Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Planning and Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz

2 Ph.D. student, Departement of geography and urban planning, University of Tabriz

3 Professor of Geography and Urban planning, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Planning and Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz

Abstract

Introduction
Since the 1990s, after both economy and society moved from Fordism to post-Fordism, a new paradigm emerged from the beginning of the new century. Due to the impact of the knowledge economy on urban communities, this paradigm known as knowledge-based urban development emerged in the late 20th century (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008a: 64). The knowledge-based urban development concept was considered as a practical management strategy for urban residents in various areas of sustainable social, economic, and urban growth along with the postmodern development of urban areas. Meanwhile, despite the benefits of superior information and communication technologies in urban areas and in particular the topics related to these technologies in accelerating the process of knowledge-based urban development, this factor can cause major challenges in balanced urban development. In this regard, one of the main obstacles in this area is the digital divide. The digital divide refers to the inequality in access of all members of society in terms of quantity and quality to information and communication technologies. In most societies, the right to create information is practically given to everyone, but distribution or sharing is taken away from them; hence, information resources are not used equally by society (Lievrouw and Farb, 2003: 414). Some societies deal with a deep digital divide in terms of information technology, which in turn impedes the realization of the city of knowledge. In various sources, the digital divide is mentioned as one of the barriers to a knowledge-based city (Butcher, 2009: 59 & Norris, 2001). Considering the above-mentioned cases, Tabriz metropolis needs to reach a variety of goals to become a knowledge-based city. One of these goals is identifying the impact of the digital divide on the concept of knowledge-based urban development. Therefore, the focus of this article is on the study of the effect of digital divide indicators on knowledge-based urban development variables in the city of Tabriz.
Data and Methods
In the present article, the structural equation model has been utilized to comprehensively study the conceptual model of the research. In this study, the opinions of 50 experts have been taken. To estimate the impact of digital development factors and gaps on each other, researchers created a 44X44 matrix by considering 32 knowledge-based urban development sub-indices in addition to the 12 digital gap variables within a system. Accordingly, after obtaining the outputs related to the expert’s opinions, these results were analyzed in MicMac software. Software outputs can greatly help to understand the dimensions and relationships of the system along with the way the system will work in the future in the various forms of tables and graphs (Rabbani, 2012).
Results and Discussion
According to the analytical results of this matrix, the variables including government influence, strategic planning, managerial interventions, broadband access, and social stability have the highest effect on the system. Furthermore, the most susceptible direct variables of the system include geographical location, urban competitiveness, foreign direct investment, economic status, research, and development. By observing the obtained results, it is easy to see the government’s role in positive or negative effectiveness in reaching the goals of digital city and knowledge-based urban development.
Additionally, the results obtained from the distribution chart of variables have the following points:
Determinants and influential variables (Located in the northwest of the Chart with High effectiveness and Low susceptibility): Management interventions, age, broadband access, cost of living, affordable housing, networking and strategic cooperation, justice, and social integration.
Two-fold variables (located in the northeast chart - high effectiveness and low susceptibility): urban competitiveness, quality of life, government impact, e-government, strategic planning, urban branding, etc.
Result variables (located in the southwest of the system- low effectiveness and high susceptibility): patent applications, worker knowledge pool, educational investment, basic professional skills, language skills, and socio-economic dependence.
Independent variables (located in the southeast of the system - low effectiveness and susceptibility): cultural and social norms, disability and physical ability, social stability, unemployment, environmental impact, use of sustainable transportation, etc.
Conclusion
To achieve structural knowledge-based urban development, the influential factors within this type of development are considered as an interwind or structure (system) to measure their inter-relationships due to enabling users to extract key variables of the system. In the present study, a variety of indicators were assessed for tackling problems related to the digital divide within the city and altering it to digital equity in Tabriz city. Those variables with the maximum effectiveness along with two-fold indicators have been chosen as key factors. A brief look at the concepts used in this study indicates that there is a conflict between the concept of the digital divide and urban knowledge-based development. In this regard, to eliminate this conflict, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of some variables. These variables include improving existing management tools and policies, strengthening the existing infrastructure for easy access to ICT by citizens, increasing people's skills and awareness, and finally strengthening the people's economic status by turning the digital divide into an opportunity along with providing a basis for the successful realization of knowledge-based urban development.

Keywords

Main Subjects

-           راجرز، اورت.، شومیکر، فوید. (1369)، رسانش نوآوری‏ها و رهیافتی میان فرهنگی (ترجمۀ عزت‏الهی و ابوطالب بنایی). شیراز: انتشارات دانشگاه شیراز.
-           ربانی، طاها، (1391)، مجموعه مقالات نخستین همایش ملی آینده پژوهی، تهران، بهمن.
-           قلم بر، محمدامین، 5563 ، آیندهنگاریتوسعهمحصولبارویکردبرنامهریزیبرمبنایسناریو،( مطالعهموردیصنعتنفت(، رساله دکتری، استاد راهنما: سیدمحمود حسینی، دانشکده مدیریت و حسابداری، دانشگاه شهید بهشتی.
-           مهارتی، یعقوب و جلالی، آزاده (1391)، بازاریابی شهری زمینه‏ساز رسیدن به نشان ویژۀ پایدار شهری به منظور رقابت (مطالعۀ موردی: شهر مشهد)، مجموعه مقالات چهارمین کنفرانس برنامه‏ریزی و مدیریت شهری.
-            نورایی، مریم. (1385)، شکاف دیجیتال، مجلۀ جهانی رسانه‏ها. بازیابی از: www. Globalmediajournal.com
-        Acilar A. (2011). Digital Divide among Enterprises in a Developing Country, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF e BUSINESS AND e GOVERNMENT STUDIES Vol 3, No 2, 2011 ISSN: 2146-0744 (Online). UNESCO (2005). Towards knowledge Societies. UNESCO publications.
-        Asheim, B. (2007). Differentiated knowledge bases and varieties of regional innovation systems. Innovation, 20(3), 223–241.
-        Bagchi K (2005) Factors contributing to global digital divide: some empirical results. Journal of Global Information Technology Management 8(3): 47–65.
-        Baum, S., Yigitcanlar, T., Horton, S., Velibeyoglu, K. and Gleeson, B. (2007). The role of community and lifestyle in the making of a knowledge city. Griffith University, Brisbane.
-        Bontje, M., Musterd, S., & Pelzer, P. (2011). Inventive city-regions. London: Ashgate.
-        Butcher, M. (2009). At the foundations of information justice, Ethics and Information Technology 11(1): 57-69.
-        Carrillo FJ (2004). Capital cities: a taxonomy of capital accounts for knowledge cities. J Knowl Manage; 8: 28-46.
-        Castells, M (1996, second edition, 2009). The Rise of the Network Society, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture Vol. I. Malden, MA; Oxford, UK: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-22140-1.
-        Cheng, P., C. Choi, S. Chen, T. Eldomiaty and C. Millar (2004). "Knowledge Repositories in Knowledge Cities: Institutions, Conventions and Knowledge Sub networks." Journal of Knowledge Management 8(5): 96-106.
-        DiMaggio P, Hargittai E (2001). From the ‘digital divide’ to ‘digital inequality’: studying internet use as penetration increases. Princeton University, Princeton (Working paper # 15).
-        E.Polykalas S. (2014). Assessing the evolution of the digital divide across European Union, Proceedings of International Conference of Web and Open Access to Learning (ICWOAL), November, Dubai, UAE.
-        Fernandez-Maldonado, A., & Romein, A. (2010). The role of organizational capacity and knowledge-based development. International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 1(1/2), 79–96.
-        Gonzalez, M., Alvarado, J. and Martinez, S. (2005). A compilation of resources on knowledge cities and knowledge-based development. Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 8, No. 5, 107-127.
-        Helbig N. Gil-Garcia J.R, Ferro E. (2009). Understanding the complexity of electronic government: Implications from the digital divide literature. Government Information Quarterly 26 (2009) 89–97.
-        ITU. (2005). Building Digital Bridges Report. Retrieved from www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/worldinformation/2005/index.html.
-        Knight, R. (1995). Knowledge-based development. Urban Studies, 32(2), 225–260. Kunzmann, K. (2008). Spatial dimensions of knowledge production. In T. Yigitcanlar, K. Velibeyoglu, & S. Baum (Eds.), Knowledge-based urban development (pp. 296–300). Hersey, PA: IGI-Global.
-        Knight, R. (2008). Knowledge based development. In T. Yigitcanlar, K. Velibeyoglu, & S. Baum (Eds.), Knowledge-based urban development (pp. xiii–xviii). Hersey, PA: IGI-Global.
-        Lever, W. (2002). Correlating the knowledge-base of cities with economic growth. Urban Studies, 39(5- 6), 859-870.
-        Lievrouw , L. A., and Farb, S. E. (2003), Information and equity. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 37(1): 499-540.
-        Michel Godet, (2006), Strategic Foresight , Prospective , Problems and Methods , www.laprospective.fr.
-        Noll, R.D. & et al. (2002). Bridging the Digital Divide: Definitions, Measurement, and Policy Issues. Retrieved from: www.ccst.us/ccst/pubs/cpa/bdd/Bdreport/BDD2.html (Noll,R.etal).
-        Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide: civic engagement, information poverty, and the Internet worldwide. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
-        OECD (2001). Understanding the Digital Divide. OECD Publications, Paris.
-        Ortiz, Julio Angel & Tapia, Andrea H. (2008) "Keeping promises: Municipal communities struggle to fulfill promises to narrow the digital divide with municipal-community wireless network." The Journal of Community Informatics: Special Issue on Wireless Networking for Communities, Citizens and the Public Interest. Volume 4, Number 1.
-        Tan Yigitcanlar, Kevin O’Connor and Cara Westerman (2006). The making of knowledge cities: Melbourne’s knowledge-based urban development experience. QUT Digital Repository: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/.
-        Thomas Clarke, (2001) "The knowledge economy", Education + Training, Vol. 43 Iss: 4/5, pp.189 - 196
-        van Dijk, J. (2002). A framework for digital divide research. The Electronic Journal of Communication/ Revue de Communication Electronique, 12 (1), 1-6. Retrieved 10 August 2011 .http://www.cios.org/EJCPUBLIC/012/1/01211.html.
-        Winchester, N. (2009), Social Housing and Digital Exclusion. National Housing Federation: London.
-        Yigitcanlar T, Caririllo F.J, Metaxiotis K, Ergazakis K. (2010), Editorial: knowledge-based development of cities- a myth or reality? Journal of knowledge based development, Vol. 1(3), pp. 153.157.
-        Yigitcanlar T, editor (2005). The making of knowledge cities: lessons learned from Melbourne. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Knowledge Cities. 2005 Nov. 28-30, Saudi Arabia, Medina. Saudi Arabia: Arab Urban Development Institute.
-        Yigitcanlar, T. – Lönnqvist, A. (2013): “Benchmarking knowledge-based urban development performance: Results from the international comparison of Helsinki”. Cities, 31, pp. 357-369.
-        Yigitcanlar, T. (2009). Planning for knowledge-based development: global perspectives, Journal of knowledge management, 13(5), 228-242.
-        Yigitcanlar, T. (2011). Redefining knowledge-based urban development. International Journal of Knowledge Based Development, 2(4), 340–356.
-        Yigitcanlar, T. (2012). Comparing. In T. Yigitcanlar, K. Metaxiotis, & J. Carrillo (Eds.), Building prosperous knowledge cities (pp. 327–351).Northampton,MA: Edward Elgar.
-        Yigitcanlar, T. (Ed.) (2010). Sustainable urban and regional infrastructure development: technologies, applications and management. Hersey, PA; Information Science Reference.
-        Yigitcanlar, T., O’Connor, K., and Westerman, C. (2008a). The making of knowledge cities: Melbourne’s knowledge-based urban development experience. Cities, 25(2): 63-72.
-        Yigitcanlar, T., Valibeyoglu, K. and Baum, S. (Eds.) (2008b). Creative urban regions: harnessing urban technologies to support knowledge city initiatives. Harsey, PA: Information Science Reference.
-        Yigitcanlar, Tan & Sarimin, Muna (2011) Contributions of knowledge-based foundations of universities in knowledge city formation: a Malaysian case study. In Schiuma, G., Spender, J.C., & Yigitcanlar, T. (Eds.) Proceedings of the 6th International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics - Knowledge-Based Foundations of the Service Economy, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland, pp. 13-37.