Spatial Analysis and Site Selection of Ardabil Sports Venues Using GIS

Sports venues and spaces are one of the most significant lands uses aiming to improve citizens’ mental and physical health, and their optimal location is one of the most important responsibilities of the officials, managers, and  urban and sports planners. Wide urban facility networks, population density and distribution, land use, and many other issues of these kinds have increased the complexity of planning for the location of sports venues, leaving planners with no other choice but to use advanced tools such as GIS to collect and process data seeking optimal resource management. Thus, the present study has been conducted to perform spatial analysis and allocate locations for sports venues in the case of Ardabil. This study was a descriptive and field study. The sstatistical population included all sports venues in Ardabil and the sample size was done by census. Spatial distribution and accessibility were investigated and per capita land use distribution was determined using the statistical models form GeoDa and ARCGIS v. 10.4 software. Results of analyzing software outputs indicated that sports venues are distributed unevenly across Ardabil so that the central districts have good accessibility to these venues due to greater concentration of the venues in these districts, while the outer districts of the city –specifically northern and southern districts- are dealing with a lack of access due to the lack of sports facilities stemming from the unfair distribution of sports venues and facilities across Ardabil. Hence, it is necessary to create and build new sports facilities and venues in the required areas to ensure the optimal use of resources and fair access to sports venues in Ardabil.