URBAN FORM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE STUDY OF TEHRAN CITY

The sprawl phenomenon has caused unsustainable urban development and economical, social and environmental problems. The purpose of this research is to analyze the urban model of Tehran city to achieve a sustainable form. Region 21 of Tehran city is considered for the analysis as one of the most critical regions subject to urban sprawl. A new approach is proposed to achieve urban sustainability and to prevent the urban sprawl phenomenon. The study is applied and the survey method is descriptive analytic. Shanon entropy, Holdren, Moran and Gearys coefficients were used to analyze the urban growth pattern. Based on the results of the Holdren model, the portions of the population growth and the horizontal and urban sprawl in urban growth were 59% and 41%, respectively. The Shanon entropy value was 1.3738 in 1989 and the maximum value was 1.3862. This was 1.3231 in 2007 that indicates the physical development was sprawl and uncondensed during the past 20 years. The results indicate that decentralized compactness with emphasis on urban smart growth strategies is the best pattern for spatial-anatomical development of Tehran in future.