Zoning, Tourism, and Urban Resorts: A Case of Khorshid Park in Mashhad

Zoning is a science through which the optimal use of a land is determined based on its ecological, economical, and social characteristics. In many zones of Iran, the use and management of land is carried out without considering its potentials which in turn causes disinvestment and decrease of environmental potentials in metropolises suburbs. Thus the importance of land preparation in urban areas with focus on tourism cannot be ignored since the resorts in these areas are the destinations of the tourists who are going to spend their holidays there to enjoy a less populated environment. The tourists visiting these areas have various motives like sports, entertainment, and recreation. In the present study planning the land use and land preparation map have been investigated using GIS in an area of 184 hectares in Mashhad. In order to prepare the required maps in spatial planning analysis through analytic functions of GIS, all of the maps were mixed and 629 environmental units were determined as the assessors of land use and management. Comparing the various maps led to prioritizing the proposed uses for designing the park. The ecological capability map also show that some areas need protection for which the necessary arrangements should be considered.