Evaluation of urban and regional development plans from social sustainability viewpoint

In the current era, inequality, deprivation, and exclusion have become one of the most important issues among emerging urban problems and challenges, and the gap between rich and poor in most countries has reached its highest level in the last thirty years. On the other hand, development plans as one of the most important tools for urban management and planning can be prepared using the most comprehensive and efficient approaches such as social sustainability to address these problems and challenges. In recent years, Zanjan city has witnessed an increase in various inequalities and deprivation. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate and evaluate the tendency of Zanjan urban and regional development plans to urban social sustainability. In this research, the Plans Quality Evaluation method and Content Analysis technique have been utilized to evaluate Zanjan urban and regional development plans with regards to 14 dimensions and 47 variables of social sustainability. The results showed that in the past decades these plans have not been able to adequately reflect the strategies and policies of social sustainability in their content. Also, in the evaluation of these plans, it was determined that the issue of social sustainability is reflected more in urban plans rather than regional plans. In the review of the dimensions of social sustainability and their prioritization, it was found that the fundamental dimensions and novel issues of social sustainability, including vitality, social cohesion, social capital, governance and participation, and equality were reflected less than other items in various plans.