The Role of Water and Wastewater Networks in Urban Infill Development: A Case Study of District 1 of Isfahan Municipality

Social and physical decline of older inner city districts over time leads to the creation of deserted or inefficient areas in the heart of cities so that many such deteriorating land areas in cities remain undeveloped. The infill development strategy focuses on unused and deserted land areas in cities in an attempt to blow new life into old parts of cities aimed at urban sustainable development through optimally enhanced constructions and population density as well as striking a logical balance between density and land use change. Location of infill development can be assessed based on the excess capacity of urban water supply and wastewater collection infrastructure. In this study, EPANET, Sewer-Cad, Arc-GIS, Spatial Analysis, and AHP were employed to determine the potentials and capacity of the water and wastewater networks in District 1 of Isfahan Municipality as the zone selected for implementing infill development. The results obtained indicate that Khalaja and Darb Kooshk neighborhoods are of the highest priority due to their infrastructure excess capacity. The proposed method can lead to optimal use of missed opportunities and potential in urban areas, provide better inner city sites for future planning, and minimize unnecessary economic and social investments.