City Prosperity Initiative (CPI) as a comprehensive multidimensional index agreed globally, is a broad and flexible conceptual framework for measuring and monitoring the urbanization and urbanism as a consequence of this process. This initiative is a fundamental approach for defining an integrative and incremental vision and subsequently multi-sectorial and spatial analysis based direction for its fulfilment towards the sustainability path and sustainable urban development in different hierarchical levels and scales of global, national, regional, and local. The CPI is accompanied by a conceptual matrix, the Wheel of Urban Prosperity, in terms of six key components or dimensions associated with the city and urban settlement, including Productivity, Infrastructure Development, Quality of Life, Equity and Social Inclusion, Environmental Sustainability, and Urban Governance and Legislation. Each of these aspects includes 3 to 5 subdimensions defined and measured by a group of variables or indicators. Thus, the City Prosperity Initiative Index is essential basis to found and promote a new pattern or model of urbanization in the global scale which is adaptive to the contextual conditions and dynamics. Therefore, one of the most key issues in relation to the CPI Index is the weights of the dimensions and sub-dimensions in terms of the conceptualizations of a prosperous city based on the local priorities. Accordingly, this paper has been focused on the City Prosperity Initiative Index and subsequently recalculating the weights of its dimensions and sub-dimensions using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method according to the contextual situation of Tehran Metropolis in Iran.

PurposeRegeneration of industrial heritage aims to display the patrimony assets by launching measures to convert them into cultural spaces associated with sustainable initiatives for satisfying environmental, social and economic demands in the city. The adaptive transformation and reusing process of industrial heritage constitutes a crucial cultural objective and consequently must be identified in a way that simultaneously integrates preservation with conversion and conservation with refurbishment. Hence, this paper explores to develop a framework for the sustainable regeneration of industrial heritage in cities.Design/methodology/approachBy reviewing the current literature, research and experiences on urban industrial heritage, including existing approaches, frameworks, and case studies, this study brings a theoretical and conceptual approach to sustainable regeneration of industrial heritage, which is a fundamental start point for conducting further research and performing practical projects.FindingsThree key phases of the Initiation as decision context, including understand the characteristics and assess the significance, the Planning as decision problem, including study the feasibility, develop a policy, and prepare a proposed reuse plan, and the Execution as decision output, including implement the plan, monitor the results and review the plan should be considered regarding the sustainable regeneration of urban industrial heritage.Originality/valueThe suggested framework considers sustainable regeneration of industrial heritage in cities as a decision-making process, which requires defining the decision context, analyzing the decision problem, and finally, results in the decision output. Accordingly, it seems to help bridge the gap between various discourses and planning perspectives and make all stakeholders' involvement easier, more effective and efficient regarding the sustainable regeneration of industrial heritage in cities.

The ongoing growth of motorized transport modes poses serious challenges to urban environments such as air and noise pollution, adverse health impacts, and improper allocation of space in the city. Over time, the paradigms of transport planning have shifted gradually toward active transport as a utilitarian and recreational form of sustainable urban mobility with desirable ecological, economical, and social properties. Active travel modes, concerning the physical activity of locomotion, generally include walking and bicycling, which have environmental benefits such as a decrease of carbon and reduction of traffic congestions. Besides, active transport, as a form of an active lifestyle, is one of the most usual physical activities which have numerous benefits regarding health and wellbeing, including reducing risk factors of chronic diseases, such as overweight and obesity, and increasing happiness, contentment, and engagement. Therefore, active transport has been increasingly considered in transportation and urban planning studies as an alternative for motorized transport and a sedentary lifestyle. Studies have shown that the built environment can facilitate active transport by walking or cycling to destinations and accordingly contributes to residents' physical activity. Hence, this study aims to explore and explain the association between the built environment and active transport by urban residents through a literature review. Insights such as there are important natural/physical and macro/micro environmental characteristics that encourage the tendency for active transport as well as socioeconomic and sociodemographic attributes differently affect this indicative relationship, are subsumed in a conceptual framework that can guide future empirical studies.

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The new town movement is an integral part of post-World War II reconstruction that has gradually been adopted worldwide. As one of the most significant fields of urban development practitioners, new towns generated both high enthusiasm and considerable criticism as consequences fell short of ideals over time. Along with the renewed interest in the new town concept, particularly in Asia and Africa, a new round of research has evaluated such initiatives. With increasing urbanisation and diminishing quality of urban life, many developing countries have introduced this policy for decongesting metropolises and stimulating economic growth. Accordingly, new town development has recently attracted urban planners, developers and politicians in emerging economies and appeared as a critical research area in urban studies. Through leading national policies to cope with housing needs and unplanned settlements in Iran, the first generation of new towns returned after the revolution in 1979. Since then, 17 new towns have been developed, which face various challenges, such as a strong dependency on metropolises and a lack of required infrastructure and facilities. Hence, as a new problem instead of a solution, Iranian new town development has been criticised from different aspects, which are systematically analysed in this paper. Analysing the first generation of new towns in Iran and conceptualising the second ones indicate an inevitable necessity for a review and substantial change regarding this policy. Therefore, key recommendations have been formulated and proposed for evolving the first and planning the second generation of new towns in Iran.