Investigating Physical Development of Shahreza City with Emphasis on Geomorphology

In urban management, knowing the proper platforms for the physical development of cities can be considered inevitable. Considering the importance of the role of geomorphological components in determining the desirable locations for urban development, in the current research, the appropriate limits of the physical development of Shahreza have been investigated in terms of the influence of geomorphological factors.

In this research, geomorphological factors such as slope, slope direction, height, location of faults, land use, lithology, and distance from waterways and rivers have been identified. Two methods were used to investigate the role of geomorphological factors in the physical development of Shahreza city. Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model (TOPSIS) were exerted in the geographic information system (GIS) environment.

 In this research, geomorphological factors, including slope, fault, lithology, height, land use, distance from waterways, and slope direction, were investigated. Development possibilities have been explored across eight geographical directions. In the next step, the importance coefficient and relative weight were compared using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and then ranked and evaluated using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS).

 Investigating these geomorphological factors in the direction of urban planning is necessary. The results show that among the studied geomorphological factors, slope, and fault position factors have the highest importance coefficients and the directions of northeast, east, southeast, and north, respectively, in AHP with scores of 0.198, 0.186, 0.179, and 0.134. In TOPSIS, ranks 1, 2, 3, and 4 were identified as the priority axis of user development.

Innovation:

 The present study is one of the few studies that have been conducted to evaluate the geomorphological effects on the city's physical development. Hopefully, this research will be the starting point for further studies in this field.