hassan esmaeilzadeh

In recent years, several factors have caused the unsustainability of the protected areas in the country, among which we can mention things such as the interference of various institutions in the management of these areas, excessive tourism, unprincipled grazing, destruction of habitats, etc. Oshtoran-kuh Protected Area is among the mentioned areas that due to the lack of sufficient supervision, low efficiency of local projects, lack of detailed planning for the protection of natural areas, economic and livelihood problems of local communities, exploitation of mines, The weak participation of local communities and the like is facing unsustainability in various dimensions. In the current research, an attempt has been made to realization the sustainable development of Oshtoran- kuh protected area by using the good governance approach. The research method is based on the causal method. Documentary and survey methods have been used in data collection. For this purpose, a questionnaire was used to collect the data required for the research. The reliability of the data obtained from the questionnaire was done by calculating Cronbach's alpha. data analysis was done based on quantitative methods (Descriptive and inferential statistical tests). For this purpose, the average, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation of each of the research variables have been investigated for the comparative investigation of the research dimensions. The Kolmogorove-Smirnov test was used to check the normality of the data, and the Somers’d test was used to check the correlation of the data. The territory of the research is Oshtoran-kuh protected area, which is located in Lorestan province. The findings show that the status of governance in the studied area is weak and the degree of sustainability is in the medium level based on the Likert scale. The product of sustainability shows the appropriate state of the socio-cultural dimension and the average state of other dimensions. The findings of the research indicate the existence of a relatively direct relationship between the good governance approach and sustainable development in the studied area.

Since 2013, the managers and trustees of Shahr-e-Rey have been trying in various ways to reclaim this city and make it again, as defined as the center of the Rey section. This innovative research examines the consequences of Shahr-e-Rey's separation from the Tehran metropolis and plans different scenarios. The research method is based on the analytical-developmental method. Data collection was done by documentary and survey methods, and quantitative methods (statistical tests, MIC MAC software, and Wizard software) and qualitative (content analysis) methods were used in data analysis. The statistical population includes citizens of Shahr-e-Rey and the experts' group. Based on Cochran's formula and considering the 95% confidence factor, 384 citizens were questioned, and 36 people from the experts' group were interviewed. The results indicate that the legal dimension, with an average of 3.23, will have the most impact, and the environmental dimension, with an average of 1.80, will have the least impact on the possible separation of Shahr-e-Rey from the Tehran metropolis. Economic-financial, physical, and administrative-institutional dimensions will have moderate impacts with averages of 2.68, 2.59, and 2.51, respectively, and the socio-cultural dimensions, with an average of 3.11, will have high impacts in the separation issue on the Likert scale.

This research has evaluated transit- oriented development around Valiasr Square metro station in Tehran, emphasizing the environmental impacts. The research method was based on descriptive-analytical method. In data collection, both documentary and survey methods have been used. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been used in data analysis, so that based on quantitative methods, descriptive and inferential statistical tests, including averaging, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Levin's statistic, and gamma correlation test have been used. Trend analysis has also been used in qualitative methods. The statistical population included local community. Data validity was based on construct validity; and the reliability of the questionnaire was based on Cronbach's alpha. The findings demonstrated the most dimensions affected by the implementation of the project are related to the economic dimension (with an average of 65/4%) and the least is related to the institutional-legal dimension (with an average of 53/8 %). Estimates illustrate the positive impacts of the implementation of the project in the future, based on the Likert spectrum scale, will be high level. The results of analysis of variance elucidate the significance level of Levin's test is greater than 0.05. As a result, the assumption of equality of variances in different statistical societies is confirmed. Also, based on the results of Gamma test, the significance level was above 0.05, as a result, there is no significant difference in terms of belief in the effectiveness of the project implementation among citizens of local community in the study area.

Protected areas (PAs) are considered one of the most important ecotourism destinations in terms of biodiversity and having abundant capabilities and attractions. Since ecotourism activities do not always lead to economic benefits and environmental development, it is necessary to investigate the negative impacts of ecotourism activities in these areas. For this purpose, in this study, the Delphi method and SWOT-ANP model were used to investigate the negative impacts of ecotourism activities on the four types of PAs of Tehran province and provide optimal strategies. According to the results, the highest mean negative impacts of ecotourism in Lar National Park include unplanned development of ecotourism activities, reduction of dense pastures due to bush cutting, trampling, and lack of adequate monitoring, and in the Jajrud protected area, the trend of land use/cover changes, due to the development of ecotourism infrastructures and the increase in the demand of urban communities for the development of recreational activities. In the Tangeh Vashi National Natural Monument, the most negative impacts include the increase in environmental pollution due to the high number of ecotourists compared to the area's size and facilities, and finally, in the Kavde Wildlife Refuge, the highest mean is allocated to the increase in illegal hunting of wildlife due to the lack of monitoring mechanisms. In the following, to control these impacts, optimal strategies were selected by examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats based on the expert's viewpoint, which include offensive-competitive strategy (SO) in Lar Park, defensive strategy (WT)  in Jajrud area and the diversification strategy (ST) due to TangehVashi, and Kavdeh refuge, which should be considered by managers in planning and decision-making.

Although estuaries are considered as one of the most fertile ecosystems in the world, today they are under the influence of various threats and one of them is hydrological changes. In this study, by using the IHA hydrological change indicators, the changes in the hydrological regime in two statistical periods "natural flow regime" and "altered flow regime" were investigated in Soleiman Tange and Kordkheil hydrometric stations in Tejan watershed (Mazandaran province). Based on the IHA method, a total of 67 statistical parameters have been estimated by "IHA7 software"; these parameters are divided into two groups of indicators of (IHA) hydrological changes in the target range of (RVA) and the environmental flow component of EFC. According to the results, the minimum days of flow in the period before the construction of the dam is 227.5 days, while in the period after the construction of the dam, it is 48.5 days, and the number of days when the minimum flow occurs before the construction of the dam is 351 days. It has decreased to 286 days after the construction of the dam, so the annual limit flows in the Tejan River have experienced disturbances and moderate changes. Considering that the change in the hydrological indicators of the flow is mainly influenced by the construction of the dam, therefore the hydrological management of the dam will have a great effect on the ecological condition of the Tejan river estuary.

Among the various processes of land degradation, soil erosion is known as a major environmental problem that causes the loss of topsoil and nutrients, reduces fertility, and thus decreases in crop yield. Evaluating and preparing a risk map and estimating the lost economic value due to the loss of soil nutrients can provide the basis for rational planning to prevent and control wind erosion. The aim of this research is to estimate the economic consequences of wind erosion in the Hamoon wetland, which is considered as one of the centers of dust production in the Sistan plain. This research has been done in two stages; first, using the IRIFR model, which is an experimental model to estimate the intensity of wind erosion, an attempt has been made to investigate the erosion intensity, prepare a map of erosion classes (danger), as well as determine the amount of annual sediment production in Hamoon wetland. In the second stage and the economic discussion on the topic, in two parts and using the information obtained from the first stage, using two methods of risk assessment and alternative cost, to prepare a risk map, and the economic value lost due to the loss of the main nutritional elements of the soil action has been taken due to wind erosion in the proposed region. The findings show that Hamoon lagoon has five risk classes in which, the low-risk class has the largest area with 41.15 percent. In terms of economics, from the point of view of the risk map, the largest area of ​​the wetland includes the intensity of risk with 59.93 percent in the very low class, 32.68 percent in the very high class, and 7.36 percent in other classes. The amount of lost economic value of the main soil elements due to wind erosion in the mentioned wetland is estimated to be 994 billion Rials.

In recent decades, the severe disconnection between humans and the environment has caused instability in the provision of ecosystem services. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a suitable conceptual framework to express the relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services based on the socio-ecological network approach in order to help achieve environmental sustainability The aim of this study was to provide new conceptual services for providing suggested services and using ecosystem services based on the base ecosystem and the proposed ratio of soil retention, surface water production, food production, and carbon storage in the 4th region of planning of Iran. In this regard, a conceptual model was proposed and then a spatial analysis of the four ecosystem services was carried out. The results showed the spatial heterogeneity that exists after supply and consumption in all four services, especially surface water ecosystem services and food production. Based on the assessment of the comprehensive supply and demand ratio of ecosystem services, about 80% of the region is facing a deficit of ecosystem services and only 6% has a surplus of services, which is mainly in the middle part of Zagros, which has the highest amount of water production, carbon storage, and the least soil erosion. It will guarantee the ecological survival of the region. In fact, in order to mainstream the ecosystem approach in spatial planning, it is important to determine the focal point of ecosystem services by determining the ratio of supply and demand for making appropriate decisions by decision makers.

In the current research, the level of sustainability in two different types of protected areas of Tehran province including Lar National Park and Tangeh Vashi National Natural Monument has been compared. In addition, the evaluation of the participation of local communities and ecotourists has been done in order to measure the impact of participation on the level of sustainability of ecotourism development in these areas. The present study is theoretical-practical in terms of its purpose, and descriptive-analytical and comparative in terms of its nature. The data was collected by documentary and survey method, in which the data was prepared according to previous studies, documents and international references by tourism organizations. Questionnaire, interview and observation tools were also used in the survey method. The analysis of data and information was done in a quantitative way, which used descriptive and inferential statistical tests and the ANP model for statistical analysis. The statistical population and sample size of the study include local communities and ecotourists. The validity of the research is based on structural and formal methods, and its reliability is calculated using Cronbach's alpha. The results of the network hierarchy analysis indicate that the highest points assigned to the effective variables in the sustainable development of ecotourism include biodiversity, ecosystem, monitoring-control and participation; And on the other hand, the lowest scores are related to the variables of access to ecotourism infrastructure and facilities, population density, number of plans and projects, and ecotourism costs. The results also indicated that the level of sustainability in Lar National Park is 4 (from 5), and in Vashi Gorge National Natural Park is 2.3. Also, the highest level of participation among local communities and ecotourists is related to Lar National Park.

In this research, the approaches of good urban governance and sustainable development of tourism have been used. In relation to the approach of good urban governance, several variables have been presented by valid international organizations, which include the variables of effectiveness, justice, accountability, participation, security and electronic/smart management. Sustainable development of tourism is another approach used in this research; besides, this approach has different dimensions that are classified into three categories: physical-environmental, demographic-social, and economic- institutional. Inside and outside the country, some researches have been conducted in this field, each of which has examined this issue from a specific aspect. So far none of the aspects have analyzed the relationship between good governance and sustainable development of tourism in different cities, and this is exactly the innovation of this research.

Methods and materials:

 The scope of this research is the cities of East Azarbaijan province, which have been selected by considering various criteria such as the city size, geographical distribution of cities at the province, and management and economic conditions, so that the research results can be generalized to all cities. The selected cities are: Tabriz, Bonab and Kalibar. The current research is theoretical-applied research and the comparative investigation of which is based on correlational and analytical methods. Data collection was done based on documentary and survey methods (interviews and questionnaires). Data analysis is a quantitative method that uses descriptive and inferential statistical tests (including multivariate analysis of variance, F statistic, LSD, single-sample T, and Spearman correlation coefficient). The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula with a confidence factor of 95%, which was equal to 384, 382 and 369 people in each of the cities of Tabriz, Bonab and Kalibar respectively. Questioning was done online and the sampling method was based on a simple random method. The scoring of the items in the questionnaires has been done based on the Likert spectrum (five spectrums), so that the very low option is assigned 1 point, and the very high option is assigned 5 points. Option 3 also stands in the middle. The reliability of the research is based on Cronbach's alpha, which is equal to 0.80 and indicates acceptable reliability. The validity of the research also is based on the construct validity.

Surveys indicate that the status of good governance indicators in the cities of Tabriz and Bonab is at an average level (with averages of 2.16 and 2.53, respectively), and in the city of Kalibar is at an appropriate level (with an average of 3.10). Sustainable tourism development indicators were examined in the studied cities and the results showed that the highest sustainability of tourism development has been related to the city of Kalibar (with a coefficient of 3.3); whereas, the lowest stability has been related to the city of Tabriz (with a coefficient of 2.9), which indicates the managers’ ignorance in this field. The results of Spearman's correlation coefficient indicate that there is a significant relationship between level of good urban governance and sustainable development of tourism; In other words, as quality of city governance has improved, the sustainability of their tourism development has increased either. Several factors are influential in aligning the quality of urban governance and the sustainability of tourism development, among which the size of the city, the extent of citizens’ nativity, and the degree of participation in urban management might be mentioned.

The present study argues that with the increase in the quality of urban governance, tourism sustainable development would be more tangible. In order to improve the situation of urban tourism in big cities (Tabriz and to some extent Bonab), the approach of good urban governance in the administration of cities has been suggested. The next step is to increase monitoring mechanisms, which, are currently very poor and this problem has caused an increase in rent-seeking and corruption in the urban management system. Finally, supporting the realization of integrated urban management for the purpose of coordination of the urban tourism development measures and programs, and prevention of the wastage of financial resources is another measure that might help improve the quality of urban governance and more sustainable development of tourism in these cities.

The rapid expansion of urbanization along with irregular changes in land use and Landscape System of Tehran has disrupted the composition and distribution pattern of urban green infrastructure. The present study seeks to analyse the spatial-temporal changes of urban green infrastructure in Tehran Landscape System affected by the spatial processes of land use changes in the statistical period (4 decades of 1990 to 2030). To reach this aim, the present study has identified (1) the effect of spatial processes on the changing landscape pattern and (2) the relationship between the spatial pattern and ecological processes of landscape and its influence on the capacities and constraints of green urban infrastructure.

The present study has focused on the landscape system of Tehran and its 22 districts as the study area. The descriptive-analytical study consists of following stages: 1) Classifying urban land uses in1990-2000, 2000-2010 and 2010-2020 statistical periods using Landsat satellite images: (in Envi 5.3, Google Earth and Arc GIS 10.2 software), 2) Modelling and forecasting land use changes in 2030 using integrated model of Markov chain, automated cells (CA-MARKOV) and TerrSetsoftware), 3) Determining spatial processes of landscape changes via decision tree algorithm. 4) Quantifying landscape metrics of composition and configuration of landscape pattern (green, open & built patches) at both class and landscape levels in the mentioned periods (in Fragstate 4.2 software).
 

Many environmental decisions presume that some types or composition of land use are preferred to others. It is assumed that the spatial arrangement of elements in a land-space mosaic controls its ecological processes. This proposition is known as the pattern/ process paradigm, and forms the central hypothesis of landscape ecology (a branch of science developed to study ecological processes in their spatial context). Ten spatial landscape processes are considered to reflect changes in various patterns of landscapes (aggregation, attrition, creation, deformation, dissection, enlargement, fragmentation, perforation, shift, and shrinkage). These processes actually change the spatial structure of urban landscape and affect the quality of ecological processes in Tehran Landscape System. To identify the spatial processes responsible for landscape pattern changes during a defined period of time, a decision tree algorithm was developed. Decision tree required the following input: area or size (a), the perimeter or edge length (p), and number of patches (n) in each land-cover class. The decision tree algorithm applied on Tehran Landscape System has indicated that spatial processes of 'attrition' and 'fragmentation' have led to a decrease in the integration of green and open patches in this landscape system. Measuring LSI and IJI metrics in 1990-2030 statistical period at the class level has also proved the previously mentioned finding. Increased ENN-MN and decreased PLAND of open and green patches during two periods of 1990-2000 and 2010-2020 due to the spatial process of 'attrition' have also showed this decreased integrity over time. These conditions have reduced the resilience of Tehran atmosphere and its capability to absorb air pollution and also have resulted in the recent development of thermal islands in different urban areas. Moreover, the COHESION metric has reduced in green and open patches due to the spatial processes of 'attrition' and 'fragmentation' at the class level. At the landscape level, the value of SIDI metric has also decreased from 1990 to 2020 and the same trend will continue according to 2030 forecast. Spatial process of 'aggregation' in constructed patches has resulted in a decrease of NP and PD at landscape level during 1990-2000 and 2010-2020. Findings indicate the effect of spatial process of aggregation on constructed lands (high-rise buildings) in the northern (such as District 1) and western parts of the city (such as District 22) which has interrupted wind movement and air purification in Tehran. The values of LSI and ED has also decreased at the landscape level due to the 'attrition' of open and green patches leading to a reduction in the heterogeneity order of urban landscape system. On the other hand, increased IJI value in 2020 and 2030 indicates increased turbulence in distribution and also increased fineness index of open and green patches in the landscape system of Tehran.

Findings indicate that spatial processes of 'attrition' and 'fragmentation' have resulted in a reduction in the number and area of green and open patches in the composition pattern and also decreased coherence at class level from 1990 to 2020. This has resulted in an unbalanced distribution of the patches in the configuration pattern of green urban infrastructure in Tehran. The spatial process of 'aggregation' has been repeated during the statistical period in the constructed patches. Data forecasted for 2030 shows the impact of 'attrition' on changes occurring in both green and open land use. The landscape is also getting more simplified due to the dominance of constructed land uses. Findings can be applied to determine a roadmap and plan the spatial pattern of urban green infrastructure.

Urban greenspaces’ structure and function can promote human health and environmental quality and also decrease some challenges that have been increased due to urbanization. So,it is important to do some studies to investigate the urban trees’ diversity and structurebecause it can not only raise environmental awareness but also help policymakers for better management to achieve the desiredenvironment. According to our knowledge,there has been done no investigation on the diversity of the urban treesof Tehran. Thepresent study aims to assess the current structure and diversity of treesin Tehrangreen spaces(as a case study),using the i-Tree Eco model. Data from 316 field plots were collected during the growing season. It must be noted that the primarynumber ofplots was 330, but some of them were notaccessible. The plots were selected based ona randomizedclustersamplingmethodand analyzed using the i-Tree Eco model. Theresults indicatethat the overall tree density in Tehran isabout 97trees/ haand the number of trees isabout7,127,933. The most common tree species are Afghan pine (13.0 percent), Black locust (10.0 percent) and, Arizona cypress (9.4 percent). In Tehran, about 28 percent of the trees are Asian endemic species and most trees haveAmerican origin (26 percent of the trees). Tehran urban trees are composed of endemic and exotic tree species. Therefore, Tehran'surban forest often has a diversity that is higher than the surrounding native landscape. Thus, the paper illustrates a methodology toassessthe current structureand trees’ diversityof urban forests, which helps thedevelopment of future urban tree planting strategies and quantitative assessment

In order to explain the ecological-sociological strategy of Tehran land use network/ land cover, the present study was tried to identify the spatial process of the change in the landscape mosaic pattern and its effect on carbon sequestration over the course of 3 decades from 1990 to 2020. In this study, the role of landscape measures in the identification of landscape mosaic spatial pattern changes and its combination with data obtained from ecosystem service modeling was shown. To this end, after examining the process of structural-functional changes in landscape mosaic using decision tree algorithm and InVEST model, the complexity of the relationship between landscape spatial pattern and the quantity of carbon sequestration regulatory services at the two levels of class and landscape was addressed using the measures and data obtained from InVEST model. The findings indicated that the volume of carbon sequestration regulatory services in all periods had reduced due to the effects of the spatial process of “accumulation” in construction strains. Moreover, in the 1990-2020 period, the highest rate of carbon storage loss (291656 tones, 9.58%) occurred due to the effects of the spatial processes of “deletion” in green lands and “fragmentation” in barren lands. In the 2000-2010 and 2010-2020 periods, the volume of carbon storage reduction were 182209 (6.62%) and 159688 (6.22%) tones, respectively. Pertaining to this discussion was the finding that the effect of the change in the index of strain numbers in green and barren lands for all periods was accompanied by increased fineness, which indicates its reverse relationship with carbon sequestration rate. On the other hand, the reduction of other measures in green and barren lands reveals the existence of a direct relationship with the loss of a volume of carbon sequestration in the foregoing period. At the landscape level, the reduction of heterogeneity and simplification of the landscape mosaic spatial pattern led to the reduction of carbon sequestration. From this perspective, it is necessary to prioritize the identification of the spatial processes effective on the landscape structure model in the completion of the processes of the evaluation of the urban development effects on the carbon sequestration service current.

Areas that need continuous monitoring, are protected areas which necessitates the need for ‎environmental impact assesment of development in these areas. For strategic planning and ‎environmental impact assessment of development in the Alvand no-hunting area, the environmental ‎degradation and SWOT-ANP models were used. First, ecological vulnerability in each of ‎the network units was calculated and classified and then using topographic maps, field observations, ‎experts' opinions, and local communities, 13 degradation units were identified in the whole area and ‎its severity Was determined. Finally, using obtained coefficients of degradation, the area was ‎classified into 3 zones, which need protection measures (56.01%), need reconstruction (35.41%), and ‎development potential (8.49%). Despite the potential for grade 1 development, based on local ‎conditions and socio-economic issues, there is no possibility of further development in the area. ‎Then, for strategic planning in the area, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were ‎identified, and then according to opinion of experts, each weighting (ANP) and were compared. ‎The weighting results indicated that internal factors with a total score of 0.631 were selected as ‎main factor in providing protection strategies in the area, and an Aggressive strategy with the ‎highest score (0.340) in the area was selected as optimal strategy. In addition, existing ‎strengths for protection in the area are more than weaknesses, and also opportunities are more than ‎threats, and providing optimal strategies can help improve the protection situation of the area and ‎improve its management. ‎

Today's, one of the impacts of human activities in the form of land use change is the lack of attention to environmental constraints that impact the appearance of the environment, and have devastating impacts on natural ecosystems such as National Parks and Protected Areas. Therefore, identifying the trend of changes in land surface features is essential to understand the relationship between humans and the environment. In this study, with the aim of evaluating the trend of land use changes through Landsat TM satellite images in 1989 and 1999, +ETM in 2009, and Landsat OLI_TIRS in 2019, using multi-spectral data capabilities and digital image processing. Land use of the area was classified into five classes, constructed lands (residential, commercial, industrial, and pathway), water land use areas, agricultural and garden lands, high-density pastures, and low-density pastures. According to the results, low-density pastures in 2019 compared to 1989 has been associated with an increasing trend. Therefore, results indicate that during, studied years, the most trend of changes in high-density pastures have decreasing and low-density pastures due to the high number of nomads (destruction of vegetation due to excessive and untimely grazing of livestock), has an increasing trend. In addition, in this area, due to the lack of permanent settlements and legal restrictions, use of agricultural and garden lands has been facing a declining trend, and it is worth noting that agricultural operations in this area in some cases only to cultivate alfalfa along the river Lar is limited to provide forage for nomadic livestock. Among other existing land uses, water areas have been increasing years under the study, although in 1999 due to the increased presence of nomads in pastures, number of livestock over capacity, and in addition conservation status of area and, lack of protection restrictions (not upgrading area to a national park during this period), a decreasing trend can be seen in this land use. Other land uses in this area include built-up, in 1989, compared to 2019, there has been an increasing trend, one of the reasons for the increase in this land use is development of roads and increase of access roads to this area year under the study. Given that the animal and non-animal life in the area as well as soil survival against erosion depends on vegetations, the decreasing trend of vegetation and increasing soil degradation and erosion can serve as a warning to pay more attention to the biology condition in this area. Also, according to the results of the study of the most important factors affecting the trend of land use change in the area, the physical-environmental dimension with a weight coefficient of 0.465, economic-institutional dimension with a weight coefficient of 0.315, and demographic-social with a weight coefficient of 0.223, respectively.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a toxic, odorous, colorless, flammable and acidic gas. The main problems of hydrogen sulfide are the threat to health and safety, and causing corrosion and damage to metal installations. This study was conducted to remove hydrogen sulfide from the sour waters of Tabriz refinery and to recycle large amounts of water as well as to reduce air pollution in the refinery. In this experimental and laboratory study, the effect of pH, adsorbent content, initial concentration of pollutant, contact time and temperature on hydrogen sulfide removal process using clinoptilolite adsorbent was investigated. Thermodynamics, kinetics, and isotherms of adsorption process were studied. The results were used to remove H2S from the sour water of Tabriz refinery. The results showed that the optimal values of pH, absorbent value, initial pollutant concentration, contact time and temperature were 3, 1g/100 mL, 50 mg/L, 30 min and 25 oC, respectively. The results of thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption process was exothermic, irreversible and spontaneous. The experimental data were better fitted to the pseudo-second order kinetics model and Freundlich isotherm model. After passing 100 ml of sour water from the fixed bed at 25 oC and 45 minutes, the removal efficiency was 96.7%. According to the results of this study, the proposed method due to its simplicity and high efficiency and the clinoptilolite due to its cheapness, abundance, ability to resuscitate and increase efficiency by enhancing the amount of clinoptilolite can be considered as an appropriate method and suitable adsorbent to remove hydrogen sulfide from the sour water of refineries and effluents.

One of the important issues that is ignored in the development of regional spatial planning in some countries is paying attention to the threshold of land tolerance in loading activities and population density. Hence, determining the carrying capacity can help in the balanced use of the land. Nowadays, the use of different approaches and methods of land evaluation, including the evaluation of ecosystem services, especially in terms of supply and demand, can be quite important in determining the balance of land use. Considering the regional spatial planning model based on the supply and demand of the proposed ecosystem services, the amount of supply of ecosystem services can be fixed according to the land use / coverage and the amount of demand for ecosystem services can be fixed with regards to the activities and population of the region and the required areas for development, and the improvements can be determined with respect to the shortages or excess of ecosystem services. Then, the considered areas are adapted to the potential areas of development resulting from the assessment of ecological potential, and the appropriate areas for the development of each land use are determined in each region. The designated area is used as the basis, along with other items, including the trends and macro trends, to formulate the scenario and evaluate the effects of each scenario on the spatial organization to determine the appropriate population settlement pattern and activity in the area. The existence of a clear assimilating framework of the relationship between the various methods of land assessment makes it possible to achieve synergy in the measurement of the main principles and components of the landscape in a way to ensure the proper formulation of regional spatial planning for the sustainable development.

Sour water (SW) is one of the refinery effluents that is very dangerous for the environment and humans. In refineries, the use of conventional methods to remove contaminants, including ammonia (NH3), from SW is not very effective. This study proposes a method to remove NH3 from the refinery's SW and reduce its associated risks. In this study, for the first time, using the adsorption method and clinoptilolite adsorbent, the concentration of NH3 in SW decreased and reached the standard limit, which could be as an innovation for this research. The effect of pH, adsorbent dose, initial pollutant concentration, contact time, and temperature were investigated. Thermodynamics, kinetics, and isotherms were studied. The results were used to remove NH3 from the SW of Tabriz refinery. The optimal values ​​of the aforementioned parameters were 11, 1 g/100 mL, 50 mg/L, 30 min, and 25 °C, respectively. The results of the thermodynamic analysis showed that the adsorption process was exothermic, reversible and spontaneous in the test conditions. Experimental data were fitted better to the pseudo-second-order kinetics model and Langmuir isotherm model. After passing the SW through two consecutive fixed substrates, the NH3 concentration decreased from 400 mg/L to 2.3 mg/L, and the R% was 93.4%. According to the results of this study the proposed method can be used as a suitable method and suitable adsorbent to remove NH3 from the SW of refineries and effluents, due to its simplicity and high efficiency and the clinoptilolite due to its cheapness, abundance and ability to resuscitation.

Widespread land use changes and unusual uses of highlands in Northern Tehran (Darakeh-Velenjak Watershed) have markedly caused to pose environmental risks and unsustainability. This research aims to study land use changes in Darakeh-Velenjak Watershed, to identify the key risks which can be posed by land use changes, and to present appropriate strategies using mitigation approach. To study land uses changes, satellite images were used (TM 1987, ETM+ 2000, and IRS 2018) and assessed by concentrating on four classes of land including vegetation, arid, roads and built-up areas. To extract the necessary information from the satellite images, Supervised Maximum Likelihood Classification algorithm was used, further complemented by visual interpretation methods. The sample population for conducting the Delphi technique consisted of 34 experts. The results of this research exhibited that from 1987 to 2018, vegetation had dramatically decreased, while arid, roads and built-up areas had increased. The results also revealed that in 1987, around 37.3% of the study area was covered with vegetation while in 2018, less than 14.54% of the area was covered with vegetation. In contrast, built-up, roads and arid areas which respectively covered 8.96%, 1.75%, and 51.99%, increased to 15.18%, 3.19% and 67.08% in 2018. In addition, the results of this study illustrated that key risks of land use changes in the Darakeh-Velenjak Watershed could be divided into natural and human risks. The human risks with an average score of 4.21 were more than natural risks. Finally, strategies have been presented using mitigation approach in the study area. Results revealed that avoidance strategies with an average score of 3.37 were situated in the first rank because unfortunately this watershed has been damaged by excessive land use changes in an aspect of developing buildings, roads, tourism infrastructures and etc.

Protected areas, one of the most important natural tourist destinations that require planning and management, in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of their services. One of the ways to reduce the adverse effects of tourism on natural environments is, to estimate the carrying capacity of these areas. In this study At first, tourism zones are concentrated in two levels ,on the 1 and 2 floors in this area, it was determined that the extensive recreation area of 1 and 2 floors was (700 & 1150 ha), and intensive recreation of 1 and 2 floors with a total area of (23 & 177 ha) respectively. Then, the carrying capacity at three levels of calculated: physical, real and effective in the extensive recreation area of tourism in two floors 1 and 2. Physical amount of carrying capacity on the floor respectively 1 and 2, 3065 and 5042 persons per year, the real carrying capacity, 137 and 225 people per year, and about 10% of the real carrying capacity of the area, 14 and 23 per year, were allocated to effective containment carrying capacity due to the conservation conditions and limitations in the area.

In beginning of third millennium era, cities because of population growth and urbanization have been faced by increasing challenges such as urban poverty, lack of infrastructures, informal settlements, growth of pollutions, reduction of life quality, and finally growth of unsustainability. In this situation, finding new and less- cost solutions are more necessary for attaining sustainability. Therefore, this research reasons that smart- making, by having indicators of smart governance, smart environment, smart economy, smart mobility, smart living, and smart people, is effective approach for attaining sustainability (in economic, social, environmental and physical dimensions). Research method is correlation method, namely there is a logical relationship between smart- making and urban sustainability. Data gathering has been done using library and survey methods (by questionnaire, observation and interview tools). Information has been analyzed using descriptive and deductive tests (includes of multinomial Regression, Pearson correlation, One sample T-test, ANOVA Varian's, and Beta Coefficient). Case study is neighborhoods of zone 6 Tehran city, which are 18 neighborhoods according to municipality dividing's. Indicators reliability has been done using Cronbach's alpha, and their validity has been done using Face validity. Results show that there is a direct relationship between smart- making and sustainability that sustainability of nighbourhoods increases by growth of smart- making. Nighbourhoods of Arzhantin- Saei and Daneshgahe Tehran that have the most smart- making scale, simultaneous have the highest sustainability level, and Nighbourhoods of Ghezel Ghale, Gandi and Abbas Abad that have the least smart- making scale, simultaneous have the lowest sustainability level.

The concept of the smart city over the past two decades has found great popularity in the world of world science and politics. The term of development focuses on improving the level and quality of life for individuals and improving the general welfare of society and its sustainability refers to the continuity of this process throughout the human generations. As a result, the sustainable development will encompass all the aspects and dimensions of human life. Sustainable development focuses on the qualitative and quantitative aspects. Since 1990, the term of Smart City has been expanded with the liberation of telecommunications and the development of services provided through the Internet (De Santis et al., 2014).
What drives a city into intelligence is not merely the useing of electronic device and communication system of that city. Smart City is a city that administers all affairs of its citizens, online, including services, public and private services. So, one of the main differences between the smart city and other urban concepts (virtual city, electronic city, digital city, etc.) is the ability of the smart city to answer and solve the urban problems of citizens under the low to high hierarchies (Abdoli and Moradi Asl , 2015). Smart city citizens have a high responsibility for their city because they are more aware of their own city and can participate in its administration, and they will provide service at their level of participation. It can be said that the purpose of the Smart Cities project is to achieve some of the purposes of sustainable development. So, according to the aforementioned issues in this study, the role of smart city (smart environment, smart mobility, smart economy, smart governance, smart life and smart people) In Attaining sustainable urban development for Tehran's 6th metropolitan area with 14 neighborhoods, that one of the main physical features of which is its location in the city center of Tehran, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the establishment of the most important administrative-service utilities with a transnational, urban and even national scale of service-oriented utilization have been pointed out; that today faces many challenges and problems, such as blending of resources, population overflow in the region, the concentration of ministries and important institutions of the country and ... causing instability in the neighborhoods of this region. The current study was conducted using a survey method and a questionnaire technique was used to collect data. Measurement tools (questionnaires) have formal validity. For obtaining its validity, Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was used. The statistical population of this study is all residents in the Zone 6 Tehran, 400 of them were selected by cluster sampling method.
The Zone 6 Tehran may be considered as one of the central areas of Tehran. The geographical area of this neighborhood leads from the south to the north of Enghelab Islami Street, from the north to the Hemmat highway, from the east to the Modarres highway and from the west to the Shahid Chamran highway. The Zone 6 Tehran is divided into smaller units called the neighborhood, with the number of units being 14 neighborhoods (Municipality of Zone 6). The results of this study indicate that there is a solid correlation between smart environment, smart governance, smart mobility, smart people, smart living, smart economy, and increasing each of the smart city components will increase the stability of Tehran's 6th area. This result is according to the research findings of Su, Li and Fu (2011), Awosusi and Jegede (2013), Lee, Hancock
, and Hu (2013). The results of regression analysis indicated that three factors of smart mobility, smart people and their smart life affect their significant sustainability and are the most important factors. The smart mobility, smart people and smart lives are 26%, 16%, and 28%, respectively. So, among these factors, smart life is the most influential factor in explaining sustainability, followed by smart mobility and then smart people. The result of this research is consistent with the research by Ni and Liu (2014). The term of development focuses on improving the level and quality of life of individuals and improving the general welfare of the community, and its sustainability refers to the continuation of this process throughout the generations. In this way, sustainable development encompasses all aspects and dimensions of human life. By paying attention to the purposes, principles and philosophy of sustainable development explain that sustainability of development depends on the participation of the people of a country in the planning, implementation and evaluation of projects. Since sustainable development has a quantitative and qualitative dimension, it is necessary to change the attitudes, skills, and perspectives of individuals, while the development wheels proceed more quickly, and this is not possible with the cooperation of all people. In sustainable development, people constitute the true wealth of every nation, and the purpose of development is to create conditions that people can enjoy from a long life and healthy life. Over the past decades, cities have become increasingly important in economic, environmental, social, and development trends, that point to the real and focal point of political and economic strategies. The smart city is about how citizens can shape the city and how it can contribute to urban development. Smart cities join each other by strategic planning initiatives from a bottom-up perspective. The planning approach from top to bottom and from bottom to top must be complementary. Areas, neighborhoods, and urban spaces are key elements of smart city strategies. In other words, sustained development is a dynamic and continuous process in response to changes in economic, environmental, social and physical pressures. So, the current paper argued that the use of new methods such as urban intelligence with intelligent economy, smart people, smart environment, intelligent mobility, smart people and intelligent governance can realize urban sustainability with purposes. Main supply of basic needs, improvement of living standards, better management of ecosystems and a secure future in various aspects of economic, social, cultural, environmental, physical and other.

Tourism is a service industry which is mainly affected by the quality of services. Moreover, it can be stated that quality of services and tourists satisfaction are important factors in tourism planning, getting to which may help develop tourism. In this study it is intended to evaluate satisfaction level of tourism from the quality of catering services in Darakeh restaurants in Tehran based on SERVQUAL model. Research method is based on a descriptive-analytic method in this study. In this study library documents and filed studies (including observation, interviewing, and questionnaire) were data gathering tools. Data reliability was assessed by calculating Cronbach alfa to be 0.826 and data validity was assessed using content validity method (according to dear professors). Descriptive and inferential statistical tests (Wilcoxon and Pearson tests) were used for data analysis. Study statistical society included tourists who have used services of Darakeh restaurants and sample size was calculated using Cochran formula with random sampling. Results of study based on five qualities of service dimensions of SERVQUAL method, showed that highest and lowest gaps are observed in empathy dimensions with 0.77 quality difference and tangibles with 0.08 quality difference, respectively. Additionally, the relation between level of education and different dimensions of quality of services were assessed by means of Spearman Correlation Coefficient and a negative significant relationship was observed between income level and overall quality of service at 99 percent level.

The game theory an interdependent decision-making theory in which, decision-makers have conflicting preferences and the outcome of their decisions cannot be determined by one party or actor alone. The roots of this theory is derive from the decision theory (Samsura, Van der Krabben, & Van Deemen, 2010: 565). However, there is a clear distinction i.e. the decision theory usually analyses decision-making processes from the one player’s point of view, while the game theory emphasizes its analysis through the interaction among many players. Since the game theory focuses on situations in which interactions and interdependency play a role, it can be seen as an extension of the decision theory (Samsura et al., 2010: 564). In other words, the game theory, or the so-called ‘‘interactive decision theory’’, is derived from the decision theory (Tan, Liu, Zhou, Jiao, & Tang, 2015: 17). The term ‘game theory’ stems from the resemblance of collective decision-making situations to well-known parlor games like chess, poker, and monopoly (Aumann, 1989). Because of its focus on conflicting preferences, the game theory is often defined as a theory of conflict. Aumann has even referred it as ‘Interaction Decision Theory’, since this accurately describes the content and focus of the theory (Samsura et al., 2010: 656). The game theory is a powerful tool in understanding the relationships that are made and broken in the course of competition and cooperation. It has been widely used in the fields of natural and social sciences, especially in economics after the 1920s, with the groundbreaking work of Von Neumann and Morgenstern (1944), which is considered as ‘‘the classic work upon which the modern-day game theory is based’’(Von Neumann & Morgenstern, 2007: 14). The increased interest in the game theory among social scientists is partly due to the fact that it can solve social problems through finding out optimal solutions in a conflict situation (Tan et al., 2015: 17). Since then, the game theory has been profoundly influencing other fields in natural sciences, such as biology, physics, and computer science, as well as social sciences, including anthropology, psychology, sociology, politics, and philosophy. The increased attention to this theory especially in social sciences is based on the idea that it can provide solid micro-foundations for the study of collective decision-making processes and structures and social change (Samsura et al., 2010: 565). Urban planning and, in particular, metropolitan and urban management is also one of the branches of social sciences in which the proposed theory is capable of playing a vital role. As such, the present study seeks to answer the following questions: How is the narrative of the game between actors of urban management field producing and reproducing? What are the most likely possible outcomes and remedies of the current situation?   Methodology The problem structuring methods, among new approaches to operations research, believe that the most important step in solving a problem is to identify it. As such, they try their best to investigate the problem by identifying various factors, revealing and hidden relationships between them, and avoiding simplicity and unrealization. Since the game theory is one of the most important of these methods, the present research applies it to introduce and describe the gaming in the field of metropolitan management. By completing the initial assumptions, analysis and determination of the stable status is done using the GMCR+ software.   Results and Discussion In the first step, people active in managing metropolitan areas are identified and categorized into four main groups: state-government institutions, public-government institutions, public institutions and private sector institutions. Thereafter, alternative metropolitan management actors are listed and finalized with initial reviews and their limitations. In real terms, all theoretical situations and conditions of games (i.e. 512 games) are not possible, and limitations make it to reduce the possible status. The final step in the field of game modeling is to determine priorities and possible preferences for each actor, for which, the prioritization of alternatives was used. The model analysis is based on the stability and balance of the actors. Based on the results of 24 statuses, 4 are equilibrium and 2 statuses are semi-stable.   Conclusion The results show that there are 24 statuses, 4 equilibrium statuses, and 2 semi-stable statuses among different mode of actions in the areas of metropolitan area management. Status 15 is considered as the most stable one. Based on Nash Equilibrium (R), General Metarationality (GMR), Symmetric Metarationality (SMR), Sequential Stability (SEQ), Limited-move Stability (LM), and Non- myopic Stability (NM) all actors are most beneficial. State-government actors with structural reforms, gradual changes and the necessity of reviewing laws and regulations, as well as recognizing the concept of metropolitan area with respect to political divisions of the country, can provide a structure and an effective state for managing metropolitan areas. Public-government actors can help improve the current state of affairs by facilitating and organizing structural reforms or setting up a regional metropolitan management council. This should be done by removing the weak horizontal interactions among stakeholders in metropolitan region and unhealthy competitions of cities and settlements located in the metropolitan region. People's institutions can also play an active role in managing metropolitan areas with their attempt to participate and influence the management. Furthermore, the principle of confidence as a link between social elements that makes social capital essential, and this can be achieved through decentralizing and distributing powers among all actors and stakeholders.

Inequality between urban and rural areas and also among different settlements across the country in terms of distribution of facilities and services, currently has been turned into an obstacle for integrated and sustainable Development, not only in our country, but also in all developing countries. So that most of the services and facilities are gathered in certain places, and in some areas particularly rural areas, lack of services has been caused more migration to the counties, evacuation of villages from population, unemployment and enormous problems for rural and urban areas as well as many problems in the planning for Sustainable development for planners and policy makers in the task of development. In this regard, in order to solve the problems of regional imbalances, the first step is the identification and ranking villages in terms of enjoyment from development indicators. In order to achieve this aim and also due to the process of rural depopulation in Kermanshah province from 44 percent based on the 1365 census to 30 percent in 1392, and the necessity of attention to this depopulation in villages and their migration to counties and urban overpopulation and problems regarding this evacuation of the villages, in this research the study and analysis of rural areas in the counties of Kermanshah province is discussed using multi-criteria decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS, SAW and Numerical Taxonomy. In this regard, the questions which this study seeks to answer include:1. Is there any difference between rural areas of Kermanshah province in terms of development?
2. Which areas are most deprived and most developed rural areas in Kermanshah province in terms of development? In the process of planning and developing rural areas, identifying and analyzing the current status in the villages and studying facilities and their limitations in different fields is essential and helps planners to assign the goals of development and to specify policies and strategies of their achievement. In this process, determining development levels and developing rural areas and studying strengths and weaknesses of every area’s conditions in the fields of education, culture, health, infrastructure and services; provides the optimal allocation background of resources and facilities for the coordinated, integrated and balanced development of villages. In this regard, this study is prepared with the purpose of determining the levels of development in rural areas of counties in Kermanshah province. The method of study was based on descriptive-analytic method and the statistical population included rural areas of 14 counties in Kermanshah province according to statistical yearbook of 1392. Analysis of data accomplished using multi-criteria decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS, SAW, and Numerical Taxonomy. After calculating multi-criteria decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS, and SAW for acquiring the amount of development and final ranking, the mean values obtained from three models are computed and rural areas of Kermanshah county ranked 1 and were known as most developed and rural areas of Salas-e Babajani in rank 14, were most deprived rural areas in this study. Also, in calculations accomplished in Numerical Taxonomy method, when the spatial distance between areas of study calculated, the results indicated a lack of homogeneity in studied counties. According to calculations, upper limit spatial distance is equal to 3/54 and lower limit spatial distance is equal to 2/08, in which counties placed between 2/08 till 3/54 (Sahne, Paveh, Dalahu, Sarpol-e Zahab, Kangavar, and Sonqor) are homogeneous together in a group, counties upper than 3/54 (Kermanshah) stood in a homogeneous group, and counties lower than 2/08 (Eslamabad-e Gharb, Gilan-e Gharb, Harsin, Qasr-e Shirin, Javanrud, Ravansar, and Salas-e Babajani) also stood together in a homogeneous group. The consequence of many of development strategies which emphasized only on the improvement of social and economic aspects and provision of facilities and services, was the appearance of inequality in the surface of different spaces and areas. In all theories of spatial development, which have been planned based on the pattern of economic growth, rural areas are considered as marginal and no significant areas in terms of creating growth process. In these patterns, based on top-down planning approach, strong focus in the planning and implementation of development projects is considered as a principle. In different countries, the beginning of rural planning goes back to 1940 and 1950 AD decades. But in Iran, according to composition of 6 construction programs before Islamic evolution and 5 development programs after revolution, we are still seeing inequality in the distribution of services and facilities in the country; which maybe the most important reasons are the dispersal of villages in the country, the focus of planning from top to down, Lack of public participation in plans and projects, lack of coordination between different organizations in providing services and less attention to local management in the areas. According to the foregoing subjects and in order to understand the way of distribution of services and facilities in order to help the planning from bottom and local management with respect to sustainable rural development, in this research it is proceeded to study rural areas of Kermanshah province in the case of its counties using decision-making models of TOPSIS, KOPRAS and SAW and Numerical Taxonomy with 54 variables and 5 educational and cultural, hygienic, institutional And infrastructural, services and communications and population indicators. results of study indicate imbalance in the distribution of services and facilities in the counties of Kermanshah province, so that 30 percent of the rural population in Kermanshah province are in the well-developed level, 36 percent of the population are in the half-developed level, and also 34 percent of the population are in the deprived level. The overall results of the analysis indicate regional inequalities in the province of Kermanshah. The overall results of the analysis indicate regional inequalities in the province of Kermanshah.

Growth of capitalist system has led to the production of profit-based and incompatible spaces with the environment. This situation in peripheral area of Urmia City, is prominently visible. The present research is practical based on purpose and concerning the method, it is a mixed research (qualitative and quantitative). Data collection method has been using satellite imagery, and deep and semi-structured interviews. To analyze data in two quantitative and qualitative sections ENVI and ArcGIS 9.3 software and grounded theory method were used. Statistical population of the study in the quantitative and qualitative sections includes peripheral area of Urmia City and related organizations in rural and urban affairs (including municipality, Road and Urban Development Organization, Department of Natural Resources, Agricultural - Jihad Organization, Governor General of Western Azerbaijan Province, and Governor and …). Results show that in first stage of research, the production of spaces at the interval between 2000 and 2014 years in five class residential spaces, industrial, green areas, vacant and unutilized spaces and communication networks were identified. Results show that from 2000 to 2014, volume of green spaces (37.730 %) and vacant and unutilized spaces (34.033 %) has been reduced. And in contrast, the residential number of spaces (24/448 %), industry (3.787% %) and communication networks (169.7 km) has been added. The obtained results showed speculative tendencies and rent-seeking in urban peripheries.