Spatial Modeling of Factors Affecting Building Density: A Case Study of Hamedan City

Understanding the spatial development of urban systems is a complex and controversial issue. The physical growth of cities creates different spatial patterns which could lead to economic, social, and ecological effects. The purpose of this study is to identify and model the factors affecting the building density of Hamadan. The present study has analyzed the changes in density types and their spatial changes in the neighborhoods of Hamadan with a descriptive-exploratory and survey approach. According to the results of spatial concentration, residential densities and population are seen as scattered spots in the city, especially in the western and southeastern parts. The pattern of spatial concentration of building density in the city of Hamedan is a cluster that is mostly seen as a semicircle on the southern edge of the central core. The entropy coefficient obtained for all indicators and variables shows their almost balanced distribution in urban neighborhoods, which is less observed in the building density index. The slope of the line has also been decreasing for both building and population densities, that is, their values are decreasing with the distance from the city center. Also, using Geographical Weight Regression (GWR) analysis, the effect of each of the independent variables in building density modeling in different parts of the city has been determined.