Environmental Sustainable development with strategic planning approach(Case Study: Kahan)

Currently, Kashan city is exposed to problems and issues as diverse as environmental pollution, resource demolition, the declination in natural spaces and consequently increasing citizens' requirement for sustainable environment. In this regard, one of the strategies is to respect urban sustainable development in order to achieve the spatial equilibrium of cities in the form of a strategic approach.

The present study intends to analyze the current situation (capabilities and restrictions) of Kashan in the field of urban environment, to present key strategies for environmental sustainability of the city in the form of strategic planning.MethodologyThe type of research is applied in terms of purpose and regarding the research method, it is descriptive-analytical. Documentation and survey were the methods applied for data collection and research plan. The technique used to analyze the data is the SWOT-AHP compilation model.Geographical area of researchThe area where the research has been conducted in, was Kashan city currently ranked the second in terms of population and industry after the city of Isfahan in the province.

Surveys show the city of Kashan, is exposed to environmental issues such as industrial wastewater and pollutants, severe soil erosion, destruction and annihilation of gardens and agricultural lands to converse to residential and industrial spaces and the flaw of urban wastewater removal system due to diverse reasons such as population increase, physical and industrial severe development. These issues have caused the city's environmental instability and has taken urban management in serious challenges. Therefore, considering such environmental problems and challenges in Kashan, a new approach such as strategic planning is required to provide it feasible to formulate, determine and prioritize strategies for environmental sustainable development of the city Through changing and analyzing the current situation of Kashan city in the field of urban environment.

The results show that the current environmental structure of the city is exposed to internal weaknesses on one hand and external threats on the other hand. Therefore, defensive strategies (WT) are acceptable strategies in the environmental area of Kashan that should be regarded in the priority of environmental sustainable development plans in Kashan.