Evaluation of the roles of city river restoration in developing of urban tourism (case study: Farahzad city river)

City Rivers are a part of urban natural body and the bed of linking of urban life to nature. Construction of buildings in nearness of rivers and even on their beds, unbalanced natural process in them. Planning for them as the places of leisure and tourism, can contribute to the improvement of environmental conditions and tourism prosperity. Although the City Rivers can supply many needs in the cities, failing appropriate planning they will be one of potentials for floods. Herein there should be plans which preserve the balance of these ecosystems, the integrity of these natural corridors and their correlations with the cities. Urban tourism consists of each recreational activities that have been done in cities. The cities are not only the regional economic, cultural and political centers but also the regional tourism centers. Today people work harder because of insecurity of jobs and they prefer short trips to a long holiday. So they want the destinations that are accessible. City Rivers can be one of the centers where people can use for their leisure time. This research, based on the studies on Farahzad City River in Tehran, is going to assess the roles of city river restoration in developing of urban tourism. The type of the research is applied and its method is descriptive-analytical and correlation. Our Statistical society is people who visit the area for recreation. Because of the lack of a clear framework and lack of accurate statistics, the number of samples based on consultation with a number of professors, 350 were selected. Required information was collected through the library studies, direct observations, interviews and questionnaires. The main tool for data collection was a researcher-designed questionnaire. The data collected through questionnaires after coding and transferring to the SPSS software were analyzed. For analyzing them, statistical methods such as Mean, Percent, Standard Deviation, Coefficient of Correlation and Simple Linear Regression Tests have been used. The results of the study show the restoration of Farahzad City River has contributed to urban tourism prosperity and has developed it. Nevertheless, field observations and interviews show sustainable urban development hasn’t emerged yet.