The Comparison of Iranian and Foreign Footpaths Based on ANP Method

After the development of transportation and the decline of environmental quality, especially in central context of cities, improving people’s living conditions and returning urban spaces to them became important. During the past five decades, many cities from all over the word have focused on the policy of constructing footpaths in order to make the cities walkable. However, constructing footpaths in various cities has had different outcomes, so far in some places that it has led to the closure of footpaths due to their failure and the reopening of the path to vehicles. Therefore, in this research we identify valid indicators for comparing successful examples of Iranian and foreign footpaths. With this we could identify the most important weaknesses of Iranian pathways compared to their foreign counterparts. This research is descriptive-analytic and is based on documentary and field studies. Also, Analytical Network Process (ANP) method has been used in order to compare the case studies, and to preserve all the relationships between clusters and nodes in the assessment. Furthermore, Delphi method (opinions of expert group) has been used for comparing the paired nodes and clusters. The results of this research show that the quality of Iranian footpaths is considerably lower than the quality of foreign footpaths. One of the main reasons for this is the absence of adequate attention towards “Social and Management” parameters in the planning and designing process of footpaths. Therefore, it is suggested that these factors are taken into consideration: paying attention to the needs of the “Beneficiaries’ in the designing process”, the “variety of users”, and “Project flexibility”.