Drivers of urban sprawl in urban areas of Iran

Abstract

During the recent decades, debates about urban sprawl have increased strongly in Iran. Literature review shows that there are few studies about causes of sprawl in urban areas of Iran. This paper analyses driving forces in creation or intensification of urban sprawl in Iranian cities. The methodology of the research is based on documentary and survey method. Results indicate that the most important drivers of urban sprawl are 22 factors in Iran. By using exploratory factor analysis, 22 factors are summarized in eight main factors. These factors include population growth, land value, political fragmentation, land speculation, transportation policies, exterior pressure, management system and land use. The eight main factors are able to explain an average of 76.9% of the urban sprawl phenomenon in Iran. The analysis of variance indicates that none of them can be effective in explaining urban sprawl alone in Iran that they were explained by each factor on urban sprawl. The population growth has the highest impact by 13% and land use has the lowest impact by about 7%. The margin of discrepancy between variance was explained by factors that suggest all of the eight extracted factors play a key role in the urban sprawl of Iran. Policies for controlling and reducing consequences of this phenomenon should be initiated by the government by considering the influential role of government in the urban sprawl of Iran. In particular, it can be helpful to establish integrated urban management, a compilation of comprehensive law about urban land and pay attention to worn‐out textures and brownfield development.

Is urban sprawl a threat to sustainable development? A review of characteristics and consequences

“…While urban agglomeration is a highly developed spatial form of integrated cities (Fang & Yu, 2017), urban sprawl mostly occurred in lower densities accompanied by expansion of urban periphery, is acknowledged as the opposite force, with its character of scattered and leapfrogging development (Mills 1981;Brueckner & Fansler 1983;Lowry, 1988;Hayden, 2004;Downs, 1999;Ewing, 2008;Ahyuni & Nur, 2020). Though urban sprawl is a global phenomenon, but it is always viewed in different ways on how and why it was resulted (Hosseini & Hajilou, 2019;Abulibdeh et al, 2019).…”

Urban sprawl literature review: Definition and driving force

“…Defined by its repercussion of uncontrolled growth Several instances of literature are definite that uncontrolled or unrestrained urban growth is largely blamed for the occurrence of urban sprawl. Hosseini and Hajilou (2019) refers to urban sprawl as an outgrowth of unrestrained urban growth, with consequences that are mostly present outside urban peripheries, alongside highways connecting other cities or satellite urban centers. Planners and planning authorities are to blame for incompetence in integrated policy planning and poor decision making.…”

“…Hence, rapid population growth not only turn out to be the main component of sprawl but is also responsible for environmental change and resource depletion. Hosseini and Hajilou (2019) claims overpopulation can cause cities to suffer from quality reduction in public amenities, overcrowded services delivery, and a decreased quality of life. The consequences of overpopulation in cities create pressure on growing spatial expansion and urban sprawl.…”

Urban Sprawl, Socioeconomic Features, and Travel Patterns in Middle East Countries: A Case Study in Iran

“…Iran, as an important developing country in the Middle East, has witnessed urban sprawl over the past few decades. Hosseini et al (2019) showed that 36% of the urban spatial expansion in Iran is the result of sprawl in cities between 1986 and 2011 [57]. The observations on urban sprawl in Iran show that this phenomenon has an outward trend in different city sizes, from metropolitan areas and large cities like Tehran [58] and Qom [59] to mid-sized and small cities like Yazd [60] and Kazerun [29].…”

“…The observations on urban sprawl in Iran show that this phenomenon has an outward trend in different city sizes, from metropolitan areas and large cities like Tehran [58] and Qom [59] to mid-sized and small cities like Yazd [60] and Kazerun [29]. Several studies investigated factors influencing the urban sprawling of the Iranian cities, including rapid urbanization, inefficient urban planning system, and weaknesses of master plans, modernization, improvement of technology, land speculation, economic forces, and public construction [24,28,57,61]. The boom in urban population is driven by natural population growth and the increased rate of immigration from rural areas to the cities, which leads to the failure of the rural areas in serving their traditional functions in the settlement system of Iran.…”