Prioritizing the Role of Infill Development Components in Physical Expansion of the City with Smart City Realization Approach (Case Study: Yazd)

The growth and development of urbanization has a major impact on the supply of land for construction and urban development in urban areas. Widespread use of urban land for residential use has led to the horizontal expansion of cities and the increase in vacant land within cities, which has rapidly expanded the suburbs. In this regard, the paradigm of intensive urban development, smart growth and the use of vacant land within the city to achieve social and spatial stability and equity are presented. The present article aims to explain how the city of Yazd as a desert and arid city is compactly and extensively developed using the concept of urban density. According to the surveys carried out during the years 1966-2016, the area of ​​Yazd city has increased by about 19.5 times and its population has increased by 6.5 times. During these years, the sharp decrease in gross population density and its significant gap with net population density (154.6) indicate that the city is over-stretched and more spaces are left vacant and inactive in Yazd. An examination of the components of development in Yazd shows that if there is no growth in the outer and surrounding areas in the coming years, all future growth and physical expansion of the city will be limited to the use of vacant land. Within the next 25 years, Yazd will not need to increase its area, and the existing area of ​​the city will meet the residential and non-residential needs of its citizens.