Assessment and ranking of Ahwaz metropolitan regions in terms of compliance with smart urban growth indicators

Today, the "smart growth" strategy has been proposed as a new and comprehensive pattern of urban planning in the world, in order to solve the problem of sprawl urban growth due to relentless urbanization. The metropolis of Ahvaz, which has always suffered from the consequences of such growth in recent years, can not be an exception to this pattern. Therefore, due to the importance of the subject, this study aimed to measure and rank the metropolitan regions of Ahvaz in terms of compliance with smart urban growth indicators. The type of research is applied with a descriptive-analytical method based on documentary studies and field observations. The statistical population of the study was Ahvaz metropolitan regions. As a result of documentary studies, 82 indicators were selected within the framework of 4 physical criteria - land use, socio-economic, access - transportation and environment and the data were extracted using available sources. The data were then analyzed using a combination of Shannon entropy weighting method and ELEKTRE technique. Based on the research results, there is a significant difference between Ahwaz metropolitan regions in terms of appropriateness to smart urban growth indicators; In this regard, District 5 of Ahvaz metropolis has poor conditions, so compared to other areas of the metropolis, it deserves more serious attention. Finally, based on the research findings, solutions were proposed.