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Sustainability Measurement in Districts of Area 1 in Tehran Using Numerical Taxonomy

Mohammad Tafakkor

Geography and Urban Planning Department, Payam-e Noor University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract: The current approach in this study is descriptive-analytic, and its purpose is to measure the enjoyment level of ten regions of Tehran's first district municipality in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application. In order to evaluate the urban sustainability area 1 of Tehran, an attempt has been made to answer the research objectives using a spatial analysis of numerical taxonomy. The statistical data of the study consisted of ten districts of Tehran’s first area, which indicate the operational characteristics of different indicators of urban per capita application, and were collected from the municipality of area 1 in Tehran. In order to do the research calculations, the data entered to the Excel program and numerical taxonomy calculations were performed to determine the sustainability of the districts in the Excel environment and, finally, using the geographical information system, the space distribution map per capita applications are drawn between the ten districts. The results of the research indicate that the ten districts of the first area in Tehran do not show a significant difference in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application, and the sustainability of the ten districts relative to the per capita application of urban areas is in a way that one district is in a stable state, nine regions are semi-stable and the findings of the research indicate that the first area of Tehran is in a semi-sustainable state of urban development.

Keywords: urban sustainable development, numerical taxonomy, per capita, the first area of Tehran

Received July 04, 2019; Revised August 09, 2019; Accepted August 16, 2019

Citation: Mohammad Tafakkor, Sustainability Measurement in Districts of Area 1 in Tehran Using Numerical Taxonomy. Journal of City and Development, 1 (1). 28-34. January 2019. doi:10.12691/jcd-1-1-5

1. Introduction

Sustainable urban development is a process aimed at creating a sustainable city in accordance with the needs of citizens and a suitable place for the life of present and future generations, in terms of performance. Sustainable urban development requires success in achieving the urban qualitative objectives, as long as the present and future generations are provided with equal conditions. Also, the reserves of natural resources of the city and the region should not be exceeded from the ability to reproduce it in the city [[1], p. 293]. Sustainable city is a city in which improvement in social justice, diversity and the possibility of living with a desirable quality can be realized [[2], p. 22]. Therefore, neglecting social justice and the concentration of service centers in a place not only will create bipolar and high and downstream in the cities, but also there would be an influx of consumer populations into these areas which will result in environmental pressures, traffic, sound and air pollution. On the other hand, the utilization of complementary and parallel uses and exacerbating the spatial polarization will also be seen in the cities, as we now face a dense and undesirable environment in the city that is characterized by unsustainable development. Obviously, each of the levels of physical division of the city requires different services based on the needs of citizens, and according to this, various services should be distributed according to the population threshold required at the district level, which contributes to the balanced and sustainable development of the regions and in accordance with social justice. Therefore, unbalanced distribution of facilities and services has an adverse effect on urban sustainability and challenges the concept of a sustainable city [[3], p. 187]. Furthermore, the shortcomings of providing services in the city reduce the application rate and cause some kind of fear and uncertainty. Living in conditions of uncertainty and deprivation promotes excessiveness and realization of it through illegal and illegitimate means, and as a result, the social order necessary for collective life collapses [[4], p. 26]. Therefore, in order to achieve sustainable urban development, it is necessary to have enjoyment of urban per capita application in the districts and areas of the city in a fair and balanced manner, otherwise the sustainable development of the city will not be realized.

Regarding the necessity of integrated regional development, analysis of the dependence of human settlements on the surface of the areas is the basis of work in any planning. Indeed, the achievement of comprehensive development in the future involves understanding the situation of different regions and areas. The application of quantitative criteria and methods for leveling settlements in the spatial system of the regions leads to the recognition of the inequality of residential areas, and on the other hand, it is a measure for trying to reduce and eliminate inequalities among them [5]. With this approach, the aim of the present study is to measure the enjoyment level of ten districts of the first area in Tehran’s municipality in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application in order to evaluate urban sustainability, using a numerical taxonomic model to meet the research objectives. The main questions in the research are that is there a difference between the ten districts of the first area in Tehran in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application and whether the dispersion of urban per capita application among the districts is in the direction of sustainable development of the city or, on the contrary, challenges urban sustainability.

2. Range of the Study

The first area of Tehran municipality with 45.7 square kilometers which is equivalent to 45700000 square meters, is the northernmost region of Tehran, with its northern border aligned on the northern border of Tehran (1800 meters in height). This area in westward is connected with the region 2 by the Rouddareh, in south is connected with region 3 by Chamran highway, Modarres, Sadr highways, and from south-eastern is connected to region 4 by the Azgol highway of Tehran municipality [6]. The overall characteristics of the areas are as shown in the table below:

Table 1. General Features of the Ten Districts

Figure

Table 2. Research Indicators

3. Materials and Methods of Research

The current approach in this study is descriptive-analytic. The statistical data of the study consisted of ten districts of the first area in Tehran, which indicates the operational characteristics of the various indicators of urban per capita application, and were collected from the municipality of the first area in Tehran (Table 1). In order to do research calculations, the data were first entered into the Excel program and numerical taxonomic calculations were performed to determine the level and their ranking of ten districts in the Excel environment and finally, using the Geographic Information System (GIS), the per capita space distribution map was drawn.

3.2. Procedures for Numerical Taxonomy Analysis

3.2.1. Step 1: Generate Data Matrix

The first step in numerical taxonomy is the formation of a data matrix, a matrix of n × m dimensions, and its rows include the districts of the first area in Tehran and the columns include its indices [[7], p. 25]. At this stage, after the formation of the data matrix, we obtain the mean and standard deviation of the data using the formulas below:

Thus, each region is represented by a vector in a two-dimensional space, Xij signifies the j-th property of the i-th district. Given that all properties have different scales, we should eliminate the interference of different scales within the template, so in the first step we obtain the mean of the columns [[8], p. 54].

[picture] | (1)

The standard deviation for each column of the Xij matrix is then calculated using the following formula:

[picture] | (2)

3.2.2. Step 2: The Formation of a Standard Matrix

At this stage, by subtracting the single data of each row, the matrix of data is obtained from the mean of that row and divided by the standard deviation of that row of standard matrix elements or Z, which is applicable from the following equation:

[picture] | (3)

The point about the standard matrix is that in this matrix, the mean and standard deviation of each column are zero and one, respectively.

3.2.3. Step 3: Determining the Compound Distances

At this stage, having a standard Z matrix, we can obtain the distance of each area from other areas in relation to the determined indicators. This distance is calculated using the following equation:

Table 3. Determining the Compound Distances

3.2.4. Step 4: Determine the Pattern of Development

In this step, the ideal value and development model are calculated (the largest number in each standard matrix is selected as the ideal value (Zoj) and calculated with the following formula).

3.2.5. Step 5: Ranking of the Districts of a District in a Tehran City

At this stage, after determining the development model for each of the ten districts, we calculate the degree of development of each points by the following formula [9].

[picture] | (6)

4. Research Theoretical Basis

4.1. Land Per Capita Application

The per capita is a standard and share of the citizen's possessions of urban use, and the per capita determination is, in fact, a standard and the first step in the normal planning. A systematic, formal, and ethical planning that reflects planning based on judgment and predictive knowledge according to the information and experience, and in a causal structure determine and predict the standard values for short-term programs. Besides, the concept of land per capita application which is known as urban per capita in Iran's Urban Literature is one of the tools used in the process of land use planning as a standard and quantitative indicator for measuring and comparing the quality of life in cities and application changes over time [[10], p. 38].

4.2. Sustainable Development

The term "Sustainable Development" was first introduced in 1972 by Donella Madoz and Edward Goldsmith [11]. Sustainable development is a process in which economic, financial, commercial, energy, agricultural, industrial and other policies are designed in such a way that it is economically, socially and ecologically sustainable. In addition, it means to invest sufficiently in the fields of education, health, population and energy, so that social debt will not exist for future generations [[12], p. 87]. Some others, by reflecting on the concept of Justice, has considered sustainable development as a new perception of economic growth that provides justice and living facilities for all the world, not for a small number of elected people. Also, this growth would be without destructive consequences and does not overuse the world's limited resources [[13], p. 82]. In a more general definition, sustainable development as a process requires improvement and progress, a process that is the basis for the improvement of the situation and eliminates the socio-cultural deficits of societies. Sustainable development has also been the driving force behind the balanced, proportionate, and coordinated economic, social and cultural development of all the developing countries [[14], p. 44].

4.3. Urban Sustainable Development

A sustainable city is a city where diversity exists and is protected, and there is no separation of the vast space of income and social groups, and all individuals and groups have access to the basic services and facilities, whose inhabitants have equal circumstances [[15], p. 37]. Urban development can be sustained once and for all and can provide specific solutions for the satisfaction of the residents’ service needs which due to the attitude and structural weakness of urban management and the lack of public participation, urban service organizations could not effectively distribute a fair space for the services. In terms of access to the facilities and services, what is agreed is the access with a minimum mileage by the car and even with public transportation to reduce congestion and pollution. The distribution of various services by the city can affect the morphology of the city, so that by partitioning urban spaces, it can moderately reduce the harmful effects of the density; and move toward the realization of urban sustainability [[3], p. 186].

Access and enjoyment of the resources is one of the main goals of sustainable urban development for low income groups [[16], p. 292]. Peter Hall consider the meaning and concept of sustainable urban development: as a form of modern development that will ensure the sustainable development of cities and communities of future generations [17-18]. In this regard, the European Commission (2006) defines sustainable urban development as a challenge to solve problems created by the city and for the city [19]. One of the major obstacles to sustainable development can be the rapid population growth, the degradation of natural resources and the increasing and growing poverty among various nations, each of which has meanings within itself [20].

5. Results

In order to evaluate the urban sustainable development in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application, ten district of the first area in Tehran were evaluated using urban per capita application indicators using numerical taxonomic techniques. The areas classified in three levels;

- Areas with a Fi value less than 0.71, sustainable districts

- Areas with Fi value between 0.71 to 0.86, semi- sustainable districts

- Areas with Fi value 0.86 to 0.95, unsustainable districts

Among the 10 districts, district 7 with a Fi amount of less than 0.71 is sustainable district, and districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 with Fi amount between 0.71 to 0.86 are semi-sustainable districts, and districts 5, 6, 9, 10 with Fi amount of 0.86 to 0.95 are unsustainable districts (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Graph of the districts enjoyment of urban per capita application (Fi amount)

Figure 2. The map of sustainability of 10 districts in the first area of Tehran from the perspective of space distribution of urban per capita application

6. Discussion

Different criteria of the urban sustainability have been measured and investigated at various levels by researchers such as: Sustainable development through land use planning; Reconstruction of the city; Sustainable buildings; Urban shape and energy; Sustainable transportation; Urban shape and Pollution; Density role in achieving sustainability [[21], p. 35]. In this study, I attempted to measure the enjoyment level of ten regions of Tehran's first district municipality in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application which may cover some of the above criteria.

The difference in enjoyment levels of per capita application of urban areas among the regions will lead to a bi-polarization of the area. This bi-polarization will result in the influx of the consumer and the deprived population into privileged districts which will cause environmental pressures, traffic, sound, and air pollution, etc. On the other hand, the utilization of complementary and parallel uses and exacerbating the spatial polarization will also be seen in the cities with undesirable environment in which is characterized by unsustainable development as we may see in districts 5, 6, 9,10. Therefore, the unbalanced distribution of urban per capita application among the districts has an adverse effect on the sustainability of the city and challenges the concept of sustainable development in the city.

The results of the research indicate that the ten districts of the first area in Tehran do not show a significant difference in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application, and the sustainability of the ten districts relative to the urban per capita application is in a way that, in total one district is in a sustainable state, 5 districts are in unsustainable state, and 4 districts are in a semi-sustainable state. Accordingly, the unbalanced distribution of facilities and services has an adverse effect on urban sustainability and challenges the concept of a sustainable city of these districts [3]. Therefore, it is recommended to have enjoyment of urban per capita application in the districts and areas of the city in a fair and balanced manner, otherwise the sustainable development of the city will not be realized.

The enjoyment status of the ten districts of the first area of urban per capita application does not show a significant difference, as shown in the graph below (Figure 2), and according to the findings of the study area 1 in Tehran is in a semi-sustainable state of urban development. Consequently, the municipality should invest sufficiently in the fields of education, health, population and energy in this area in order to have sustainable development, otherwise, social debt will exist for future generations [11]. On the other hand, considering environmental integrity, sustainability become an important concept which human intervention could disrupt nature’s equilibrium by the land, air and water pollution. Therefore, one should consider ‘alternatives patterns of physical, social and economic development to avoid problems such as “exhaustion of natural resources, ecosystem destruction, pollution, overpopulation, growing inequality, and the degradation of human living conditions” [[22], p. 3] as we may witness in the unsustainable areas of Tehran.

7. Conclusion

Reference [14] defined sustainable city comprehensively where diversity exists and is protected, and there is no separation of the vast space of income and social groups, and all individuals and groups have access to the basic services and facilities, and inhabitants have equal circumstances. To find and compare the features in this definition, main questions in the research considered the difference between the ten districts of the first area in Tehran in terms of enjoyment of urban per capita application and whether the dispersion of urban per capita application among the districts is in the direction of sustainable development of the city or, on the contrary, challenges urban sustainability. Overall, the result indicated the semi-sustainability of this area.

Certainly, to achieve comprehensive view and development in the future in these areas more researches need to be conducted on the sustainability of transportation, facilities, buildings and shape, and urban pollution in order to have comprehensive picture on different areas of Tehran city which involves understanding the situation of different regions and areas. Finally, we should also remember that sustainable development is closely connected to the social innovation [23] which may also contribute to gain broader view of sustainability in Tehran city.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Farshad Ghasemi for his editorial assistance.

References

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