Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Ph. D candidate urban planning department, faculty of architecture and urban planning of Art, Tehran, Iran
2 Professor of urban planning, Tehran Art University, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of Environment and Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lorestan University, Khorram Abad, Iran
Abstract
As human-environmental systems, urban areas rely on natural ecosystems for sustainability and well-being, hence, it is necessary to include ecosystem services (ES) in planning to promote sustainable urban development. Arak as an industrial city with multiple environmental crises are still managed based on the comprehensive planning system in the form of master and detailed plans, which requires an ecological approach in urban development. Despite the growing interest in ES in research, there are significant knowledge gaps regarding its integration into urban planning. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examining the current and potential use of ESs in urban development plans. In order to respond to this goal, content analysis method was used with a directional approach (deductive method based on theory) and the extent of addressing 19 ESs was investigated in three components of the plan (information base, vision/objectives and actions) in Arak development and construction plan. The results indicated the uptake of ESs concept in parts of the mentioned development document; however, this document lacks a holistic view of urban ecology and its benefits. In the three examined components, these services were mentioned 607 times implicitly (312 times - 51.4%) and explicitly (295 times - 48.6%), which received the most attention in the information base component (358 times - 59%). In this analysis, the difference in the score of cultural services (400) with provisioning (274), regulating (198) and supporting (30) services can indicate that cultural services are more inclusive compared to other services in Arak metropolis plan. The lack of consistency in dealing with each of the services or concepts mentioned in the three components shows that there is not a significant relationship between the studies in the collection data and information, analysis, formulation of goal and vision, and plan preparation, rules and regulations.
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