طراحی و اعتباریابی الگوی مفهومی رشد هوشمند شهری در شهر اردبیل با تاکید بر ادغام روستاهای پیرامونی با رویکرد کیفی

Introduction

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 show 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. In Ardabil city, studies show 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. Therefore, this research seeks to answer the fundamental question of 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 can be assessed?

Methodology

The research direction is applied. A qualitative approach was chosen to investigate the subject under study and the conceptualization method is used. 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 and finally, based on the results, a tool was developed for the quantitative stage. The statistical population in the qualitative stage includes experts and managers who have had more than 10 years of management experience. Sampling in this stage of the research is purposeful. Also, the technique used in sampling in this stage of the present research is snowball type. 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).



Results and discussion

In the research modeling, the central category (environmental qualities) is a function of causal conditions (components of housing quality 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 improvement of living dimensions in the suburbs).





Conclusion

This research aimed to design and validate a conceptual model for developing a smart urban growth model in Ardabil city with an emphasis on integrating peripheral villages with a qualitative data-based approach. The results of this research showed that, according to the implementation of the data-based approach process on 52 concepts extracted from the literature and interviews with experts, 21 factors were identified in selective coding, and these 21 factors were divided into 7 main factors in axial coding as indicators for developing a smart urban growth model in Ardabil city with an emphasis on integrating peripheral villages according to the research literature, which were named as follows, which were used in designing the final research 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 can 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.