Analyzing the issues and problems of the spatial structure of Tabriz urban region
Nowadays cities are not independent from their surroundings, and studying the city together with its surroundings, or in other words, the urban area, is an inevitable necessity. For this purpose, the examination of population and employment data, changes or trends of displacements, various functions of the area, existing spatial structures, existing interactions between elements, the way of population concentration, as well as the examination of issues and problems caused by the formation of urban areas should be taken into consideration by urban managers and planners. Considering the extensive interactions of the central city with its surrounding areas and the impact of this process in different dimensions, the purpose of this research is to examine the issues and problems caused by the formation of urban areas in Iran, and in this regard, the urban area of Tabriz has been investigated. The mother city of Tabriz has a mutual relationship with 11 urban points around it, and this area can be called the urban area of Tabriz. Interactions and developments that have taken place in recent years in various social, economic, physical, etc. dimensions have made the urban area of Tabriz face many problems and issues, hence the investigation of these issues and problems and the presentation of workable solutions to promote the stability and development of the region it is necessary.
The research method in the present study is mixed (quantitative-qualitative) with practical purpose and analytical-exploratory nature. The statistical population of the research was also formed by managers and city officials, and due to the unknown size of the statistical population, 100 people were determined as the sample size through Cohen's method and non-random sampling. In this research, the most important issues and problems of the urban area of Tabriz were first identified by examining the existing documents and materials, especially the "Comprehensive" development and construction plan approved in 2015 and interviewing a statistical sample, then through questioning the sample size and using the factor analysis model in SPSS software environment, the amount of these factors and their classification has been done.
The findings of the research show that the most important issues and problems of Tabriz urban region can be divided into 6 main categories, which include 81.452% of the issues and problems of Tabriz urban region based on the factor analysis model. The factors and issues extracted in order of importance include issues of spatial structure and organization, environmental issues, physical vulnerability, economic issues, communication network, transportation and traffic, and socio-cultural issues, whose special value is 6.915, 3.422, 2/711, 2/091, 1/822 and 1/327 respectively. It can also be said that the one-sided and unipolar structure of the region (Tabriz metropolis) has had a significant effect on increasing issues and problems.
Surveys in Tabriz urban region indicate the existence of many issues and problems in the direction of realizing the sustainable development of the region, which can be divided into 6 main groups.