Zoning of Ahwaz Metropolis Based on Smart Growth by Combining Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) Model with GIS

Cities are facing many challenges due to excessive population growth and rapid expansion. To organize this indiscriminate growth, new planning models such as smart growth have been proposed. In recent years, the metropolis of Ahwaz has faced the adverse effects of unbridled growth, which necessitates serious attention to the smart growth model. The present research, by stating the necessity and importance of smart growth, has ranked the areas of Ahwaz metropolis in terms of suitability with smart growth criteria with a descriptive-analytical method. The study area includes the 8 districts of Ahwaz metropolis. The data related to 81 smart urban growth indicators for eight districts were analyzed in the form of 4 criteria: physical-land use, social-economic, access-transportation and environmental using the gray relational analysis model. According to the findings, district 4 is the most suitable and district 6 is the most unsuitable. Also, among the above-mentioned 4 criteria, the environmental criterion is in the most unfavorable condition in Ahwaz metropolis. Finally, based on the findings of the research, some solutions were suggested.