing competition among different land uses and economic sectors are making water an increasingly scarce resource. Climate change further exacerbates these pressures by heightening the risk of floods, droughts, and heatwaves. These challenges demand a systemic approach and a shift in urban planning and water management. Traditional urban water management systems provided services such as water supply, wastewater management, drainage, and flood control. However, urban water management is now increasingly integrated with broader goals of livability and sustainability. In recent decades, several countries have developed new approaches to urban water management. These approaches all embrace sustainable development as a core objective, with the concept of Water Sensitive Cities emerging as a notable model. This concept is linked to a new paradigm in urban water management that advocates for the use of decentralized water systems. Since the introduction of practical water-sensitive indicators, substantial efforts have been made to implement them in cities with diverse social, organizational, and biophysical conditions worldwide Iran is not exempt from this crisis, and its water resources are far from ideal. Situated in the arid and semi-arid belt of the world, Iran is considered one of the countries with limited water resources. Its share of the world’s fresh water is relatively low compared to other regions. With Iran’s growing population, the annual per capita renewable water resources decreased to about 800 cubic meters in 2021, below the water scarcity threshold of 1,000 cubic meters. The decline in groundwater resources is a clear sign of unsustainable management and national water bankruptcy. At the current rate of exploitation, 12 out of 31 provinces in Iran will completely deplete their groundwater reserves within the next 50 years. Tehran, the capital, faces one of the most critical water resource conditions. Factors such as population growth, urbanization, green spaces, industries, unsustainable water consumption, lack of rainfall, and evaporation contribute to water loss in the Tehran area. Tehran Province, which accounts for more than 20% of the country's population, occupies less than 1% of its land area. It is evident that providing water for this dense population is a challenging task. Over the past two years, Tehran has been recognized as the country’s highest water-consuming city. The city of Tehran comprises 22 districts and 376 neighborhoods, each differing in physical, environmental, and cultural aspects. One of Tehran’s neighborhoods, Tajrish in District 1, has been particularly notable because of itshistorical significance and location. This neighborhood is noteworthy in terms of water management because it has numerous active Qanats. Additionally, the presence of the Darband River Valley is one of its unique features. A review of Iran’s flood history shows that one of the most destructive floods occurred in this neighborhood, highlighting the need for measures to achieve sustainable water resource conditions. This study aims to evaluate the Tajrish neighborhood based on Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) indicators and to answer the question of how Tajrish stands in terms of WSC criteria. It also seeks to provide solutions for achieving water sustainability in Tehran. Implementing the necessary measures to become a Water Sensitive City can help reduce costs and foster a sustainable and socially committed approach to urban water resource management.

This research is an applied study aimed at assessing the status of the Tajrish neighborhood based on the indicators of Water Sensitive Cities. To achieve this objective, we employed multiple methods for data collection and analysis, which are detailed below:In the first phase, we gathered information using library and documentary methods, which included documentary studies, library research, and a thorough review of the literature. In the next step, we used a questionnaire to collect information for assessing the status of the Tajrish neighborhood in relation to a Water Sensitive City, utilizing the Likert scale. These questionnaires were distributed among 30 water and urban planning experts and reached theoretical saturation. After distributing the questionnaires among the experts and scoring each criterion and sub-criterion, we used the one-sample t-test in SPSS software to determine the status of each of these criteria and sub-criteria in this neighborhood relative to a Water Sensitive City. Subsequently, we categorized these criteria into five ranges, from very weak to very good.

To identify the most significant deficiencies among the main components and sub-criteria, we use a classification method. In the t-test, we considered the highest level, representing a Water Sensitive City, as one, and we ranked the criteria into five groups within the range of zero to one. According to experts, Tehran has the smallest gap regarding equity and equality compared to Water Sensitive Cities, while the worst situation pertains to efficiency and performance. By examining each criterion and sub-criterion based on their importance in the Tajrish neighborhood, we found that most indicators fall within the range of 0-0.2, which is weak, and 0.21-0.4, which indicates moderate conditions. Only three sub-criteria—equitable access to safe and reliable water resources, equitable access to a safe and reliable sewage network, and vegetation cover—were classified as good.

Population growth and the lack of consideration for water elements in urban planning have resulted in significant challenges for today's cities regarding water resource availability, impacting their sustainability. It is evident that traditional urban water management models are insufficient, and modern cities require the adoption of new approaches for urban water management. The Water Sensitive Cities model, which has emerged in the past two decades, represents a novel approach to urban water management, advocating for the use of decentralized water systems. This model aims to maximize opportunities for better living conditions and efficient resource utilization, including the reuse and management of water and wastewater, to promote and support human health while minimizing the impacts of urbanization on the natural environment and the water cycle. In this study, we assessed the status of the Tajrish neighborhood based on the indicators of Water Sensitive Cities using the one-sample t-test. The results indicated that Tajrish predominantly falls within the weak and moderate categories for these indicators. Only three sub-criteria—equitable access to safe and reliable water resources, equitable access to a safe and reliable sewage network, and vegetation cover—were classified as good. Consequently, Tajrish requires long-term planning across all dimensions and strategies ranging from micro to macro levels.

Nowadays, informal settlement phenomenon is in the top of the list of urban management issues in majority of big and medium sized cities of Iran. Despite of various interventions in recent decades, significant change cannot be seen. One of the most important reasons of this situation is the theoretical passivity alongside with obsolescence of informal settlements' literature in Iran, since localization of Enabling Paradigm. The main goal of the present research is to select a new pattern for betterment of informal settlements through scrutinizing new approaches toward betterment of informal settlements. Exploring different References, 42 approaches has been identified. Through Grounded Theory and applying open coding, axial coding, and central coding processes, 5 different classifications have been recognized, consisting of coverage-based, authenticity-based, dependence-based, extent-based, and nature-based classifications. the Nature-based classification which is the synonym for conceptual hierarchy, consisting of paradigm, theory, approach, strategy, pattern, and, plan, has been chosen as the main classification.  According to research priorities which are Comprehensiveness, applicability, and repeatability, among 6 classes, pattern class has been chosen. Based on the coverage-based classification, among 15 identified patterns, 7 of them are comprehensive and subsequently opt to identify. Precisely applying the Delphi-AHP technique, based on the opinions of 24 specialists and 7 criteria, in situ upgrading has been selected as the best pattern. Also, collaborative housing as the second pattern and city Development as the suitable pattern in equiponderant condition, are worth mentioning patterns for the betterment of informal settlements in Iran.

During the past few decades, there has been widespread immigration to urban centers of wealth for utilization of opportunities and better conditions in prospect due to the dominance of the city-oriented capitalist economy, shortcomings, and failures of governments and official markets, and inequality in southern countries. Along with the inefficiency of governments and urban planning systems in satisfying needs, particularly those for dwelling and employment, this trend has led to spontaneous urban settlements. Therefore, it is essential to provide low-income groups with dwellings and present solutions in accordance with the residents’ financial capability. David Gouverneur presented a novel approach in 2015, which came to be known as informal armatures (IA). He believes that spontaneous urban settlements involve numerous physical and social complexities, and to simplify, the environment, morphology, and administrative aspects need to be balanced. He states that the problems with these settlements can be solved by the people, local governments, and central governments. This research has investigated the informal armatures approach in Sanandaj, Iran.

Theoretical framework:

Beyond the theoretical controversies in this regard, the IA approach presents a framework for spontaneous neighborhoods before the occupation of land with a preventive, futuristic attitude. This approach approves of spontaneous urban settlements’ innovative, innate socio-spatial features and adopts this as a point to begin improvement. The conditions that need to be met for a successful IA approach include pre-emptive and transformative nature (political acceptance of the informality, presentation of appropriate public land with participation from the public and private sectors, and instruction of staff capable of implementing the approach), consideration of physical and performative components, hybrid and multi-scalar operations, environment-friendly nature, consideration of flexible planning components, and adaptability to different site conditions. Moreover, corridors, patches, and custodians are major components in planning and design based on the IA approach.

The paradigm governing this research is pragmatism, which some contemporary methodologists have considered the foundation of research methodology with hybrid methods. In accordance with this worldview, the conceptual framework of the research has first been extracted besides an examination of the theoretical views on the topic based on Gouverneur’s perspectives in order to provide the background. Then, it was investigated how the approach could be adapted to Sanandaj in line with the research purpose. The statistics required to apply the approach to Sanandaj were extracted from the censuses of individuals and dwellings and the village lexicons, and satellite images and location data on the current state of Sanandaj in ArcGIS were used for the analysis of the spatial conditions of the city.

Sanandaj is a city with particular topographic features and looks as if located in a space cup due to the highs around the city and the variety of hills inside it. It can be extended mainly on the eastern side. Moreover, three spatial layers of spontaneous urban settlements have taken shape in Sanandaj so far. The first layer is the fixed layer inside the city; the origination dates back to the period between the 1960s and 1980s and is regarded today as the distressed middle area of the city. The second layer involves settlements with backgrounds as villages located within the limits of Sanandaj, which are known today as unconnected urban areas and have been excluded from the informal settlement. A third layer is also taking shape around the city, given the barren lands inside it, including villages with growing populations. The investigations demonstrated that Sanandaj could be considered for pilot research on the application of the IA approach, given its features.

Inspired by the international policies, different approaches have been adopted so far in Iran with respect to spontaneous urban settlements. However, these approaches have failed to stop the extension process of these settlements, and about twelve million of the country’s urban population thus resides in these settlements today. Moreover, all the previous approaches have mainly disregarded the important idea of future development of these settlements and the combination of the planning, morphological, and administrative components, while the IA approach has successfully filled the gap. The informal armatures approach can prevent fundamental problems, particularly in terms of infrastructure, in future spontaneous urban settlements through mutual government-people management and consideration of residents’ financial capability and planning tools such as the interconnection of corridors around the city, provision of patches, and protection of valuable land. Moreover, this approach can contribute significantly as one of the most effective futuristic, collaborative approaches (top-down and bottom-up), as it provides widespread coverage of informal urban settlement in Iran.

This study aims to investigate the capacities of the culture-led regeneration components in the historical context of Urmia and present a strategy to enhance the identity and tourism development in this area. This article provides a framework for a culture-led regeneration in the historical context of Urmia with an emphasis on urban tourism. Theoretical literature has mentioned the cultural tourism approach as a reliable catalyst in culture-led regeneration programs. Successful experiences have shown that this approach can be used to boost the local economy while preserving the artistic and cultural heritage. Also, different religions and ethnicities have the potential to provide a special environment. As in the historical review of Bast in Britain, it was concluded that the social role of culture and art in improving cohesion and social interaction plays an important role in preserving the cultural customs and traditions of societies living in the old context.

This study is considered applied research using a descriptive-analytical method. A bibliographic study of documents and field-survey methods have been used by means of questionnaires and observation tools to collect data. According to Cochran’s formula, the statistical population in the historical neighborhoods of Urmia and the size of the statistical sample is equal to 379 people. After explaining the conceptual model of culture-led regeneration, a questionnaire was developed and qualitatively evaluated by Likert evaluation and the Friedman test. The correlation test was statistically analyzed by the data obtained from the questionnaire.

According to the conceptual model and based on the components derived from the literature on culture-led regeneration, the main components of the research can be divided into three categories: design-oriented, creativity-oriented, and community-oriented. According to the results, the most effective urban regeneration components in the study area are 1- community-oriented, 2- creativity-oriented, and 3- design-oriented, respectively. Also, the effectiveness of urban regeneration indicators in the study area can be prioritized as 1- culture, 2- social, 3- physical, 4- participatory management, 5- visual perception, 6- economic, 7- functional, 8- motivational space, and 9- environmental. Also, the correlation test result shows a significant relationship between the perceptual index and managerial and social indicators, with a coefficient of 0.9, 10. With more and more efforts of officials and citizens to preserve the originality and identity of the area and by transferring the values to future generations, more social activities will be observed. The correlation coefficient between the physical and social indexes is equal to 0.15, indicating a relationship between these two indicators. In other words, by creating open spaces, we will increase socialization and social capital. We also see a significant relationship between cultural and environmental indicators with a confidence of 0.99. Suitable social environments can be created by preserving the environment and producing green spaces or complexes with different trees and urban agriculture. Also, garden museums can be created to envisage these two indicators due to a strong historical context. Also, there was a significant relationship between the social and management indexes. Obviously, by informing the residents about the regulations and creating cultural neighborhood centers and recreational environments, more people will be actively present in the neighborhood, which will increase vitality, safety, and security in the community. The results indicate that the historical context of Urmia has a high potential in terms of the social development of cultural tourism, including cultural resources, events, and historical sites. Still, at the same time, as Chiardi and Hanigan believe, the deterioration of the context, separation from urban centers, and the existence of abandoned and defenseless spaces, are the obstacles to developing this type of tourism that slow down the regeneration process. 

Providing Three main paths are proposed as strategic goals to achieve the desired regeneration:• Creating identifying, memorable, and green historical complexes (design-oriented).• Creating participatory and competitive spaces based on creative industries (creativity-oriented).• Providing development based on participation, creating interactive spaces representing residents’ culture (community-based).According to the results, historical contexts in Iran, including the historical context of Urmia, offer unique opportunities in terms of physical and architectural attractions and cultural diversity due to the existence of different religions, ethnicities, and traditions. However, the biggest obstacles to using their potential are severe shortages of tourism infrastructure and limited transient visions of urban managers. Therefore, it seems that the framework for tourism development in historical contexts is to offer long-term and step-by-step programs without hasty decisions, provide infrastructure, and change the short-term visions of urban management. Accordingly, four steps are presented to better achieve the desired goals in culture-led regeneration since the common processes are inefficient for tourism development and mobilizing culture-led regeneration programs. A coherent, pragmatic, step-by-step program should be designed and implemented on the basis of the local culture and art and the involvement of residents. At the same time, preserving the memory and identity of the original values of the context should not be overlooked.

The Coronavirus has affected not only public health in the last 2 years, but also has caused national and economic challenges all over the world. Informal sectors suffered mostly in this predicament and led to drastic shortage in their quality of life. Informal sectors are considered as one of the most fundamental actors in economic prosperity of the cities and urban space dynamism. Since there are few studies addressing this group, the main objective of this article is to explore and identify the most important dimensions of corona virus which hurt life and business of street vendors as a group of informal workers. A qualitative approach was chosen in order to gather the gist of changes and shortages in vendor’s life. Using content analysis method, 23 in-depth interviews were conducted in Kermanshah streets in Iran. Six major dimensions were extracted using coding mechanism: economic, health, ethical and normative, educational and managerial, psychological dimensions. The result shows that this group has suffered irreparable damage in mentioned areas during pandemic. From the economic point of view, the poor are stuck in a cycle of poverty, and the Corona crisis has taken away any chance of getting out of this cycle. Also, the psychological feeling of being ignored along with the feeling of shame and helplessness (towards the family and society) has greatly expanded the boundaries of the impact of this phenomenon. An aspect which effects the social resilience of urban communities and need further investigation.

Informal settlements are a fundamental challenge in modern urbanization. Various approaches and plans have been adopted to address this challenge, but many of them have not been associated with success for various reasons, including a lack of understanding of the characteristics of these settlements, especially the demographic dimensions. Studies have demonstrated that housing and habitation in informal settlements is far more frequent in Sanandaj than the national average, and covers more than half of the city’s population. The aim of this study was to analyze the demographic characteristics and indices in informal settlements and compare them to those in other settlements in Sanandaj. The achievements are highly significant mainly because they provide an overview of the active demographic structure and processes in formal and informal settlements. Moreover, many theories that indicate the formation of informal settlements highlight the importance of social, economic, and demographic factors in this regard.

The theoretical framework of this research was based on theories that focus on urban growth and diversity in developing countries. Furthermore, these theories address the typology of urban settlements due to this diversity.According to the demographic transition framework, rural-urban migration is the initial source of urban growth at the early stages of transition, but natural population growth itself is the fundamental source of urban growth as the transition and urbanization processes continue, and the urban sector grows increasingly larger (Keyfitz, 1980: 149). In the middle and end of the demographic transition, where the rates of death and birth are both low and more or less equal in urban and rural areas, rural-urban migration turns into another factor affecting the growth of urban population.Undergoing a state of demographic transition and post-transition, the city of Sanandaj, Iran has witnessed both natural growth and rural migration, and has therefore experienced high rates of urbanization. This increasing urbanization has led to the formation of various structures and patterns of urban settlement, including informal dimensions, and represents different trends, types, and patterns in demographic terms.

The present research is a quantitative descriptive study with an exploratory nature although it analyzed the current conditions. It was conducted to compare population characteristics and indices in formal and informal settlements in Sanandaj with a secondary analysis of raw data from the population and housing censuses in 2006, 2011, and 2016 in Sanandaj. After the data were processed and prepared, the districts were classified into settlement types based on previous research, and the population characteristics and indices in urban settlements were then compared and analyzed.

According to the results, the most dramatic demographic changes in Sanandaj, including those in size, population growth rate, and migration, had occurred in informal settlements. In addition, they are considered as the poles of attraction of the population along with the new settlement areas. There is instability and imbalance among the settlements in terms of the static characteristics of the population, including household density, residential unit quality, academic conditions, dependency burden, and employment status This indicates that informal settlements with larger households, smaller residential units, larger populations per room, and higher ratios of flimsy housing units are excluded from the proper cycle of economic and social urban life. These problems can all lead to occurrence of further urban challenges.

The present study revealed the existence of heterogeneous characteristics and demographic indices in the settlements of Sanandaj. Although the same pattern in terms of population processes cannot be considered for different districts, some settlements are characterized by both higher population growth and poorer housing, occupation, employment, and education. This makes them not only more vulnerable but also potential causes of urban issues and the Achilles’ heel of urban management.The policy solution proposed in this article is that it is necessary and fundamental to pay attention to the demographic characteristics and indices of informal settlements in the provision and advancement of a comprehensive approach to planning and management in order to upgrade and regenerate these settlements. The results of this paper provide important lessons for planners and policy-makers on population redistribution policies and urban management, and indicate the different dimensions and characteristics of population in districts and settlements of Sanandaj.

The Human Development Index which is a combination Index, is currently one of an important tool in analyzing spatial justice and regional inequality in the national and regional context. The aim of this paper is to investigate and identify the inequality of human development index in the provinces and the related factors. For this, a kind of descriptive-analytical method has been used and the data was collected from the National Population and Housing Census. For data analysis, the Morris model, GIS and SPSS software were respectively used. The results show that three provinces of Tehran, Alborz and Mazandaran are in the highest and three provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Kurdistan and North Khorasan are at the lowest ranks regarding the human development index, and central and northern provinces have relatively better conditions than the eastern and western provinces. Regarding the factors affecting the human development index show that the percentage of rural population, household size, the dependency burden, the real dependency ratio, and percentage of employment in agriculture with the correlation coefficient of 0.709, 0.740, 0.553, 0.553, 0.505, and 0.599, respectively have a significant negative relationship with the human development index, and indicators of urbanization percentage, employment ratio, economic participation rate, percentage of employees in the industrial sector and the percentage of employees in the service sector with the correlation coefficient of 0.709, 0.407, 0.361, 0.499 and 0.358, respectively have a significant positive relationship with the human development index. indicators of urbanization percentage, employment ratio, economic participation rate, percentage of employees in the industrial sector and the percentage of employees in the service sector with the correlation coefficient of 0.709, 0.407, 0.361, 0.499 and 0.358, respectively have a significant positive relationship with the human development index.

Benefiting community members from an acceptable level of educational facilities and services constitutes the core of any community's development.Establishing a balance between the quantity and quality of educational indicators based on the needs of the people living in that society, while ensuring equity in access to educational services and the development of knowledge and science at the community level, will result in the economic allocation of educational facilities and services to different regions.This descriptive-analytic correlational study seeks to investigate the spatial inequality of educational indices and the factors affecting the distribution of these indices in the provinces of Iran. Thirty-one provinces were studied and the data were taken from Iran’s statistics center. The findings of the study showed that there is inequality between provinces in terms of educational indicators. Quite contrary to expectations, the three provinces of Ilam, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and North Khorasan with coefficients of 0.632, 0.598 and 0.885, respectively ranked first to third, and Qom, Tehran and Alborz with the coefficients of 0.224, 0.250 and 0.225, respectively were in the lowest ranks. The results of correlation coefficient showed that the variables of urbanization rate, ruralization rate, percentage of population of each province out of total population of the country and migration into provinces have a significant relationship with the country's provinces in terms benefitting from educational indicators whose amounts respectively are -0.552, -0.520, -0.533 and -0.494. The results of the fitted model of multivariate regression also showed that the two variables of the percentages of each province's population out of the country’s total population and the percentage of urbanization with the Betas of -.0393 and -.0375 predict 40.5% of the variance of benefitting of the provinces from the educational indices. The results show that the concentration of population, especially urban population in provinces such as Qom, Tehran, Alborz, Isfahan and the increasing number of people migrating to these provinces, reduces the per capita of educational infrastructures and staff, thereby decreasing per capita. In order to establish spatial justice in the provinces of the country, considering the demographic variables and the percentage of urbanization are the requirements for sustainable development of educational indicators in the country

The right to the city can be considered as one of the human approaches to urban studies that it seeks to rebuild the city as a space designed by all citizens and serving all of them. Fortunately, the right to the city has been able to keep up the path of progress. The right to the city once proposed in the context of the French Revolution and in opposition to the capitalist system; these days it is used as an approach by power and capitalism. In other words, the right to the city has been recognized as an approach of people governance to space and the role of city-based residents in producing and reproducing the present and future space of cities. If spontaneous settlements are consider as marginalizing a part of the city, so the right to the city can have a special look at the issue of spontaneous settlements. This study seeks to investigate the right to the city condition of the Naysar settlement in order to assess the differences of right to the city among variant groups of this part of Sanandaj city.

The present study is an applied one that has been done by the descriptive-analytical method. Documentary and field methods were used to collect the required information. By reviewing the theoretical literature and the research background, dimensions and indicators of research were extracted in six ones including political and civil, managerial, economic, cultural, service and health. Then, the validity of the indicators was confirmed by using of expert’s opinions. Finally, a questionnaire was prepared in the form of Likert spectrum by indexing the indicators. The statistical population of the study consists of Naysar’s where 36431 people live according to the last census of 2016. Based on the Cochran formula (sample size) 381 pre-test questionnaires were distributed among the residents of the study area by a simple random method. Then, One-sample t-test was used for statistical analysis and status analysis of the studied dimensions and One-way analysis of variance was used to examine the relationships between the descriptive factors on the main variable of research (Right to the city).

According to the results of one-way analysis of variance, the right-to-city situation seems more favorable to men than women, and the city is not evenly distributed to marginalized gender groups. The study of income shows that the highest and lowest amount of right to the city belongs to the income groups who have above 6 million Tomans and below 2 million Tomans, respectively. In the survey of right to the city status among the occupational groups, those who employed in the formal sector have a higher average of right to the city. Also, the least amount of right to the city belongs to groups who are searching for a job. In addition, the least amount of right to the city among the age groups belong to above 60 and under 25 and two age groups of 25 to 40 and 40 to 60 years have the highest rate of it. It is worth noting that the guidance school and the academic groups have the highest and lowest amount of right to the city, respectively.

The urban management system may not provide a wide range of different rights to the residents of Naysar, However, it gives the rents or ransoms to its residents that without any doubt include people with better financial status in the area. For example, the wealthy individuals of Naysar have built several illegal and unoccupied housing units; they have been transformed agricultural land uses into housing land illegally; also, they have divided their lands without permission; they are using electricity and water concessions illegally and freely for residential and even non-residential units and in addition, they pay minimal tolls and taxes for various properties. As a result, Naysar only shows lower percentages of right to the city indicators for people who want to live as a citizen. Otherwise, it is a good environment for a group of people with informal citizenship and they receive different unlawful privileges from urban management in various ways.

The phenomenon of poverty, especially after industrialization, has gradually become a phenomenon with a spatial rotation and in the form of transition from rural and industrial phenomena to urban phenomena, and with the entry of the second stage of capital accumulation in cities, it is always reproducing poverty. For decades, the physical manifestation of this problem has been used under various headings, including urban slums, informal settlements, slums and so on. In this transition, different perspectives have been adopted at different levels in the world to deal with this phenomenon, and each of them has been the beginning of a dominant discourse on this issue. Each of these discourses, according to the political, economic and social demands and requirements of society, as well as the shortcomings of the ruling discourse, reconstructs its semantic system and presents it as an efficient and capable system in overcoming the problems of society. In this regard, at the global level, since the domination of capitalism until now, in the discourse of development, the discourse of culture of poverty and pathology, different views and methods have been adopted to deal with poverty and spontaneous urban settlements. These discourses have a direct impact on the national situation and have had an impact on the discourse in Iran in each period. In addition, the policies adopted in each period have had a direct impact on local conditions. In this research, the method of critical discourse analysis at the level of text and discourse practices has been used.

Reducing the share of the country's rural population and reducing the number of villages over the past decades, have raised fundamental questions about the future and the position of the village in the national planning system, also the settlement system. In the earlier period, villages had a large share of the country's domicile; but with the transformation of the livelihood and economic system, resulting from the growth of capitalist relations and the transformation of many human-space relations, the capacity to reside and activity was dramatically concentrated in the cities. Considering the value and socio-economic status of the village in the previous and current form of the Iranian society, the necessity to pay attention to the sustainability and preservation of the rural population, has always been one of the regional and national planning and management concerns. In this regard, the question is that while most of the country's villages are faced with population decline, what are the characteristics of the villages possessing the capacity to maintain and preserve the population? This research is designed to answer this question, using descriptive-analytical methods, based on secondary data analysis. Required information was extracted based on library studies and statistical publications of the Statistical Center of Iran, then statistical analysis has been performed. Results and innovation: In this research, through reviewing the demographic evolutions and services and conditions of all rural areas of Bijar city in different statistical periods, we have paid to the correlation of the differences between rural areas. Results of the research show that, despite the apparent conception of the development and provision of services and infrastructures, the mere existence or absence of services cannot be considered as a major factor in maintaining rural populations, but also other factors such as access to urban centers, agricultural conditions and ability, also the village position as a central location, have significant impact o n this trend. In this process, in the sample of Bijar city, only three points (Zaynl Khan, Azaghaj and Sidan balls) show population increase; and few population points with the potential to keep the population, have been turned into a city, the factor which has accelerated the decline in rural population in the county.

One of the urban non-sustainable development reasons, especially in developing countries, is a kind of settlement or a certain issue known as informal settlments, where require special measures to manage the current situation and to prevent their spread in the future. Introducing urban sustainable development in 1980s and necessity to consider all of the urban dimensions (including environmental, economical, and social) as the foundations of the urban sustainable development, the study of informal settlements entered a new phase concerning with assessing the sustainability level in such settlements . The idea of sustainable development resulted in emerging modern applied practices and methods of new applications in order to assess the environmental impacts to date since 1990s. The analysis of ecological footprint is one of the indicators attracted more attention in academic, political and education. Ecological footprint is an index, which evaluates the energy and materials used in a city, region or country so that the population and industrial processes pressure on the ecosystem could be estimated. Sanandaj, like other urban areas in the country facing a lot of issues of 1950s and 1960s including massive rural-urban migration, rural-urban imbalances, rapid urban development and so on has experienced the formation of major informal settings such as Abbas Abad, Kani Koozaleh, Ghafoor, Taqutaquan, etc. Hence, we adopted a descriptive-analytical method with emphasis on literature review and field works to assess the sustainability level in Abbas Abad District, Sanandaj (Iran) as one of the informal neighborhoods. For this purpose, we used the ecological footprint model. Our findings revealed that the total ecological footprint in this district was 74560.551 ha indicating 3.808 ha per capita-considering its population of 19578 persons in 2012.

The growth of cities in recent decades have become a economic, social, physical and environmental complex issue. The growth of cities can be due to natural population growth and on the other hand from population migration. In this way the physical growth and development of cities is very important which has various social, economical and environmental implications. Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl is a multifaceted concept centered on the expansion of auto-oriented, low-density development, and without municipal rules and regulations in developing cities. This phenomenon generally leads negative problems and consequences for cities. Thus, the study of effective factors in creating urban sprawl and impact of this phenomenon in urban conditions has utmost importance. In this paper with an analytical-descriptive approach and a review of available documents, the urban sprawl phenomenon has been studied in Rasht, and its factors are analyzed. This study shows that Rasht city, like most cities of Iran along with internal growth and development has experienced urban sprawl and physical spread. Incorporation and the dramatic development of villages around the city, along with creating informal settlements around the city is a major factor in the growth of this phenomenon. The expansion of cities along with points of entry and establishment of enterprise and finding the location of various industries and repair shops around the city are phenomena that are scattered over the sprawl of city. Climate and regional economy, contemporary urbanization process, monitor and managing of location have been main factors in the formation process in Rasht.

The expansion of poverty caused by the global capitalist mechanism, which in Iran has majorly appeared in the form of governmental capitalism, has led to the formation of an official/unofficial duality across various economic dimensions as well as urban areas. Physical representations of urban poverty under different terms such as marginalization, slum dwelling, unofficial residency, and spontaneous settlement have always been compiled through the outlook of planning and analysis management, according to the interpretation of various plans to confront this issue; nevertheless, the dimensions of the problem have been expanded, partly due to the inefficiency of the discourse used by groups that are involved in organizing this phenomenon. In this paper, the production system and reproduction of space as a supplement to official spaces were examined with a focus on critical analysis as well as Henry Lefebvre’s (1973) production of space theory, which involves three spatial dimensions including perceived space, conceived space, and lived space. To this end, first, the problem of unofficial urban living was examined within the framework of Lefebvre’s(1973) production of space theory as well as the three spatial dimension as a unique view of spaces. By using such an outlook, it is likely to gain access to the underlying layers of reality which may occur through a type of possible contemplation that does not exclusively remain bound by phenomena and manifestations of the problem, yet it could break through underside layers of phenomena by reflection and could identify, explain and, conceptualize the mechanisms, forces and, structural orientations behind the problem. A real conceptualization cannot only remain limited to results, consequences, manifestations, and minor issues but more importantly, it should be able to explain the link between such minor issues with more general ones, portraying the interactions among them. Consequently, first, the theoretical foundations of the study were investigated through this outlook, within the framework of Lefebvre’s (1973) intellectual instrument. Following the investigation of the study’s theoretical foundations, the status of unofficial production of space in Sanandaj city was assessed by extracting a way to assess three dimensions of unofficial production of space and observing the three international, national, and local levels; the conceived space was examined first. Primarily, the plans and programs of Sanandaj city and the province affecting the spatial structure and policy-making of the city were examined. Next, the views of technocrat groups were analyzed using documents and interviews conducted with the groups and published in newspapers. To analyze the conceived space involving the present space and actions taken in these settlements, the executive actions in urban spontaneous settlements by government agencies and NGOs were investigated. Ultimately, the lived space was analyzed and assessed as the most important type of space in urban spontaneous settlements through conducting interviews with the residents of the three spatial layers of Sanandaj city along with observing and comparing the other two spaces with the livelihood of these settlements’ inhabitants. The statistics on three spatial layers were obtained from population and housing census. Today, more than 50% of Sanandaj city population live in urban spontaneous settlements. Despite the numerous plans and programs offered for the city in different periods, they have failed to effectively contribute to the status of the poor. Moreover, some of these plans had brought about considerably incorrect ideas for the city as they were compiled as a completely abstract, upper, top-down plan for the city and rural areas around it. In fact, the plans and programs’ structures, as well as the bureaucratic structure of offices, led to more low-income groups to become marginalized. The status quo observed today are the problematic dimensions of these plans. In addition to the plans, the residents were accused of being “the marginalized” through some of the views put forth by scientific, technocratic groups along with influencing the government’s conditions. As representations existing for spaces, all of these factors had led to the growth and spatial reproduction of spontaneous settlements in Sanandaj city; in this regard, not only it has not contributed to the first established layer of the city, but it has also helped with its reproduction in the second layer, naturally followed by the reproduction of the third layer over time. Similar to projects by the World Bank and various organizations such as the civil and urban development company along with actions taken by the municipality and urban management, spatial practices within the spontaneous settlements of Sanandaj city have had no impact on preventing the rise of this process; the residents themselves have often forced the urban management to adhere to their requests by producing their intended spaces, given the conditions imposed on them. As a form of representation space, residents have resisted against the focus of the urban management on the exchange value in cities by prioritizing the value, producing space in their own unofficial framework. As a matter of fact, imposing spatial practices and space representation on the lived space of the residents followed by the expansion of the city within the second and third spatial layers confirms this very subject. The separation between the components of the triad involving theory, action, and people’s demands was correctly confirmed through interviews conducted across the three spatial layers of Sanandaj city By paying attention to Lefebvre’s opinions and how planning should be self-criticizing to the extent that it is free of any ideologies, the necessity of catering for demands and self-organization of daily life by the low-income strata is made clear more than ever so as to gradually resolve the official/unofficial duality. Furthermore, the intensifying process of inequality and the class gap could be slowed down and ultimately mitigated by forming a critical discourse which would not be attainable except through the public demand as well as deciphering the spaces and focusing on the application value rather than exchange value along with the lived experience of residents. The results obtained in the study denote a distinguished perception of unofficial living conditions by the three groups including the government, technocrats, and people. Differences between the views and actions of governmental and scientific technocrats and the lived experience of residents demonstrate a deep gap between these groups and show the necessity to consider alternative solutions through a critical outlook that is independent of space compared to previous decades.

With the beginning of the contemporary reconstruction process¡ a great deal of structures and elements belonging to the Islamic-Iranian cities has altered. So¡ many identifying elements of those cities which encompassed their history¡ records and frameworks have vanished gradually and the most hustle transformation in that time¡ gave these cities a novel structure and form. In the process of this transformation¡ the old city lost its elements of social function and they have been replaced with more novel self-driven ones. The historical city of Kermanshah which was on the trading route of Iran-Mesopotamia¡ with its historical background¡ was once of great importance before and after Islam. According to the existing historical documents until the end of Qajar era¡ this city benefited from a prosperous and historical city center with diverse elements. Thereafter¡ through the process of reconstruction¡ like many other Iranian cities¡ this city has experienced fundamental evolutions and due to its functional alternation and also the arrival of automobiles and other reconstruction symbols¡ the city undergone fundamental alternations¡ in a way that its central essence and identity vanished and gradually was forgotten. The aim of this analytical-descriptive study is to recognize the elements of central core of Kermanshah City with the aid of sources¡ documents¡ travelogues and other related evidence. The findings of this research indicate that on the basis of the position of Kermanshah at the end of Qajar era¡ the city center has benefited from different elements with political¡ economical¡ social and cultural functions which were reformed in a well-ordered framework. On the basis of the time circumstances¡ these elements have reflected power¡ religious¡ cultural¡ economical and social relations that nowadays some of them have been forgotten completely. Some of these major elements included: the government palace¡ Mashgh Square¡ timpani house¡ Jame Mosque¡ bazaar¡ Topkhaneh Square and the forum.

Improvement of living conditions in urban environments not only increases their attractiveness, but it also prepares an appropriate context for achieving to major goals of sustainable development. However, rapid growth of urbanization and other related issues with urban development have caused the problems of these habitants be increased. The situation is well understood in many Iran’s cities suffering from the consequences of rapid growth of urbanization and lack of adequate financial and human resources in the process of management. Thus, this research tries to identify the characteristics of viable urban societies, assess the viability of central part of Qom city, and find the situation of the city regarding viability indexes. Research method is descriptive-analytical as well as documentary, survey, and field studies such as adopted techniques and measures in this research. According to the research findings, policies for decentralization of activities, change in development policy based on automobile, attempt to stabilize old residents of the region (renovation, improve the quality of neighborhood services), and such issues should be adopted in order to improve the quality of life in this part of the city.

Informal settlements are emanation of poverty which originated from housing policy incompetence along with inattention to requirements of large part of urban low income people. Relying on some factors like geographical location, utility of place, social attributes of occupant groups, services and facilities level, future programs, and level of hope for the future, these settlements has different residential value and subsequently different development direction, in some cases, these settlements significantly has been improved. finds of this research indicates that various effective index on the poor subsistence, such as demographic index, occupation and insurance, accessibility, housing, facilities, access to formal funds for housing and vocation securance, has been improved.in most of cases, this trend has been tangible and significant. However, due to merger of settlement in city and expansion of urban culture in there, some of the indicators that deal with social interactions, social relationships, and social capital, have decreased. the trend of evolution and improvement of Dowlatabad- as one of the most principal informal settlements- in housing, services and facilities is significant. The trend of condition improvement of Dowlatabad is due to economic and social changes that somewhat has been able to accelerate the trend of improvement of formal Upgrading programs, especially relating to physical upgrading. Stability of unemployment rate indicates durability of neighborhood unemployment problem and decrease of amount of social interaction and relationships shows that neighborhood has entered to phase of keeping out from prior rural traditional structure. This survey demonstrates that problems of Dowlatabad have transformed from physical issue to social issue and its current concerns and needs have local community development.