Geotourism
Marziyeh Esmaeelpour; manijeh lalehpour; Maryam Mohammadi
Abstract
As a special form of tourism, ecotourism plays a vital role in sustainable development, and many environmentalists have suggested it as a strategy to protect natural resources. This research evaluates the competitiveness of ecotourism and the potential locations for peri-urban resorts in Maragheh County ...
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As a special form of tourism, ecotourism plays a vital role in sustainable development, and many environmentalists have suggested it as a strategy to protect natural resources. This research evaluates the competitiveness of ecotourism and the potential locations for peri-urban resorts in Maragheh County using the Pavolova model and fuzzy logic. The findings reveal that among the nine positive factors identified by the Pavolova model, the historical and cultural monuments, stratigraphic locations, and caves are considered to be the most important positive factors, and lack of infrastructure, deficit of financing to expand and inadequacy of prices to the services are among the most important negative factors affecting the competitiveness of the county. The overall ecotourism competitiveness rating for Maragheh is 1.52, categorizing it as "good." To site selection for the resorts, first, thematic maps for various indicators including elevation, slope, vegetation cover, distance to rivers, soil type, land use, geology, and access to transportation networks, city and ecological regions were prepared. These thematic layers were analyzed using the fuzzy gamma operator to create an integrated map identifying suitable areas for ecotourism development. Results indicate that over 46.9% of the county's area is classified as very unsuitable for ecotourist resorts, while approximately 24.5% is unsuitable. Areas with medium suitability cover 16.5% of the county, while suitable and very suitable locations accounting for 9.4% and 2.7%, respectively. This data suggests that Maragheh possesses favorable conditions for establishing ecotourism sites. Finally, four potential sites for the construction of ecotourism resorts have been proposed.
Land use Planning
Iraj Jabbari; Majid Ahmadi-Molaverdi; Nafise Jami Alahmadi; Ali Rezapoor; Mohammad Mohammadnejad
Abstract
With the development of industries and the expansion of human activities and the production of hazardous wastes, it is necessary to dispose of them in a suitable place that has the least threat to human life, and requires basic considerations about the site's vulnerability to natural and human hazards, ...
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With the development of industries and the expansion of human activities and the production of hazardous wastes, it is necessary to dispose of them in a suitable place that has the least threat to human life, and requires basic considerations about the site's vulnerability to natural and human hazards, ease of insulation and the risk of environmental pollution. Examining this issue seems very simple, which is why at the level of executive projects, each specialist considers himself entitled to location projects; unaware that each environment has certain complexities, the neglect of which may lead to great human and environmental waste. Accordingly, in this study, we first tried to improve the criteria for Iran according to geographical conditions by studying valid international standards and guidelines regarding the location of landfills for special waste. Second, with a geographical approach to the subject, by combining layers, the accuracy of the desired factors will increase, and by combining 46 maps or information layers, 35 desired factors will be selected with high accuracy. Third, by understanding that questionnaire-based methods such as hierarchical analysis (AHP) can not achieve reliable results in the evaluation of layers, new corrective methods can be proposed that lead to satisfactory results. Fourth, a geographical understanding of the phenomena can help assess the validity of the results in the final stages and, depending on its specialization, be effective in a particular type of site selection. We need 70 hectares In this study . Land location including the area that is not cause damage to environment elements and is close to industrial centers and roads but away from residential areas, airports and tourist areas was identified only in four places in the west of the province and on or near the Iranian-Iraqi border. Geomorphological studies also give proitey to one of them .
Geomorphology
Seyyed Asadallah Hejazi; Masoumeh Rajabi; Asma Sharbaf Behtash
Abstract
Introduction Tourism is one of the activities that demand for it is increasing. Tourism as a non-smoking industry, has less destructive environmental impacts but for some, tourism is an important threat to cultural and biological diversity. This idea caused the concept of sustainable tourism development ...
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Introduction Tourism is one of the activities that demand for it is increasing. Tourism as a non-smoking industry, has less destructive environmental impacts but for some, tourism is an important threat to cultural and biological diversity. This idea caused the concept of sustainable tourism development and the forms of alternative tourism to be raised. For this reason, the development of ecotourism as a form of alternative tourism is essential for achieving the goals of sustainable tourism development. Identifying and planning the suitable ecotourism areas as an effective tool and solution can play an essential role in sustainable tourism development. Although Iran has a variety of natural attractions, but it hasn't been able to make good use of this advantage. One of the most suitable ecotourism areas in Iran and East Azerbaijan Province is the Northern Slopes of Bozghoush Mountains. This area has a lot of natural attractions such as high peaks, numerous hot springs and green spaces which can be a destination for hiking, adventure tourism, ski, water therapy and leisure activities. In spite of such attractions, none of these activities is known in the real sense; on the other hand, comprehensive planning has not been done in this area. Although several tourists go to the northern slopes of Bozghoush Mountain in spring and summer but there isn't any suitable infrastructures in this area. This indicates the necessity of investigating in this region and the main thing for encouraging investors is identifying, prioritizing and informing them. Such actions lie in the context of scientific research. So far, several studies has been done on geomorphology and geology of this region but there hasn't been any study to identify suitable ecotourism areas. The present study has aimed to reach this goal. The goal of this study is identifying the ecotourism capabilities of the northern slopes of Bozghoush Mountain using Vikor technique in order to identify the most suitable areas for ecotourism activities. Methodology The research method of this study is descriptive-analytical and in terms of purpose, it is practical. In order to achieve the research goals, the most important criteria of site selection for mountaineering, hiking and ski was identified by library research and expert survey, and then the weight of each criteria was determined by the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In the following, in order to integrate layers in ArcGIS, VIKOR method has been used. To determine the final weight of the criteria, a questionnaire was designed and it has been filled by 30 experts. The experts were familiar with both the AHP method and the features of study area. Five questionnaire were corrupted and 25 of them were valid. The hierarchy structure was formed in the Expert Choice. Then the data obtained from questionnaire which was a pairwise comparison, was added to the software. In the following, in order to integrate layers in ArcGIS, VIKOR method has been used. Finally, by overlaying the maps of mountaineering, hiking and ski, the most suitable areas of ecotourism was determined. Conclusion The northern slopes of Bouzghoush Mountain located in East Azerbaijan Province have high ecotourism potential, which allows tourists to do activities such as mountaineering, hiking and ski. In the present study, in order to site selection and prioritize the ecotourism areas, the activities were divided into three types and evaluated by Vikor technique. Various criteria were selected by literature review and weighted in Expert choice using AHP method. Finally maps of mountaineering, hiking and ski were obtained and by overlaying the maps, the final map of suitable ecotourism areas was achieved. The results show that in terms of suitable site selection of ecotourism, 15.43 percent of area is in very suitable condition, 35.52 percent in suitable condition, 39.91 percent in average condition and 9.14 percent in unsuitable condition. The most suitable area covers the hot springs of Asbforoushan and Allah Hagh, as well as Jelda Bakhan and Ardeha villages. These sites tops the list of priorities for development.
Climatology
mehdi asadi; Ali Mohammad Khorshiddoust
Volume 23, Issue 70 , March 2020, , Pages 101-122
Abstract
Limited fossil energy source and increase of energy use is always pushed man to replace the energy source. In this case the winds have always had a special place in the new generation of energy sources. East Azarbaijan province because of the topographical and relativity situation is one of the best ...
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Limited fossil energy source and increase of energy use is always pushed man to replace the energy source. In this case the winds have always had a special place in the new generation of energy sources. East Azarbaijan province because of the topographical and relativity situation is one of the best places for building a wind farm. therefore this research have been done to find out the best places for building wind farms in East Azarbaijan province, to find this places different criteria and sub criteria have been used. Given the importance of information fusion, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were selected for weighting the layers and were implemented by the help of Expert choice software. For special analyses and overlapping of layers the Arc GIS program have been used and after the analysis of information, according to the capacity of building wind farms, province of East Azarbaijan have been divided to four parts, great, good, normal, weak. At last, final conclusions represent that Geographic Information System as a Supportive Decision making system can be practical both in preparing of data and designing the priorities and expert's ideas dealing with different factors and also help the designers to select the proper location to found the wind farms. In this research,15 regions have been determined, considering priority of, overlay, limitation of land and places, survey of priority area, climate condition and personal observation have been determined that in sequence this places are Tabriz, Sahand, Osko, Azarshahr, Bostanabad, Shabestar, Jolfa, Haris, Miyane, Bonab, Marageh, Sarab, Ahar, Charayomagh and Hashtrod.
All other Geographic fields of studies , Interdisciplinary
Navid Houshangi; Ali asghar Allsheikh
Abstract
Iran is located on the world’s Sun Belt; therefore the required energy of many parts of the country can be generated through photovoltaic systems. One of the most salient characteristic of renewable energy with regard to its conversion and usage is its dependency on geographical location as well ...
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Iran is located on the world’s Sun Belt; therefore the required energy of many parts of the country can be generated through photovoltaic systems. One of the most salient characteristic of renewable energy with regard to its conversion and usage is its dependency on geographical location as well as numerous contradicting factors. A suitable site for solar farm must fulfill a series of economic, conservational, climatic, geographic and demographic considerations simultaneously. This research uses multi-criteria decision making (MCDM), fuzzy principles and GIS tools to evaluate the optimized place of photovoltaic solar power plants in Iran. To achieve this objective, three approaches are considered, namely: TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), Sugeno-type Fuzzy inference system and fuzzy TOPSIS. After obtaining experts’ opinions, site selection steps have been taken in two main steps: first, the deduction of impossible points (constrained); second, the calculation of location’s potential using raster analysis. The comparison of the above methods showed that Fuzzy TOPSIS؛ from the perspective of continuity and involving elements؛ had better performance. TOPSIS Method 14.71% and fuzzy TOPSIS 18.33% and Sugeno 20.52% of the total area are considered as suitable area for the construction of solar power plants. All three methods had similar results. The priority of country’s sections for locating solar farm locations are estimated as, Narimanshir, Nobandegan, Farajhiand, Bahmanpour, Shibkoh and Gavbandi through all methods with subtle variations.
All other Geographic fields of studies , Interdisciplinary
Abstract
Iran is located on the world’s Sun Belt; therefore the required energy of many parts of the country can be generated through photovoltaic systems. Nowadays, with the increasing growth of energy consumption, the tendency to use renewable energy and specifically solar powers is rising. Within 2000 ...
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Iran is located on the world’s Sun Belt; therefore the required energy of many parts of the country can be generated through photovoltaic systems. Nowadays, with the increasing growth of energy consumption, the tendency to use renewable energy and specifically solar powers is rising. Within 2000 to 2007, world energy production increased 10.3 percent per capita (Department of Energy, Iran).This consumption increase in 2030 reaches over 48% and even 60% in 2000. However, disadvantages of fossil energy led international community to use new types of renewable energy. Among the renewable energy forms, solar energy tends to be the cleanest energy and considering potentials of the selected sites, is can be deemed economical, as well.
Urban Planning
Eisa Ebrahimzadeh; Ahmad Hosseini; Diman Kashefidoost
Abstract
Fire stations are one of the important centers of relief. Obviously, timely service, required for their appropriate site selection. Piranshahr city with having one fire station is faced to problems such as lack of stations, the lack of proper distribution and lack of appropriate site selection. The aim ...
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Fire stations are one of the important centers of relief. Obviously, timely service, required for their appropriate site selection. Piranshahr city with having one fire station is faced to problems such as lack of stations, the lack of proper distribution and lack of appropriate site selection. The aim of this research is consideration the how distribution of stations and their services and determination of proper site for building the new stations with regard to city need. In this research that done with descriptive – analytical method, the needs information are collected in the way of census of Population and Housing results in 1390, and comprehensive and detailed plans of Piranshahr city and also the magazines and books with regard to subject and for analysis of data is used by software such as AUTO CAD, ARC GIS, , Expert Choice, Super Decisions, and with used by the models of network analysis such as ANP, AHP, TOPSIS model, are offered six stations for areas that were out of the radius of action in the fire station. Because the whole of city, were covered these stations according to the timing standard of fire fighting vehicles at the scene and at the time of earthquake occurrence to reduce the losses were getting the appropriate operation
All other Geographic fields of studies , Interdisciplinary
Jamal Mohammadi; Hossein Poorghayoomy
Volume 18, Issue 48 , June 2014, , Pages 279-298
Abstract
In the past decade we encountered the population growth of our country, resulted in demand growth. Perhaps there are not much service centers in this city, but the efficient distribution of these centers is important. One of the service centers which has a significant role on city and is safety insurance ...
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In the past decade we encountered the population growth of our country, resulted in demand growth. Perhaps there are not much service centers in this city, but the efficient distribution of these centers is important. One of the service centers which has a significant role on city and is safety insurance for human life, is firehouse center. Fast and on time access of firehouse vehicles to the accident location is very important, because on time access of vehicles to accident location results to lesser damage. On the other hand, this on time access to accident location is related to efficient distribution of firehouse centers. In order to evaluate the current situation of firehouse centers regarding fire accidents, the Noorabad city was chosen as the study issue, and by using GIS function, network analysis and multiage analyses of Thiessen, the current situation of Noorabad firehouse centers were studied. After recognizing the improper distribution of these centers using AHP model and index overlaps, the proper location of firehouse centers of Noorabad city was identified using GIS software. The current research method is descriptive-analytic. The required information of this research were collected from field observation, comprehensive design study and descriptive data of Noorabad city, 1.5000 maps of current situation and also field observation
firooz Jamali; Mirsatar Sadrmousavi; Mehdi Eshlaghi
Volume 18, Issue 47 , April 2014, , Pages 23-53
Abstract
The hospital is an important element of the new public health. The health of a population requires access to medical and hospital services as well as preventive care and a healthy environment. Site selection of urban public facilities is one of the most important goals of urban planning. Planners help ...
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The hospital is an important element of the new public health. The health of a population requires access to medical and hospital services as well as preventive care and a healthy environment. Site selection of urban public facilities is one of the most important goals of urban planning. Planners help increase the welfare of citizens by means of allocation of urban lands to various necessary urban land uses and facilities, by reducing unnecessary commuting and providing a healthy environment. The main objective of this study is the evaluation of site selection models of hospitals in Tabriz city considering quantitative and qualitative criteria in 3 levels of compatibility, desirability and capacity matrixes. Employing 13 indices and using the ArcGIS 9.2, Idrisi Andes, Index Overlay and AHP implications, site selection of hospitals in Tabriz city has been reexamined. The existing sites and spatial patterns of hospitals have been analyzed. Findings reveal that there has been insufficiency in the number of hospitals and hospital beds in some cases.
Mohammadhosein Ramasht; Ramin Hatami Fard; Seayed Hojat Mosavy
Volume 17, Issue 44 , September 2013, , Pages 119-138
Abstract
In recent decades, uncontrolled growth of population and urban development have caused various social, economic and environmental conflicts, such as production of municipal solid waste that has followed its inappropriate disposal. So that, how disposal, site selection and correct management of ...
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In recent decades, uncontrolled growth of population and urban development have caused various social, economic and environmental conflicts, such as production of municipal solid waste that has followed its inappropriate disposal. So that, how disposal, site selection and correct management of landfill solid waste is one of the urban environmental problems, nowadays. Therefore, finding the appropriate place for this process is one of the first and main objectives of urban development plans to achieve sustainable development. Central part of Kouhdasht city, with production of 110 tons of waste daily, is facing with environmental, social and health problems in this field, due to lack of recycling equipments and its improper disposal place. The aim of this study is appropriate site selection of municipal solid waste disposal in the Kouhdasht city using analysis of human, environmental, hydrological, geological and geomorphologic parameters through AHP model and GIS technique. AHP model is one of the most efficient techniques that designed for multiple criteria decision making. This technique is provides the possibility of formulating complex problems as hierarchy. The results show that we can classify zones of the waste disposal of the Kouhdasht city into five classes. In the meantime, zones and most suitable and suitable, with area of 316.193 and 673.219 Km2 respectively, have highest priority for solid waste disposal and with 24.9 percent of total area in the Kouhdasht city are in the first priority of waste disposal projects. The results of this research would be beneficial in systemic management of urban environment and also in plans of municipal solid waste optimum disposal in study area.