Spatial Analysis of Gas and CNG Stations in Qazvin City

Given the expansion of urban population resulting in increased use of vehicles, fuel provision has been at the center of government activities’ attention. CNG is an environment-friendly and reasonably priced fuel which is intended to substitute liquid fossil fuels. To this end, the establishment of CNG stations alongside gas stations has been taken into account in the urban services sectors and it requires strategic planning and thinking. Undoubtedly, such a vital industry which provides the fuel for transportation and mobility plays a role of utmost importance; experts and planners of the industry must consider suitable locations for CNG and gas stations in line with fast, secure, and proper service provision. One of the most considerable issues faced by drivers involves the lack of accessible CNG and gas stations relative to the number of vehicles throughout the city. Subsequently, the identification of suitable locations for these stations can be a significant contribution to service provision.

There are a number different views and theories with respect to the location of public services across cities along with planning for urban land use. Yet during the recent decades and under the influence of systemic perspectives, the major approach in the area of physical-spatial organization of cities has been based upon policies and strategies that are largely focused on retaining planning coordination, urban dynamics, application diversity, integration between the city and nature, ecological balance, adjacency among houses, work places and recreation centers, traffic relaxation, social bonds, etc. With regards to the location and organization of urban services, it is recommended to adopt suitable strategies in line with increasing environmental awareness and supervision, modifying flexible criteria and regulations for various applications, strengthening urban designs, physical-spatial organization of activities, technical provisions, preventing pollution, and developing cooperation in urban management; it is also recommended to refrain from separating activities and enforcing strict rules.The idea of a GIS was first introduced in Canada by Tom Linson in 1960.. A lot of research has been done in Iran in the field of GIS utilization. The first of them was Akbar Parhizkar's dissertation in1997 in the PhD thesis "Case Study of Locating Fire Centers in Tabriz" and Face and Nasiri Studies in 2010 entitled Spatial Distribution of Gas Industry Infrastructures and in particular CNG stations across Qom province and Khodro Gas Company in 2008 locate CNG stations along the country's highways. In this research, it is anticipated to provide the number and location of traffic distribution in different cities and roads of the country in order to determine the level of service utilization of the stations and the necessary coverage in urban and road networks for vehicles. These recommendations can provide the necessary means for introducing more harmony between physical and social environments, that is, equilibrium in human-environment relations. Consequently, the main perspective adopted in this study is the systemic view; It is attempted to analyze the status quo of CNG and gas stations throughout Qazvin city using the principles of said view as well as location criteria of land use (compatibility, utility, capacity, and dependency matrices).

The present applied study is conducted using the quantitative method. To evaluate the location status of urban equipment such as CNG and gas stations in Qazvin using location criteria, first the suitable lands for the establishment of these stations should be identified using location indices. Then, the positioning location and spatial distribution status should be compared with location results. To this aim, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) should be employed and suitable principles must be taken into account among different indices so as to identify proper locations for the establishment of CNG and gas stations.

Given the presence of high-pressure equipment such as compressor storage tanks and their connecting pipes, refueling stations have a significant potential for unexpected incidents. Therefore, compliance with safety regulations is essential. Accordingly, the entire initial design stages including construction, installation, operation, and maintenance should follow an acceptable, standard procedure. Standard guidelines on the construction of CNG and gas stations may be different in various countries. In Iran, the national standards adopted for these stations are a combination of standards in Argentina and New Zealand.CNG station standards in Iran are divided into 4 parts: Structural necessities of CNG stations;Piping;Equipment safety;Periodic investigations and testing.

Given the results of analyses conducted on the results, CNG and gas stations throughout Qazvin city are currently at an undesirable state in terms of indices including structural necessities, equipment safety, and periodic investigations; moreover, citizens’ access to these stations are inadequate as well. Ultimately, after carrying out the location model and conducting comparisons between the final plot obtained from the location model and the current plot of CNG and gas stations across Qazvin city, it was shown that out of 20 CNG and gas stations, 2, 9, and 9 stations are located in areas with good, medium, and weak values, respectively. The results of comparisons with zoning maps also demonstrated that none of these 20 stations in Qazvin are located at very good lands.