Analyses of Landscape Ecological Restoration Strategies of Shiraz Khoshk River in the framework of Sustainable Urban Development, emphasizing Flood hazards Management

This study is aimed at investigating and formulating strategies for the ecological restoration of the Khoshk River in Shiraz in the framework of sustainable urban development with a focus on flood management. Using an exploratory-correlative research method and library data, the most relevant literatures are reviewed and analyzed based on reliable historical documents, field observations, and remote sensing. These generates a theoretical model which identifies the effective ecological components and related strategies for urban river ecosystem restoration according to sustainable urban development framework. The model draws four stages of restoration including: river survey, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, , and monitoring and evaluation. The ecological components and sustainable urban development framework form a process-based structure that enables the assessment of the ecological conditions of the Khoshk River with emphasis on flood management to restore the river system. Effective strategies for the ecological restoration of the Khoshk River include integrated catchment management in the Shiraz basin, protection and restoration of its ecological habitat, preventing the transfer of pollution from sewage and urban runoff into the streambed, filtering pollutants naturally with phytoremediation, implementing water harvesting schemes, controlling river flow rate, restoring river morphology in particularly usable areas in the southern and south-eastern regions of Shiraz. In addition, conducting other measures such as enhancing ecological flow systems, storing water in various locations in the green-blue corridors of the Shiraz Khosh(dried)River, and unleashing the entire riverbed from it asphalt side roads, as well as developing regulations and land-use restrictions for river buffer zones are essential actions in mitigating and management if urban flood risks and intensity.