تحلیل ناهمگونی‌های فضایی در کلان‌شهر تبریز

Extended Abstract

Introduction

Urbanization is one of the biggest challenges facing society, politicians and planners in the 21st century. According to the report of the UN-Habitat, 50.6% of the world’s population lives in cities and one third of this urbanized inhabitants lives in poverty-stricken areas. Therefore, it can be inferred that urbanization of poverty is a key challenge of global development. The metropolis of Tabriz, like other metropolises of Iran, has faced the rapid growth of urbanization in parallel with the political, economic and social developments of the country in recent decades. Its growth has surpassed its development or quantity has surpassed quality, its environmental and social problems have greatly increased, and numerous problems caused by social and spatial differences have threatened the stability of the city, and the spatial heterogeneity and duality of the city is one of the problems. And the problems of Tabriz city are considered. It is recognized that spatial duality and inequality of the city is one of its key challenges and difficulties. Therefore, identification of the extent and intensity of these challenges is considered to be a significant step towards curbing poverty and inequality. Furthermore, the level of development of neighborhoods of Tabriz metropolis needs to be discerned so that an accurate planning can be materialized for accomplishing sustainable urban development. In the present study, development level of spatial features of Tabriz’s neighborhoods as a metropolis will be investigated.

Methodology

The present study is a descriptive-analytical research. In order to identify development level of neighborhoods of Tabriz metropolis through utilization of statistical data of 2016 census report, 11 indexes are categorized in three main criteria, which pertain to the city’s physicality (which includes indexes such as areas less than 100 square meters, the number of residents in each residential unit and the number of families in each residential unit) population (which includes population density index, the immigrant population percentage, family dimension and 0 to 14 year report on population) and socio-economic aspects (which includes literacy index, dependency ratio, and unemployment rate). After this categorization, all the aforementioned criteria are compared in pairs through utilization of Delphi Process, AHP and Expert Choice software platform. This comparison will indicate the weight and significance of each criterion in the development level of the city. In the next stage, sub-criteria of each main criterion are evaluated and scored in relation to each other. After calculating incompatibility coefficient, the final weight of each neighborhood is realized. In the last stage, hierarchical clustering is utilized to cluster neighborhoods of Tabriz metropolis on the basis of their development levels. The results of this clustering are represented and mapped in GIS interface.

Results and discussion

The development indicators of different sectors and neighborhoods of Tabriz metropolis were grouped in five levels. The neighborhoods of the first group and the second group are mainly located in the center and east of Tabriz city. The localities of the third group are located around the localities of the second group. The neighborhoods of the fourth and fifth groups are mainly located in the north and south of Tabriz city, which are considered to be the informal settlements of the city. According to 2016 census report, Tabriz has a population of 1558693. 5.5% of the population lived in the developed zone; 34.2% lived in relatively developed zone; 34.3% lived in averagely developed zone; 26% of the population lived in less developed zone and 10% lives in undeveloped zone. Analysis of socio-economic indexes indicates a deep gap between less developed and undeveloped zones and other zones of Tabriz metropolis. The residents of these zones have limited access to education, and as a result, acquire insufficient level of skills. That is why they fail to gain eligibility for good jobs. The literacy percentage of undeveloped zone (which is 79.5%) is lower than the average literacy percentage of the city and literacy percentages of the city’s other zones. This fact shows that residents of the undeveloped zone suffer more from illiteracy. The unemployment rates among Tabriz’s zones are dramatically different. In Tabriz, 18.9% is the highest unemployment rate, and unfortunately,it belongs to the undeveloped zone. Furthermore, the average dependency ratio of the undeveloped zone (4.31) is higher than the ratios of other zones of the city. The comparison of 0 to 14 year population reports of the city’s zones indicates the fact that the population rates of the undeveloped and less developed zones are younger in comparison with average age of the city and the age of other zones. This fact shows high birth rates and populated family structures in these zones. The family dimensions of the undeveloped and less developed zones are 3.7 and 3.4, respectively, both of which are higher than the average rate of the city (3.1). The population density in the poor zones of the city is high, and in the developed zones, this density is lower. It is an axiomatic fact that population density and crowdedness results in numerous social and economic difficulties. One of these difficulties pertains to the injustice residents of the deprived areas needs to suffer from in their lack of access to urban facilities.

Conclusion

There is a dramatic gap between undeveloped and less developed zones and other zones of the city. The neighborhoods, categorized in the first and second categories, were proven to have larger houses and residential units, less population density, smaller families, higher education status, lower unemployment rate, higher number of professional workforce and higher accessibility to facilities and services. Moreover, the neighborhoods of these two privileged categories were proven to be safer against environmental hazards such as floods and earthquakes. Maintaining the status quo will only result in intensification of inequalities and prevalence of urban poverty and procrastinate accomplishment of sustainable urban development. Therefore, it is necessary for urban management to take new steps in order to more desirable and better understand this phenomenon and to apply new and efficient solutions to reduce the effects and various aspects of poverty in the city and urban slums.