International Journal of

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This Paper attempts to investigate the patterns of land cover changes and also the process of urban growth in Shiraz Metropolitan Area. Since detailed information of current urban processes is required for future developments and managements of urban areas, this study utilizes remote sensing data and landscape metrics, as useful tools to gather information on urban growth and dynamics, in order to examine the spatial pattern of Shiraz metropolitan area (SMA) from 1986 to 2014. Since, the northwestern areas of SMA are superior in terms of ecological advantages, analysis of types and patterns of SMA growth were separately examined for each sector (NW, NE, SE, and SW). Five landscape metrics were used to analyze compactness and dispersion of urban patches derived from remotely sensed images. The results showed that over the past 28 years, SMA experienced sweeping changes with unexplainable growth during 1996-2006: a great horizontal expansion with 5.89 percent annual growth rate. After facing great urban sprawl, especially on the edge of the main city in the 96-06 period, periphery rural areas beyond the city borders started growing drastically during last decade. While measuring landscape metrics indicates a process of compactness in the growth patterns of NE, SE and SW areas, NW is going to be more dispersed in the coming years.

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Shiraz, with its historical background, known as the capital of the Persian culture, once experienced a boom of international culture-led events using outdoor spaces as event venues. However, its outdoor vibrancy has withered gradually, and the use of public places as venues declined. Despite the existing dilemmas, a new wave of public place reclamation has created a strong trend towards using the spaces as outdoor venues. The main question of the research is what events are held in Shiraz year-round and how many of them are in public open spaces, and what events can be held in the public realm as outdoor. As in Iranian culture, the events and rituals follow the circular chronology of the Iranian, Islamic, and even Christian calendars; this article studies the events of a year-round time lap, making a clear typology in terms of places’ type and form. The listed events have been classified using the CHAID model adapted to identify the variety and temporality of the events that could occur outdoors. Finally, after categorizing the events, the spatial dispersion of events in the Shiraz urban area has been analyzed to reintroduce the existing platform for holding events and, with the help of the ‘Power of 10’ approach, the need to create or equip spaces and add venues to hold outdoor events in twelve urban ‘destinations’ has been emphasized.

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This study seeks to investigate the effect that environmental factors have on the use or non-use of bicycles according to gender in urban travels in Iran. To this aim, while conducting a questionnaire survey among 304 bicycle users (162 males and 141 females) within the dedicated bicycle network in Shiraz, "T" test and "Regression" statistical tests were conducted to investigate the preference differences between the two groups (male and female) and specifically, the effect of factors among women.
Based on the findings of the aforementioned statistical tests, both men and women faced barriers to using bicycles in urban travels, although a difference was observed between the two genders in the effective environment they preferred. This difference is especially significant regarding socio-cultural indicators considering the specific traditional-religious context in Iran. Therefore, in addition to indicators such as "sense of safety," "path security," "using dedicated bicycle lanes," "path greenness and attractiveness, " women's cycling is significantly affected by indicators such as "community custom and people's judgment" and also "religious norms."
Based on the analysis, education of women about the benefits of using bicycle and the creation of synergy between cultural and religious institutions of the society to remove social, cultural and normative barriers for women's cycling in Iran along with planning to increase urban bicycle transportation lanes with the necessary environmental qualities and standards can increase the per capita and eliminate the disparity in the number of men and women who cycle in developing countries such as Iran.

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The realization and sustenance of spatial justice within urban environments encounter substantial hurdles arising from the imbalanced expansion of cities and ensuing socioeconomic crises. According to available statistical data on Iranian cities, these crises and challenges have contributed to an escalation in the number of urban inhabitants perceiving a state of impoverishment. Many researchers believe that the indices measuring the development and welfare of a city serve as indicators of its overall quality of life. The objective of this investigation was to examine how the urban quality of life, as facilitated by access to urban services, influences the perception of poverty among urban residents. Considering that objective urban quality of life transforms into subjective urban quality of life through individual perception, and recognizing that the sense of poverty is also a subjective phenomenon, it becomes imperative to explore the interconnection between these two aspects. Initially, the study formulated its conceptual model. Subsequently, the historical district of Shiraz City was chosen as the sample for examination. A structured questionnaire was devised and disseminated among the residents of this specific district. The collected data were subjected to analysis utilizing SPSS 23. The findings revealed that within the residents of the historical district of Shiraz City, the perception of poverty is influenced by three key factors: "employment and economy," "housing," and "recreation and entertainment." Furthermore, the results indicated that proficient urban management, particularly in the provision of urban services, holds substantial potential for alleviating the sensation of urban poverty.