نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی

موضوعات

• جغرافیای شهری -برنامه‌ریزی شهری

عنوان مقاله English

Assessment of the ecological potential for sustainable territorial development (Case study: Jajroud watershed)

نویسندگان English

کلیدواژه‌ها English

Extended Abstract 
1. Introduction
The well-being and comfort of humans depend on the strength of the ecosystems that benefit from it. Rapid urbanization has become one of the defining characteristics of human social progress, and the intensification of land use and rapid changes in land use have threatened the environment of countries. In recent years, global climate change and increased human land development activities have increased negative ecosystem effects and loss of natural resources. One way to achieve sustainability goals in the land use planning framework is to consider ecological aspects of planning and organizing land use in line with the goals of sustainable development. The recent trend of urban development and rapid changes in natural land use have led to the loss of living and non-living natural resources in the ecosystem of these areas, which have changed their biological, chemical, and physical characteristics. The ever-increasing growth of the urban population in Iran, especially after 1976, has caused the balance between the urban networks and its natural pattern to be disrupted, which has reduced the quality and health of the ecological systems that the life of the city depends on. In this way, there have been many disturbances between the population and the resources, and it is necessary to pay attention to the planners and decision-makers regarding the most appropriate uses and basic methods of land use in land exploitation plans. Paying attention to the importante of the subject, in this research, considering the main criteria and indicators for evaluating the ecological potential, considering the natural limitations and capabilities, and applying the Vikor decision-making model, the aptitude and ability of the lands of this Jajrood Watershed for development We have evaluated the stability of population centers.
2. Materials and methods
Determining goals and putting forward strategies to achieve the desired goals are key elements in a planning process, and land evaluation and selection for various activities require a set of criteria and indicators. Therefore, in this study, effective criteria and indicators were determined in the first step of evaluating the ecological capacity of the watershed for urban and rural development.  The Minister of Criteria formed the decision-making matrix, including criteria, after determining the suitable criteria for the region. After that, the team developed fuzzy membership functions to normalize the numerical values of each map. In order to evaluate the ecological potential in the Jajrud watershed, the team first collected all the information. Then, it categorized the layers needed to evaluate each user. The team first collected all the information, including the contour line, soil characteristics, land type, vegetation density, waterway lines, and major faults of the region, to evaluate the ecological potential in the Jajrud watershed. In the next step, Dr. Makhdoom's ecological model for Iran evaluated all the layers related to each use. After fuzzifying the numerical values of each map, the critic method determined appropriate weights for each criterion. Finally, by applying the VICOR multi-criteria decision-making model, the desirability of each pixel of the region map for urban, rural, and industrial development was determined.
3. Results and Discussion
By implementing the VIKOR model and using the obtained weights, the VIKOR index (Q) value was obtained for each option (pixels). Finally, by assigning Q values to each of the relevant points (options) and removing the restrictions of the area in terms of the distance from the fault and the major waterway, the last map of the ecological potential of the Jajrud watershed was obtained. One of the most critical factors in determining the feasibility of developing these uses is the possibility of water supply. Therefore, in the final stage, we investigated the amount of water that the surface and underground water sources of the region can supply after determining the desirability of the Jajrud watershed for urban, rural, and industrial use. These data were obtained from the water and sewage company in Tehran province.
4. Conclusion
Based on the total results obtained and considering the existing limitations in the region (water quantity, fault boundary, and river), we can conclude that Damavand and Lavasan campus cities offer suitable conditions and fewer ecological restrictions for future development.
5. Acknowledgement & Funding
The manuscript did not receive a grant from any organization.
6. Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.