The Effective Structures on Sustainable Development of Astara Border City based on Radical Geography Approach

These days, due to the rapid urbanization and population infestation to cities; numerous issues have arisen. In border cities, due to the distance from the centers, issues such as economic weakness, lack of infrastructure, migration of residents, etc. have intensified. Accordingly, the global focus has shifted to the comprehensive development of cities. The concept of urban sustainable development follows this trend and looks at all aspects of urban development in order to improve the quality of life of communities. Radical geography with the aim of reconstruction, which refers to qualitative changes and structural changes, is one of the important approaches in development. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effective structures on urban sustainable development based on radical geography approach and focusing on the border city of Astara. The research method is descriptive-analytical and in order to identify the main criteria, research literature and theoretical foundations were examined. Finally, the main criteria were extracted in accordance with the opinions of experts. The statistical population of the study includes experts and specialists in the field of geography and urban planning. The statistical sample size according to Sample Power software was 184 people and Purposeful sampling method has also been exploited due to the limited community and specialized field of research. In order to analyze descriptive statistics, SPSS software was used and then Smart-PLS software was exerted to analyze the impact of each dimension of the radical geography approach on sustainable urban development. Finally, according to the results of data analysis, it was found that political-institutional (0.445), economic (0.214), social (0.212) and cultural (0.164) structures have the greatest impact on urban sustainable development, respectively. Therefore, in order to achieve the urban sustainable development, it is necessary to carry out structural reviews with the resulting prioritization which clarifies the need to implement integrated urban management.