Evaluation of areas prone to urban development with an emphasis on geomorphological capabilities and risks (case study: Isfahan city)

For the basic development of cities, it is necessary to know the characteristics of the environment, and effective steps can be taken in the location of buildings and the expansion of cities. In this research, the zoning criteria of areas prone to urban development were determined with emphasis on geomorphological capabilities and risks in Isfahan city. Then the criteria were checked in terms of coordinate system and data accuracy. AHP model was used to evaluate the value of the criteria relative to each other. Pairwise comparison of the criteria showed that faults with a weight of 0.420 had the greatest role in the development of the city according to the experts, and the criterion of distance from the road with a weight of 0.072 had the least effect according to the experts. Finally, the obtained weights were applied to the layers. The final zoning map of the criteria with the AHP model showed that there is a lot of potential for development in 30,287 hectares of the area of ​​the study area. These areas are located in the city center and areas with low slope and low altitude and near the river. The areas with very low talent are 1020 hectares, which are observed in the northwest, east, and south of the investigated area. The classification results of satellite images from 2000 to 2020 showed that the area of ​​barren and man-made areas increased by 1319.15 and 4744.44 hectares, and the area of ​​agriculture and other uses decreased by 4370.1 and 1831.03 hectares. The development of the city is in the center and the outskirts of the city, and according to the zoning map, the southern areas of the city are unsuitable for expansion, but currently, according to the classification map, the expansion of the city is observed in these areas. With the optimal location of the physical development of cities, the negative effects of the city development from the environmental, natural and human factors point of view are reduced. Therefore, it is important to examine the physical development and orientation and factors affecting urban development.