Identifying and Analyzing Factors Influencing Urban Decline (Case Study: The Border City of Zabol)
Keywords:
Urban Decay, Border City, Urban Governance, ZabolAbstract
Cities, as living entities, lose their cultural, social, economic, and physical vitality if urban decline persists, leading to increased risks of both natural and human-made hazards. Given the existential impacts and the role of this phenomenon in urban life degradation, instability, and threats to urban livability, addressing this issue becomes crucial. This study aims to identify and analyze the factors influencing urban decline. The research is mixed-method in nature and falls within the category of sequential-exploratory studies. Initially, qualitative data were collected, followed by quantitative data in the second phase, culminating in an integrated analysis of both. Due to the methodological integration, meta-synthesis was used in the first (qualitative) phase to develop a conceptual model of urban decline (explaining its components), while a survey method was employed in the second (quantitative) phase to explore the interrelationships among the components of decline in the border city of Zabol. Key components of the conceptual model include political factors, urban governance, environmental factors, economic factors, and socio-cultural factors. To operationalize the conceptual model and uncover causal relationships, a researcher-developed questionnaire aligned with the findings of the first phase was utilized. The statistical population consisted of managers and decision-makers in urban affairs as well as residents of Zabol. The sample size, determined using Cochran’s formula with a 0.05 margin of error, was calculated to be 383 participants. The results support all identified components contributing to the phenomenon, with political issues identified as the most influential factor driving urban decline in Zabol.
References
A. Guenduez, R. Frischknecht, S. Frowein, and K. Schedler, "Government-University Collaboration on Smart City and Smart Government Projects: What Are the Success Factors?," Cities, vol. 144, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2023.104648.
T. Sulistyaningsih, R. A. Purnama, and U. Kulsum, "Smart City Policy: Strategy and Implementation to Realize Smart Urban Governance in Indonesia," Journal of Governance and Public Policy, 2023, doi: 10.18196/jgpp.v10i1.13840.
A. Zanganeh, M. Soleimani, K. Tajeddin, M. Abbaszadeh, and V. Reza, "Explaining Spatial-Physical Dynamics of the Central Area of Rasht," Settlement Planning Studies, vol. 45, pp. 873-892, 2018.
A. Zanganeh, S. Tolayi, M. Soleimani, and A. Ahmadtozeh, "An Analysis of Urban Decay in the Central Area of Urmia (Case Study: District 4)," Urban Planning Geography Research, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 267-285, 2021.
H. Mansourian, A. Pourahmad, and H. Ashouri, "Analyzing Factors Affecting Urban Wilting in Zone 3, District 12 of Tehran," Geography and Environmental Sustainability, vol. 31, pp. 1-14, 2019.
L. Barron, "Smart cities, connected cars and autonomous vehicles: Design fiction and visions of smarter future urban mobility," Technoetic Arts, vol. 20, no. Themed Issue: Projected Interiorities, pp. 225-240, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1386/tear_00092_1.
K. Gunwoo, G. Newman, and J. Bin, "Urban regeneration: Community engagement process for vacant land in declining cities," Cities, vol. 102, p. 102730, 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2020.102730.
J. Accordino and G. Johnson, "Addressing the Vacant and Abandoned Property Problem," Journal of Urban Affairs, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 301-315, 2016, doi: 10.1111/0735-2166.00058.
U. Hwang and M. Woo, "Analysis of Inter-Relationships between Urban Decline and Urban Sprawl in City-Regions of South Korea," Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 4, p. 1656, 2020, doi: 10.3390/su12041656.
S. Pinto and T. Sablik, "Understanding Urban Decline," Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, 2016.
F. Shabani, J. Sajadi, and J. Tavakolinia, "Loss of Identity in the Process of Urban Sprawl and Change," National Studies Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 83, pp. 105-122, 2020.
J. Farhadi, A. Zanganeh, M. Kamanroodi, and M. Soleimani Mehranjani, "The Role of Productive and Commercial Elites in Enhancing Deteriorating Urban Neighborhoods," Geography and Urban Space Development, vol. 1, pp. 281-298, 2018.
R. C. Weaver and S. Bagchi-Sen, "Spatial analysis of urban decline: The geography of blight," Applied Geography, vol. 40, pp. 61-70, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2013.01.011.
A. Hosseini, A. Pourahmad, A. Taeeb, M. Amini, and S. Behvandi, "Renewal Strategies and Neighborhood Participation on Urban Blight," International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 113-121, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.ijsbe.2017.03.004.
D. Aufseeser, "Challenging conceptions of young people as urban blight: Street children and youth's ambiguous relationship with urban revitalization in Lima, Peru," Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 310-326, 2018, doi: 10.1177/0308518X17742155.
M. Soleimani, S. Tolayi, A. Zanganeh, and H. Telkhabi, "Contexts and Processes of Decline in the Central Area of Arak," Urban Management Studies, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 24-34, 2013.
M. Pudineh, G. R. Miri, and M. R. Anvari, "Analysis of the position of crisis management organizations in increasing urban resilience (Case study: Zabol city)," Emergency Management, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 129-140, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.joem.ir/article_251426_a354a4ff88622571c423fd906ca88af1.pdf.
