دانشگاه محقق اردبیلی جغرافیا و توسعه فضایی 3060-7523 3 2 2026 08 01 Design and Validating a Conceptual Model for Smart Urban Growth in Ardabil City with Emphasis on Integrating Peripheral Villages: A Qualitative Approach طراحی و اعتباریابی الگوی مفهومی رشد هوشمند شهری در شهر اردبیل با تأکید بر ادغام روستاهای پیرامونی با رویکرد کیفی 1 18 4697 10.22098/gsd.2026.19847.1131 FA حامد کیخسروی گروه شهرسازی، واحد تبریز، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تبریز، ایران داریوش ستارزاده گروه شهرسازی، واحد تبریز، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، تبریز، ایران Journal Article 2026 03 12 <strong>A B S T R A C T</strong> The main objective is to design and validate a conceptual model of smart urban growth in Ardabil city with an emphasis on integrating peripheral villages according to a qualitative approach and its validation. The research method is qualitative, data-based. The study population consists of selected experts, including university professors and urban managers who have gained valuable experience in urban management for many years. A total of 28 participants were selected for the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and the resulting data were analyzed using MaxQDA software to construct the research model. The interview texts were first analyzed through open coding. Initial codes were then grouped to form concepts, and these concepts were subsequently linked to generate categories, ultimately resulting in the final model. This model was designed with the focus on environmental qualities by specifying causal conditions, strategies, background conditions, intervening conditions, and consequences. The validity of the model was also confirmed using the Corbin and Strauss acceptability index. The research results indicate that the development of vertical green space based on promoting the biological sustainability of Tabriz city consists of 7 selected chapters consisting of transportation and communications, housing quality, density and intensive development, local economy, environmental qualities, physical texture, local community, and their central codes, which are effective in forming the research model. <strong>Extended Abstract</strong> <strong>Introduction</strong> In Iran, cities have witnessed rapid physical growth and uncontrolled physical expansion in recent years. This urban expansion has mainly taken place through the merger and annexation of surrounding villages, which has brought about numerous spatial, economic, social, and environmental consequences. Smart urban growth has been proposed as a new paradigm in urban planning in response to the challenges posed by the horizontal expansion of cities and urban sprawl. In the case of Ardabil city, studies demonstrate that in the last two decades, more than 15 peripheral villages have been incorporated into the urban area, which has been done without integrated planning and attention to the principles of smart growth. However, the successful integration of peripheral villages into the urban structure requires a deep understanding of the cultural, social, and institutional dimensions of this process, which can only be achieved through qualitative approaches. Therefore, the study seeks to answer this core question: how a conceptual model for the development of smart urban growth in Ardabil city with an emphasis on the integration of peripheral villages should be designed and how its validity should be assessed? <strong> </strong> <strong>Methodology</strong> This research is applied in nature. It adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the subject and employed a conceptualization method. Therefore, to identify the concepts, first the relevant scientific documents were studied and then the opinions of urban experts were used in the qualitative section. Finally, based on the results, a tool was developed for the quantitative stage. The statistical population in the qualitative stage included experts and managers who have had more than 10 years of management experience. Sampling was purposeful in this stage of the research. Accordingly, snowball sampling was employed as the sampling technique at this stage of the research. In this research, qualitative data collection was carried out through interviews with a general guidance approach and in a semi-structured manner. Since in this research we are looking to design a model or theory derived from data, the method of data-based theorizing (grounded theory) is a systematic approach (Strauss and Corbin). <strong> </strong> <strong>Results and Discussion</strong> In the research modeling, the central category (environmental qualities) is a function of causal conditions (housing quality components and local community conditions), contextual conditions (transportation and communications and the need for density and intensive development), and intervening conditions (local economic conditions). These factors provide the conditions for implementing actions and interactions (smart public transportation system, affordable housing, vertical development, support for small businesses, reconstruction of old textures, educational and health services, and community participation) that lead to consequences (planned integration of surrounding villages into the city of Ardabil based on smart urban growth criteria and living dimensions improvement in the suburbs).   <strong>Conclusion</strong> This research aims to design and validate a conceptual model for developing a smart urban growth model in Ardabil city with an emphasis on integrating peripheral villages according to a qualitative data-based approach. Applying a data-based approach to 52 concepts derived from both the literature and expert interviews, the analysis identified 21 factors during selective coding. These were subsequently organized into seven main categories through axial coding, which served as key indicators for the development of a smart urban growth model in Ardabil city focused on peripheral village integration. Informed by the research literature, these seven factors were designated as follows and incorporated into the final model: transportation and communications, housing quality, density and intensive development, local economy, environmental quality improvement, physical texture improvement, and local community. In general, in accordance with the pattern obtained in the research, the following suggestions should be made for the development of a smart urban growth mechanism in the city of Ardabil with an emphasis on the integration of peripheral villages: The urban administration of Ardabil should, in order to develop a smart urban growth mechanism in the city of Ardabil with an emphasis on the integration of peripheral villages, conduct comprehensive studies and knowledge in this field, and through infrastructure investments and public consultation, provide basic planning to improve environmental quality and living conditions for residents of the urban suburbs, and also supervise the integration of peripheral villages and control the horizontal expansion of the city in accordance with the criteria of smart urban growth. Awareness of the status of the urban and rural peripheral society in the context of developing a smart urban growth mechanism in the city of Ardabil with an emphasis on the integration of peripheral villages is very important both in terms of citizen participation and in terms of the sustainability of the community and the local economy. In this regard, the establishment of consultative workshops at the city neighborhood levels is of fundamental importance. The urban administration should, in cooperation with other supporting organizations, help create home businesses in the suburbs of the city among households and local communities, to improve and sustain its local economy. <strong> </strong> <strong>Funding</strong> There is no funding support.   <strong>Authors’ Contribution </strong> All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.   <strong>Conflict of Interest </strong> Authors declared no conflict of interest.   <strong>Acknowledgments</strong> We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper. هدف اصلی این پژوهش، طراحی و اعتباریابی یک الگوی مفهومی برای رشد هوشمند شهری در شهر اردبیل، با تمرکز بر ادغام روستاهای پیرامونی و رویکرد کیفی، می‌باشد. روش تحقیق، کیفی و از نوع «داده بنیاد» است. جامعه آماری شامل کارشناسان منتخب، ازجمله اساتید دانشگاه و مدیران شهری با تجربه‌های ارزشمند در زمینه مدیریت شهری، بوده است که از میان آن‌ها ۲۷ نفر به‌عنوان نمونه برای تحلیل انتخاب شدند. برای استخراج مدل پژوهش، از مصاحبه‌های نیمه ساختاریافته بهره گرفته شد و داده‌ها با استفاده از نرم‌افزار MAXQDA تجزیه‌وتحلیل گردید. تحلیل داده‌ها با کدگذاری باز آغاز شد و سپس با کنار هم قرار دادن کدهای اولیه، مفاهیم شکل گرفتند و در نهایت مقوله‌ها با ربط دادن مفاهیم به یکدیگر ترسیم شد تا مدل نهایی حاصل شود. مدل طراحی‌شده، محوریت خود را بر کیفیات محیطی قرار داده و عناصر آن شامل شرایط علّی، راهبردها، شرایط زمینه‌ای، شرایط مداخله‌گر و پیامدها می‌باشد. اعتبار مدل نیز با استفاده از شاخص مقبولیت کوربین و اشتراوس تأیید گردید. نتایج تحقیق نشان می‌دهد که توسعه فضای سبز عمودی با هدف ارتقای پایداری زیستی شهر، از هفت فصل کلیدی شامل: حمل‌ونقل و ارتباطات، کیفیت مسکن، تراکم و توسعه فشرده، اقتصاد محلی، کیفیات محیطی، بافت کالبدی و اجتماع محلی به همراه کدهای محوری آن‌ها تشکیل‌شده است که در شکل‌گیری مدل پژوهش نقش مؤثری دارند https://gsd.uma.ac.ir/article_4697_2e5204efa24d1e6dbea25f03dfb76a62.pdf