Determination the optimal direction of development based on environmental parameters (Case study: the city of Babolsar)

One of the important aspects of sustainable development is directing and determining the physical growth of a city. As regards the lands around cities, especially in Iran, are considered as support environments. A significant proportion of Iranian cities have been located in agricultural hinterlands, therefore it is important to determine the direction of physical growth of the cities with the least damages to agricultural land. Considering other parameters like faults and the geological structure, wind, water levels is essential in environmental planning literature. The aims of this article are to review and determine the best physical growth direction of Babolsar city based on natural parameters such as underground water levels, faults and geological structure, land, wind, and waterways ranges. To determine the optimum physical growth direction of Babolsar the AHP and ELECTRE method has been used. Based on five indicators, the west, east, south, southeast and southwest vectorial have been studied. According to the paper results, the eastern and western vectorial have the highest priority to direct physical growth of Babolsar city.