Analysis of the Physical-spatial Structure of New Small Towns in the Order of the Studied Urban Network: The Urban Network of Golestan Province

The performance of small cities in connecting the residential system for ordering the urban network requires efficiency and desirability in the physical-spatial structure of these cities. Of course, due to some unbalanced urban-regional policies over time, a change in the physical structure of these cities can be seen, which has resulted in the functional inefficiency of small cities. These structural changes are different among the new small towns of Golestan province due to the physical-spatial location. This article aimed to explain and analyze the physical-spatial structure of new small towns in the urban network of Golestan province. This research is descriptive-analytical in nature and practical in terms of purpose. Data was collected by survey library method and based on questionnaires and interviews. The statistical population was city managers, citizens, and villagers, and the sample population included all 14 mayors and 28 city council members, 379 citizens, and 74 villagers. The findings of the research showed that the northern plains area had a Kendall coefficient (0.588) and Kruskal Wallis rank average (193.95) and villagers had a Kendall coefficient (0.585) and the average ranking of Kruskal Wallis (39.87). The results also revealed that the southern mountainous region had the most changes in terms of city managers with the Kendall coefficient (0.702) and the average ranking of Kruskal Wallis (24.50) in physical-spatial, while the middle plain region had a moderate trend in the changes of physical-spatial structure. It can be concluded that despite being located in the same geographical area, the three districts experienced different physical-spatial structures in the urban network arrangement, according to local and regional requirements.