Given the large number of tourists and pilgrims having different accommodation interests, different formal and informal accommodation centers have been established in Mashhad in the last decade. The tourists who use the accommodation facilities have the greatest influence on the economy of destinations. The cost of accommodation is mainly the first concern among the traveling expenses of tourists in Mashhad. This shows the significance of economic issues of tourism. Using diagnostic analysis technique, this study tried to identify the differentiating patterns of tourists regarding accommodation in Mashhad. This survey used a research-made questionnaire to collect data. The population was tourists and native pilgrims of Mashhad in early 2019. Results showed that choosing the place of accommodation for tourists in Mashhad is non-institutional (68%) and based on collective decisions (88%). Exploring differentiating factors of choosing a place of accommodation showed that tourists’ social status plays an important role in choosing a place of accommodation though it is not the only determining factor. In addition to the issues, the tourists’ values regarding accommodation and their preference system regarding travel, and travel motivations influence tourists’ choosing accommodation in Mashhad. The results showed that choosing the accommodation has not only an economic implication but implies a social meaning as well. Accommodation is influenced by economic status of tourists and is affected by their social status and life styles. Most of tourists of Mashhad are of the lower middle class. Therefore, the tourism managers and accommodation planners of Mashhad should mainly focus on the pragmatic than the symbolic dimension of tourism when deciding on the development of accommodation centers.

Urban structures have always been undergoing constant transformations. They are affected by external impacts as well as internal factors, experiencing population growth and shrinkage in the city. Planning for shrinking cities does not work under the preconditions of urban growth, but requires a shift to a somewhat different paradigm. The challenge of shrinking cities has the potential to trigger change in planning cultures. Urban shrinkage has been conceptualized as an empirical phenomenon resulting from the interplay of changing drivers of shrinkage at different spatial levels that produce a decline in population at the local scale and may be related to the economic decline and demographic changes. This study aimed to investigate and identify the effective factors on urban shrinkage in District 8 of Tabriz metropolis and also argues for the impacts and consequences of this phenomenon on planning which led to the inability of the region to absorb and preserve population. In order to achieve the goal of this research, a sequential exploratory mixed method was used. The analysis showed that the phenomenon of urban shrinkage is caused by factors considered in the context of spatial structure planning. In the studied area, identified factors and driving forces in physical, social, economic, environmental pollution and urban landscape have the most impact on this phenomenon.

With the increase of structural issues in Tehran, more attention has been drawn to the issue of transport over the last few years in order to solve the related problems. With this in mind, a transit-oriented development approach has been widely considered. By focusing on the detailed guidelines of this approach implemented in a number of cities, the current study explores the importance of transport, prioritizes it as the main element in structural development of Tehran’s District 12, and focuses on sustainable development of urban transport principles in the area under study. For this purpose, the study attempts to review the principles and foundations of this approach while taking spatial differences into account. The study utilizes a quantitative methodology with elements of futures research. Thus, desk research was conducted, and interviews with 30 directors and theoreticians on the aforementioned area were performed. The results of the first part of the study showed that transportation-related issues would have a higher impact than other physical challenges in the study area and it is logical to pursue the future development of the region with a focus on transportation. The results of the second part of the research on the principles of transportation-oriented development in the study area have also led to the identification of 12 main influential forces such as attention to density or diversity. In fact, they are fundamentally different from the principles proposed in the transportation-oriented development.

One of the most widely used research methods among qualitative methods is the grounded theory (GT) method, which has different methodological approaches. The purpose of this article is to examine the different approaches of GT and show the similarities, differences, features and dimensions of each of the grounded theory approaches to offer clearer details on using this method in urban planning. In this article, with a systematic review the research published over the last year (i.e. 2020) in English in the field of using GT in urban planning was examined. Hence, "urban planning + grounded theory" was chosen as the keyword for the search. A total of 116 studies were identified as such from which 12 studies were reviewed. The findings of this study showed that in the review of selected research, four main approaches of GT and related features were identified with the titles of original GT approach, Glaserian, Straussian and structural grounded theory approach. The results showed that urban planners in using the GT need to pay more attention to theoretical sampling, theoretical saturation, and writing analytical notes. In addition, being aware of the differences between different GT approaches, including philosophical foundation and theoretical emphasis, leads to better results in using grounded theory.

The increase in mass housing complexes meets the current housing needs but creates many problems for renewing cities in future. The threats of investers for renovation are city wornout, declining viability of an apartment complexs such as Bahar neighborhood in the south of Isfahan, and the property disputes. This descriptive-analytical study was done with the aim of using all the capacities of the public-private cooperation approach to improve the viability of Bahar neighborhood complex regarding being profitabile for the private sector, having the support of public sector for the values and interests of private sector, making a competitive ground, and maximizing the common interests of public and private sectors.  By analyses such as stakeholder analysis using power-benefit matrix, the analysis of compiled texts and perspectives of key stakeholders, the four construction options regarding investment for improving the livability in mass residential complexes in Bahar neighborhood of Isfahan based on public-private cooperation approach were done and using Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR), the profitability of all proposed options were calculated. The results of the analysis of the tendency of the developers of housing sector to have any profitable options for improving the viability showed that the formation of cooperative groups (group cooperations), providing documents by the managing board of mass housing complexes (transparency), giving more construction space than what Commission of Article 5 allows (added value), withdrawal of all property owners from the project and bying all residential units from the owners are the most significant conditions of investors of private sector for cooperating with the public sector for improving the viability of residential complexes in Bahar neighborhood.

The crisis of urban road safety is one of the major development challenges of countries. Of road users, pedestrians are known as one of the most vulnerable groups. Uncontrolled intersections are places with high pedestrian accident rates. Tehranpars intersection is one of the most important intersections in the east of Tehran, where a significant number of pedestrian injuries occur. The increasing trend of the number of accidents in the intersection area since 2014 shows the need to pay attention to this issue. In this article, while examining the existing condition, the most important indicators in the safety of individuals are determined. The method used in this study is descriptive-analytical and it is practical research. The research data were collected in the framework of library studies, field observations, and a questionnaire design (statistical population including residents and space users with a sample size of 333 people). The mean and standard deviation of the statistical population response to the questionnaire variables are compared with the ideal situation. The structural equation model is also used to measure the relationship between factors affecting the safety of individuals. Law enforcement (3.4) had the highest average from the point of view of individuals. The investigation of the factor loads of the model on human dimensions (0.97), physical (0.96) management (0.95), and path equipment (0.908) showed the significance of these relationships and the prominent role of human standard indicators. The relationships between external and internal variables, physical criteria and land use variable (factor load = 0.71) showed the highest correlation, which is expected to be the basis for planning in this intersection in the proposed measures.

In 2004, the UNESCO Creative Cities Network was introduced to help restore the economic, social and creative potential of the cultural industries. Currently, 246 cities from around the world are members of the network in one of seven fields: music, literature, cinema, handicrafts and folk arts, design, media arts and gastronomy. In the present study, using the UNESCO creative city indexes and the summary of a report provided by UNESCO for each of the creative cities, nine indexes of creative city were identified. Then, in order to study the potential of Tabriz to be introduced as a creative city and to identify its creative context, the data on the indexes were collected for Tabriz using a review of the documents. The results of the study of indexes and the calculation of TOPSIS indicate that the field of handicrafts and folk arts in terms of indexes of cultural resources, financial support, exports, artistic infrastructure and education infrastructure is in a better position than other fields. According to the results of this study, the field of handicrafts and folk arts has the greatest potential to be introduced as a creative city. Therefore, in order to achieve the creative city of Tabriz in this field, most strategies and programs should focus on strengthening cultural events and graduates.  For example, by increasing the holding of temporary exhibitions and bazaars and completing the projects of the Carpet Museum and the City of Handicrafts, it is possible not only to introduce handicrafts but also to encourage people to educate and attract students and apprentices.

The livable city is one of the new and effective concepts in the current urban systems that has found a significant place due to its important and fundamental role in the evolution of the ideas and ideals of the contemporary society. Due to the importance of improving living conditions in the central part of cities on one hand and the importance of quality instead of sole focusing on quantity on the other hand, the purpose of the present work is to examine the mediating role of identity in the relationship between the livability of the central part of Bojnourd and some of its key and selected indicators. The theoretical foundations of this study were collected using a library study and the required data for analysis were collected using a questionnaire completed by 384 residents of the central part of the city. To meet the goals of the study, SPSS and Smart PLS software were used to prepare and process the data. The findings of the study indicate the significant role of the variable of identity and sense of belonging as a mediator on other indicators studied in this study, namely social participation, security and education in the viability of the central part of Bojnourd. Therefore, the variables of identity and sense of place belonging are not only an effective factors on the livability of a place but also they play a significant role in the impact of other factors and variables, which adds to the importance of the identity and sense of place belonging in livability studies. Thus, giving special attention to these concepts has a crucial role in improving urban livability.

The ‘new economic geography’ literature has been developed as a theory of the emergence of large agglomerations that rely on increased returns to scale and transportation costs. This article attempted to investigate how the savings caused by localization and also the savings caused by urbanization on the economic growth of Iran's food and beverage industries in the period 2013-2019. The statistical population of the study included 31 provinces of the country and dynamic panel data and generalized torque method (GMM) was used to estimate the model. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Concentration Index (HHI) was selected to measure the savings from corporate aggregation, and the first urban index was selected to measure the savings from urbanization. The results indicated that urban savings had a positive effect on the economic growth of food and beverage industries; however, its variable coefficient (with a coefficient of 0.61) was not statistically significant. The economies of localization had a significant positive effect (with a coefficient of 0.44) on the economic growth of these industries, which means that the concentration of firms close to each other would save them. The results also show that by choosing the right and creating and developing clusters in industrial areas, it is possible to have a significant impact on the economic development of that area by increasing cooperation and exchange of information. Therefore, it is recommended to apply centralization policies and avoid decentralization policies for firms with similar activities.

Urban public space is a stage of public life which promotes sense of place, sense of community and people communication and creates opportunities to get together and enjoy the experience with others. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of urban public spaces, to identify their weaknesses, to plan and design them properly. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of these spaces in the city of Tabriz from the perspective of Carmona and identify weaknesses in the planning of public spaces in order to provide acceptable practical solutions for improving these spaces. The research method in the present study is of mixed method (a combination of quantitative-qualitative approaches). To collect the data, the method of observation and filing techniques along with interviews with managers, officials and experts on urban issues as well as academic elites were used. It is noteworthy that Cohen's formula at 95% confidence level was used to determine the sample size due to the uncertainty of the statistical population size, and the statistical sample size was estimated to be 200 individuals. To analyze the data, the partial least squares model in Warp-PLS software was used. Based on the study of 9 variables emphasized by Cremona in evaluating the quality of public spaces, the findings of the study indicate that the spaces in the city of Tabriz are in a favorable situation in terms of the 4 variables of variability of compatibility, permeability, diversity and readability, and location identity; however, these spaces are in an unfavorable situation in terms of the 5 variables of flexibility, vivacity (dynamics), visual proportions, stability and efficiency.

Thermal comfort of environment is one of the most crucial factors that influence the health and well-being of residents of cities. Thermal comfort itself is affected by a combination of the effects of different parameters and the form of urban blocks affects greatly the amount of radiation, the patterns of flow, and wind speed. This study assesses the effect of the form and height of residential blocks on the thermal comfort of open spaces. This quantitative study uses the descriptive and inferential survey methods, and applied random and controlled probability sampling to select the sample size. Four residential blocks of Shiraz having common patterns of short-level, medium-level and high-level were selected and simulated. The results of the simulation were analyzed and assessed using ENVI-met software in 2020. Then, using climatic data in RayMan software, the physiological equivalent temperature was obtained. Then, in five points of the simulated models, the ratio of form and height were analyzed. Using SPSS22, descriptive and inferential statistics were presented, and using Friedman test, the critical points were classified according to the forms of above-mentioned heights. Then, the significance and relevance between the different form types (complex, set, linear, and peripheral) in terms of different height types (high, medium, and short) were examined using Kruskal–Wallis test. The results showed that there is a significant between different form types and height types and this relationship has had a more favorable result in intermediate buildings of complex and environmental forms. Finally, the study showed that both form and height have a significant relationship with the effective parameters in the outdoor thermal comfort of residential complexes. The factors play an important role in moderating the temperature and providing the possibility of better productivity for residents.

In the process of growth, cities gradually lose their effectiveness in relation to new conditions due to their social nature. Urban blight is a dilemma that most cities, especially historic and ancient cities, grapple with it. One of the main problems that the blighted texture create for the cities is housing problems. Urban regeneration as an effective approach against urban blight can be a good solution to change and improve the situation of the city and the quality of the living conditions of its inhabitants. The purpose of this study is to analyze the physical and economic policies of urban regeneration in blighted texture based on housing in Jofreh Mahini neighborhood of Bushehr. The required statistical data were collected using a questionnaire. To analyze the data, one-sample t-tests, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equations were used. In this study, housing indicators were divided into three general dimensions: quantitative, qualitative, and financial. These three dimensions were studied in two policies of urban regeneration, namely economic policy and physical policy. The factor loads obtained for all indicators in both policies in the standard estimate were above standard, which was acceptable. The situation was acceptable in terms of significant estimation as well. After performing the relevant tests, it was also found that the general situation of both policies and also the general situation of the model were in unfavorable conditions in the model of urban regeneration of housing based in the Jofreh Mahini neighborhood.