نشریه مطالعات جغرافیایی نواحی ساحلی
سال سوم شماره 4 (پیاپی 11، زمستان 1401)

Land use planning refers to measures widely used by the public sector to influence the future distribution of activities and settlements. These measures aim to create a rational space organization of different land uses and create more links among these land uses, balancing the demand for development with environmental protection requirements, and achieving the government's social and economic goals. Therefore, in land use planning, measures are taken to coordinate the spatial effects of policies of other sectors, to achieve an optimal distribution of economic development among regions (even in societies that adhere to the free market approach or adjust desirable changes in different land uses). The aim was structural, content, legal, managerial, and social pathology of land use plans and programs in the country. This research was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. Interviews were used for collecting the data, and an attempt was made to calculate the influencing variables in the form of a questionnaire using a Likert scale to obtain the opinions of experts who had been identified by mean and correlation tests. There is a positive correlation among the components of land use. In this sense, with the increase of each component, the other component also increases, and with the decrease of one, the other decreases as well. There is the highest relationship between legal and administrative components with a score of 0.704, and the lowest relationship is related to social and structural components. Extended AbstractIntroductionGiven that the management of competing demands for land, especially the methods used by the public sector, is needed to influence the future distribution of activities, which is understood as a measure for the regulation and transformation of space, land use planning is interconnected to land use regulation. Generally, land use planning has been emphasized as a fundamental process for creating and implementing a long-term strategic planning horizon with an integrated policy-making approach emphasizing on achieving goals rather than land use regulation. These interpretations of land use planning have various meanings. Generally, land use planning is regulating the relationship among man, the land, and human activities to make appropriate and sustainable use of all the human and spatial facilities of the land to improve the material and spiritual condition of the community over time. To organize activities and their balanced distribution, both in the form of laws and regulations and in the form of study plans (including the studies of the management and planning organization of the physical plans of the road and urban development of Guilan province), many efforts have been made. However, these measures could not be effective in the appropriate distribution of activities by the capabilities of Guilan, and the issue of inappropriate distribution of facilities and the improper use of the capabilities and talents of Guilan is one of the challenges in this province. Therefore, the main objective of the research is the structural, content, and legal pathology of the land use planning and programs in Guilan province. The neglect of land use planning and centralization and strong statism and reliance on oil revenues have caused the lack of attention to people's contributions and regional resources and incomes and the lack of local and regional development of the country and the great distance among regions.MethodologyThe basis of this research according to its analytical approach is the performance of land management components in the form of augmentation attitude and integrated intervention. Therefore, the research was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. In this study, the components of social, institutional, legal, structural, managerial, and content pathology have been used. The research population of this study included professors, elites, and experts of municipal, governorate, program and budget, road and urban organizations. The sample included 50 people who were randomly selected for weighting by the Delphi method. The data collection required for the research was collected in the form of the following items: Documentary and library study: the available information and statistics of Guilan province about the pathology of land use were obtained. Questionnaire: the information related to the institutions, and local capacities of different departments of management, in the community under study has been obtained. Interviews: in some cases, to get to know and understand more deeply the issues of land use planning from the institutional and synergy aspects of land use, interviews have been conducted with experts and elites in this field.Results and discussionThe findings showed that the average difference among the components was positive in the lower and upper limits, which indicated that the average value obtained was higher than the test value. Therefore, the difference between the mean of the components is significant. Therefore, the difference among the average components was significant. The significance level (P-value) obtained in all components was 0.000. This level of significance indicates the difference among the obtained means. Therefore, the difference between the average of the components and the standard average was significant according to the obtained level of significance. In pathology-related components, the structural component of the mean difference was lower. The obtained significant level showed that the obtained mean was less than the desired mean and the management of Guilan province is not favorable, this can be considered as one of the main reasons for the institutions and actors of the province and the macro-management. The variables of content, participation, and transparency were unfavorable and had a lesser contribution to the current urban management. However, according to the described conceptual model, the component of optimal urban governance in the land use process is considered a development lever because governance and synergy are prerequisites for land use planning.ConclusionThe results showed that the highest mean is related to the legal component (84.66), and the lowest mean value is related to the structural component (66.24). In the ranking of the components of land use, the legal component 34%, management 21%, and social 16% respectively had the highest score and rank in the pathology of land use, while the content and structural components were in the following levels. Content, participation, and transparency variables were disadvantaged and contributed less to current urban management. According to the correlation model, there is a higher relationship between legal and managerial components with a score of 0.623, and the lowest relationship is related to social and structural components.Funding There is no funding support.Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the workConflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.

In today's world, the resilience is recognized as the most important factor in sustaining the economy of rural settlements in the face of natural hazards and minimizing costs in times of crisis. Many studies have been conducted in many countries and they have tried to pay special attention to it as much as possible. The present study sought to evaluate and analyze the constructive and resilience factors of rural economy to flood crisis. The aim of this study was applied that has been done using descriptive-analytical methods based on the reliable sources and field studies (questionnaire). The research population were the rural heads of households living in the study area, 379 people were selected using the Cochran's formula and spatial-cluster sampling method. To analyze the data, statistical methods based on the comparison of means, Spearman's correlation and T-test were used. The results showed that there is a correlation of over 50% between the factors of economic resilience. Diversity in rural economy activities is the most important factor in increasing resilience with an average value (2.63) than the compensation capacity of damage in the economic resilience. Also, the basis of work for spatial analysis was considered hierarchically through the study. In this regard, the final map of economic resilience to environmental hazard (flood) was presented by ranking of study area in the East of the Guilan province in terms of the combined resilience indicators and relying on TOPSIS in the GIS software. Extended Abstract Introduction Floods are natural phenomena, and more than any other disaster, endanger the economic conditions of human communities. Many countries and academic societies pay attention to the economic resilience as an effective strategy in the risk management process, improving residents' preparedness against economic instability due to the natural disasters, and aiming to make them more livable for human settlements, including urban and rural ones. Statistics from recent decades show that they are more affected by natural hazards such as floods and earthquakes. One of these areas is on the Caspian Sea and in the eastern part of Guilan province, which has been affected by periodic and destructive floods in recent years, and in this regard, it directly and indirectly affects the rural economy, which is based on agricultural products and supply to local markets, etc. Accordingly, increasing the resilience of rural settlements and rapid reversibility along with improving the sustainability of the rural population is one of the important points to be considered in the current situation of rural planning in Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze and measure the resilience factors of the rural economy against floods. Finally, the current research seeks to answer the question, what are the factors and indicators of resilience in the rural economy against the risk of flooding in the eastern region of Guilan province and how are they evaluated?MethodologyThe method was applied in terms of purpose. It has been conducted using a mixed model. The data were collected through descriptive and analytical methods using library and field methods (questionnaire). Out of a total number of 15 departments and 40 districts in the eastern cities of Guilan province in terms of natural conditions, 18 villages are located in plains (sample number 208 people, equal to 54.88%) and 13 villages are located in mountain base (sample number 135, equal to 35.62%) and 9 villages are located in a mountainous location (the number of samples is 36 people equal to 9.50 percent) and they include 379 heads of rural households (under the influence of floods) who were selected based on Cochran's formula and using a cluster-spatial sampling method. Also, to analyze the collected data, descriptive statistics (frequency distribution table in percentage, average) and inferential statistics (one-sample T-test, and Spearman's correlation test), Excel software, SPSS software, and Topsis model were used.Results and discussionRelying on the review of theoretical literature and studies of the research environment to measure and analyze the factors influencing the economic resilience of rural settlements in the east of Guilan province, two main factors (stability and economic capacity) have been identified and specified in the form of three components including employment status, diversification of economic activity and ability to compensate of damages in the framework of 11 measurable variables. Studies showed that the highest correlation was "ability to compensate of damage" with a value of r = 0.825, then the factor of "employment status" with a value of r = 0.745, and "diversification of economic activity" had the lowest value of correlation with a value of r = 0.651. Also, the explanation of the general state of resilience, showed that the amount of economic resilience from the average sum of the mentioned factors was equal to 2.57. The average difference of -0.431 indicated that the desirability of resilience is not at a suitable level. The current research indicated the high importance of economic resilience factors through the criteria of economic resilience (employment and diversification), economic capacity to compensate for damages (financial-insurance support) in improving the level of resilience of rural communities against floods. The research showed that "hope to find a new job in case of losing the previous job" has the lowest mean value (2.26). The highest mean value is the "tendency to develop economic and complementary activities" around (2.87) and the means showed a range less than the average (3). Although there is a correlation relationship of over 50% among the economic resilience factors, the values obtained from the measurement of the respondents under economic indicators are lower than the mean (3) and they are not mainly in favorable conditions. In this regard, the research showed that "hope to find a new job in case of losing the previous job" has the lowest mean value (2.26) and the "tendency to develop economic and complementary activities" has the highest mean value  (2.87) and the means' value showed a range less than the average of 3. The results were in line with the studies of Sajasi Gheidari et al. (2018), Kaye-Blake et al. (2019), Bazrafshan et al. (2018), and Mishra et al. (2019). According to the surveys available for ranking and leveling in the map unit, the results of these surveys showed that the rural settlements in the central parts of Siahkol and Lahijan, Rankuh Amalesh are in excellent resilience and the rural settlements in Rahimabad district in Rudsar, Rudbaneh district in Lahijan and Kiashahr district in Astaneh-Ashrafieh have unfavorable resilience conditions.ConclusionResearch findings indicated that economic stability (employment and diversification) plays a significant role in compensation capacity of damage (financial-insurance supports) in having a sustainable resilience, so these functions are bilateral and supplementary. Therefore, it is suggested that, the mechanisms for providing employment facilities should be expanded and facilitated in order to create stability in the level of work and sustainable development of economic activities in rural areas. Also, trying to attract investment to diversify the economic activities and home businesses to increase their financial capacity, and paying attention to the performance of various types of insurance, including accident insurance, agricultural products, and developing the insurance system for rural products, etc. needed a new approach to improve the resilience of the rural economy in the east of Guilan province according to the existing capacities of rural settlements based on their geographical and study locations.FundingThere is no funding support.Authors’ ContributionAll of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.Conflict of InterestAuthors declared no conflict of interest.AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.

The role of hospitality industry and its link to social - economic development shows that entrepreneurial development in hospitality can be one of the tools of policymakers to achieve economic growth in tourism destinations. Thus, since there are factors and forces on the broader level that influence the development of innovative businesses in the hospitality industry, this industry must be studied from an ecosystem perspective to study the role of these actors in the development of hospitality entrepreneurship. The Thematic analysis was used to analyze data and the data were collected using interviews with 40 experts in hospitality and tourism. The sampling method was purposeful and the theoretical saturation rule was used to determine the sample size. A qualitative coding technique was used to analyze the data. This study identified 14 main elements and 59 sub-elements for the hospitality and tourism entrepreneurial ecosystem which the main elements included "policy", "local culture", "‌variety of capabilities", "training", "human resource", "networking", "knowledge and innovation", "competitive advantage", "institutional capacity", "destination management", "brand management", "rules and regulations", "‌Investment intelligence and financing" and "target market". Moreover, the three-level model of the Hospitality and tourism entrepreneurial ecosystem is presented. Since ecosystems are spontaneously formed in a social-cultural context and the existence of a network of interactions and collaboration among the various elements in the environment, the strengthening of each of these elements will provide an incentive for the development of hospitality and tourism and encourage all stakeholders involved in this area to develop innovative businesses.

Precipitation and temperature are important elements of climate. Changes in these elements can have a significant impact on the changes in other environmental components, including changes in land use. This study aimed to investigate the long-term changes in temperature and precipitation in the Karun basin. Then the probable relationship between these changes and land use changes was investigated. Therefore, the daily temperature and precipitation data from 177 synoptic stations and 230 rain gauge stations were prepared from 1972 to 2014. Daily maps were made up of 4 x 4 km, using the kriging interpolation method. Due to the climatic and spatial diversity of the Karun, the basin was divided into 12 smaller sub-basins. Using google earth engine (GEE) and using the digital data of Landsat 5, 7, and 8 series satellites, TM, and OLI/TIRS sensors, land use maps were extracted by calculating the mean of each use. For the classification of images, the algorithm of the minimum distance from the mean was used for several years (1987 - 1997 - 2007-2018). To monitor the temporal changes in land use, the dynamic model of land use was also used. The results of the research showed that in the high basins of Karun, the variation in the climatic elements played a significant role in land use changes. In the sub-basins of Karon, the decrease in rainfall over time has had a destructive effect on the degradation of forests, pastures, water levels, and water agriculture in the region. So that in recent years, the amount of destruction of forests and pastures has reached its peak and it is mostly dedicated to aquatic cultivation. The drilling of deep and semi-deep wells and the unprincipled exploitation of the underground water have also caused that over time, Karun faces surface and underground water crises and as a result many economic, agricultural, and social crises.Using google earth engine (GEE) and landsat 5,7,8 images, land use maps were produced. For classification of images, the algorithm minimum distance of mean was used for years of 1987 - 1997 - 2007. In order to monitoring changes of land use, land use dynamics model was used. The results showed that in the Karun basin, the variation of climate elements has a significant role in land use changes. In the Karun, precipitation reduction had negative effects on the degradation of forests, pastures, water levels and aquatic agriculture. So, the destruction of forests and pastures has been increased. The Welles and exploiting the groundwater led the Karun into the surface of the surface and underground water crisis. Extended Abstract Introduction The increasing world population, greenhouse gases emission, and land use changes through dam construction, deforestation, desertification, etc., have caused changes in the climate system. These changes can be effective along with positive feedback on the natural ecosystems and the activity of human societies. Precipitation and temperature are important elements of climate. Precipitation and air temperature are important elements of climate. The change of these two elements can have a significant impact on the changes of other environmental components, including changes in land use. In this study, the temperature and precipitation trend in the Karun basin has been investigated. Then, the possible relation among these changes, temperature, and precipitation was evaluated by examining the decade-long changes in land use.MethodologyTo achieve the objectives of the research, two types of data including ground data and satellite data were used. GEE system was used to monitor land use changes on the surface of the earth using Landsat satellite images. Also, Kendall's test was used to identify the trend of climatic elements. To detect the land use changes, the classification algorithm of minimum distance from the mean was used. Using the dynamic model, the changes in the time series of users were evaluated.Results and discussionThe fluctuations and multiple collisions of Mann-Kendall diagrams showed that precipitation has varying behavior. Changes can be seen in mountain basins such as sub-basins 2, 3, and 4. As the height decreases, the amount of fluctuations is significantly reduced. This shows that height has an influential role in the rainfall changes in the region. The results of classification showed that considerable variation has occurred in subbasins land use. Most changes have been related to changes in water levels, arid regions, and forests. The impact of human activity, including afforestation and the development of hydroponics, the conversion of pastures into agricultural lands, increases the risk of floods, fires, soil erosion, and the entry of polluting substances into water sources.ConclusionIn the Karun basin, the decrease in rainfall over time has had a destructive effect on the reduction of forests, pastures, water levels and water agriculture in the region. So that during the last decade, the amount of destruction of forests and pastures has reached its peak and more is devoted to dryland farming. Also, the occurrence of these changes has led to an increase in the extent of arid areas in the region over time and has reached the maximum possible extent in recent years. In the Karun basin, taking into account that the area under cultivation of irrigated crops has increased and the amount of water in the region has decreased over time, it can be expected that the huge amount of water demand for irrigated cultivation and the lack of water will lead to water stress in the future. The increase in cultivation areas has been in line with the destruction of forests to be used in the agricultural sector. Therefore, from year to year, the extent of forests in the Karun region has decreased.Funding There is no funding support.Authors’ Contribution The authors contribute equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All authors approved the content of the article submitted for review and agree on all aspects of the work.Conflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.

One of the adjustment policies aimed at reducing inequality and strengthening the existence of regions is to emphasize the flow of competitiveness based on specific legal, political, ecological, social, and economic characteristics among the urban centers. The current research was applied and has been conducted with an analytical method and a quantitative approach. Matlab 2019a, SPSS, and ArcGIS software were used to analyze the data, and the state of dispersion of competitiveness indicators was analyzed using the GWR method and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The results obtained from the investigation of social and cultural, legal, technological, political, ecological and environmental, and economic dimensions in the process of the regression model in determining the distribution of the mentioned indicators in the urban areas of the province showed that the output of the model parameters confirms the intended prediction to a high extent. According to the high coefficient of R2, it can be said that the dimensions of the population's competitiveness have largely focused on the occurrence of the mentioned indicators. Considering the increase in competitiveness along with the increase in the population and the demand for housing in the service area of the top cities - cities with more than 150,000 people (Urmia, Khoi, Bukan, and Mahabad) and the change in the movement of the flow, the competitiveness in the hierarchy of lower urban points is usually accompanied by an increase in periodic fluctuations. Among the 6 dimensions of competitiveness, the quality indicators of transportation infrastructure (PS4) (0.0277), agricultural development index (IL2) (0.0274), migration (S4) (0.0265), and competitive advantages of the tourism sector (F15) (0.0254) are known as the most important factors affecting the growth of urban competitiveness in the West Azerbaijan province. Extended Abstract Introduction In Iran, demographic changes have left a tremendous impact on the social-economic and physical structure of the country. The increase in population and their displacement and migration from deprived areas to prosperous areas has caused regional imbalances. The awareness of the importance of location in achieving competitiveness has caused attention to "territorial competitiveness" such as "globalization" in the scientific and policy fields of spatial development in recent years. The direction of the recent policies of Iran's spatial development at the national level, such as the regional and vision document and the plans of the urban group, is a proof of the influence of this trend. The concentration of facilities, services, and population of the province in the service area of the top 8 cities, and especially the metropolis of Urmia has disrupted the balance and spatial connection of the settlements and the spatial structure of the province. The population distribution in urban classes showed an unbalanced pattern of urban development. In this regard, the current research aimed to evaluate and analyze the influencing factors on improving the competitiveness of the development of urban areas and reducing the intra-regional inequalities in the West Azarbaijan province.MethodologyTo analyze the pattern of competitiveness at the level of regions and cities, the study indicators were first investigated and analyzed according to the statistics and documentary information from 2019 to 2020. After extracting the studied indicators according to the following issues, the indicators were operationalized and quantified according to the research objectives. Then, based on the competitiveness perspective, the strength of resources and capabilities and their strategic fit with intra-regional factors are prioritized solely on the power of these factors. Matlab 2019a, SPSS, and ArcGIS software were used to analyze the data. The dispersion of competitiveness indicators was analyzed using the GWR. Finally, the congestion optimization method was used to standardize the situation.Results and discussionConsidering the significance of the spatial effect of the population index, the increase in competitiveness in the urban areas of the province with the highest functional-spatial correlation showed a motivation to increase the competitive power in the intended city in the following statistical periods. Perhaps the most important reason for the occurrence of this phenomenon is the migration of residents of lower-hierarchy cities simultaneously with the increase of competitive power to higher hierarchies in the next period. Also, the intelligent advantage index *** (F12) (0.0168) along with population growth of the spatial effect of this variable in the dynamic model has a positive and significant influence on the competitive power. Perhaps one of the most important reasons for the considerable impact factor of population growth following the employment demand in Urmia on the competitive level of other cities compared to non-spatial models is the separation of the impact of this variable into two spatial and non-spatial dimensions. Therefore, the regional approach gives special features to competitiveness studies. In these studies, it is assumed that competitive power is regional and endogenous, and the models estimated in each city district are different compared to other regions. Also, in non-dynamic spatial models, it is not possible to calculate direct and indirect effects in the short term, and the reason must be found in the dynamics of dynamic spatial models, including the effects of political economy, especially the quality of business systems (F3) (0.0180) and innovation rate (F4) (0.0168). The estimation results showed that the spatial coefficient of population growth had a positive and significant effect on the competitive power, which indicated the population relationship among cities, and this coefficient is such that as the cities move away from each other, accessibility (slowing down the development force), the intensity of competitive dependence is reduced.ConclusionTo improve and promote urban competitiveness, the most important factors after economic development are geographical and ecological factors and urban population. The second factor in promoting and realizing urban competitiveness is the absence of centralism, justice in the distribution of basic services, and equal access from the perspective of regional management. Centralism, top-down planning, and considering and prioritizing big cities hinder the realization and expansion of intra-regional competitiveness. The existence of equal opportunities is the key to realizing and promoting urban competitiveness, and its absence plays a deterrent role. With a strategic and comparative view, it can be seen that the position of the cities has been on the rise compared to the past. Adopting measures and creating appropriate mechanisms to remove obstacles and strengthen competitiveness indicators should be focused on the urban-regional planning system. Implementation of complementary plans and projects of competitiveness in natural, geographical, historical, physical-spatial, religious, cultural, social, economic, scientific, and sports fields along with the regional development policy and parallel with the directions of aiming at the chain connection of settlements and creating spatial justice is one of the most important solutions to accelerate this flow.Funding There is no funding support.Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the workConflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.

During the recent decades, the coastal city of Mahmudabad has faced many challenges and issues, including changing the spatial organization of the city in the context of economic abuses and spatial organization disproportionate to the needs of the local people and reducing ecological capacities, due to the rapid physical growth and rapid population adoption. Thus, the spatial developments of this city have been studied in terms of the urbanization developments of the last few decades. The aim was to know the elements of the spatial organization of the city of Mahmudabad in different historical stages and to analyze its spatial dynamics. First, with an analytical method, a structured review of the ideas of thinkers and related research experiences has been done; then, the applicability of the obtained factors has been considered as judging criteria for the urban space organization of Mahmoudabad in different periods, through the documentary review and interpretation of aerial photos. Research data has been collected from existing documents, including travelogues, books, urban development documents, interviews, and aerial images. The research period was from 1872 to 2020. The results indicated that the city of Mahmudabad has been affected by the ruling of political systems and population growth, migration trends, and demand for land and housing during different periods. The study of the change process of the city's spatial organization showed that this city's spatial organization has changed from a very simple and organic spatial organization to a complex organization with the predominance of specific elements of tourism, entertainment, and administrative service. Therefore, in the spatial organization of coastal cities, including the city under study, the formation of tourism zones with the predominance of coastal towns, temporary residential-recreational zones, and high-altitude zones with temporary recreational-leisure functions is the dominant spatial issue. Extended Abstract Introduction During recent decades, the coastal city of Mahmudabad has faced many challenges and issues, such as changing the city's spatial organization in the context of economic abuses and spatial organization that is not proportionate to the needs of the local people and the reduction of ecological capacities. Thus, in this research, an attempt has been made to examine the spatial developments of this city in terms of urbanization developments in recent decades. Therefore, the research aimed to know the elements of the spatial organization of Mahmudabad in different historical stages and to analyze its spatial dynamics.MethodologyFirst, with an analytical method, a structured review of the ideas of thinkers and related research experiences has been done; then, the applicability of the obtained factors has been considered as judging criteria for the urban space organization of Mahmoudabad in different periods, through the documentary review and interpretation of aerial photos. Research data has been collected from existing documents, including travelogues, books, urban development documents, interviews, and aerial images. The research period was from 1872 to 2020.Results and discussionThe findings showed that the coastal cities of the northern part of Iran, especially the city of Mahmoudabad, have adopted a different pattern of urban growth in recent decades. But various forces such as population growth, area, increase in the division of social work, multiple uses, and opening of communication routes have played a role in the city's spatial organization. But the dominant force in the city's spatial organization is the formation of large areas of second homes and tall towers along the coast and the income from extensive construction inside and outside the city. The findings indicated that in different time processes, the lifestyle and house building, activity, and income generation of the people of Mahmudabad have changed. The most important factor is the growth of land purchase demand, extensive construction of villa. The construction of villa houses and the recreation towers of the second house caused the shape and city's spatial organization to change from a rural-urban agricultural, livestock, and fishing to a tourist and recreational city. As in recent researches, the dominance of tourism in the organization of coastal cities has been confirmed. Also, the findings of this research showed that over time, the mix of uses in the central part of the city has changed and the amount of diversity, density and granularity of uses has also increased, and this has increased the role of the centrality of the city and the prominence of this part compared to other parts of the city. The important point regarding the research problem is the transformation of the spatial organization of Mahmudabad. The coastal cities of northern part of Iran, including the city under study, due to their proximity to population centers such as Tehran, Karaj, Rasht, Sari, Mashhad, etc., have followed their development process from the demands created in these cities. Also, the reopening of transmission routes, the increase in car traffic, and the improvement of the people's economic situation have increased the importance of tourism in northern cities, including Mahmoudabad. This has increased the role of tourism in northern cities and the growth of land and housing prices, including in the city in question. The existing findings indicated the change in the role of Mahmudabad from the traditional function to the service-tourism role.ConclusionThe results indicated that Mahmudabad has been affected by the ruling political systems and population growth, the migration process, and the demand for land and housing. Examining the change process of the spatial organization of the city showed that the spatial organization of Mahmudabad has changed from a very simple and organic spatial organization to a complex organization with the predominance of special elements of tourism, recreation, and administrative service. Therefore, in the spatial organization of coastal cities, including the city under study, the formation of tourism zones with the predominance of coastal towns, temporary residential-recreational areas and elevated zones with temporary recreational functions is the dominant spatial issue.Funding There is no funding support.Authors’ Contribution Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the workConflict of Interest Authors declared no conflict of interest.Acknowledgments We are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.