Analysis of Indicators and Explanation of Strategies for Achieving Urban Intelligence: A Case Study of Isfahan

Abstract

AbstractProblem Definition: Urbanization is now happening at an unprecedented rate. Continued population growth and urbanization are projected to add 2.5 billion to the world's urban population by 2050. Along with the physical progress in the cities of the world, finding solutions to problems in urban areas is very important. In response to inefficient and unsustainable patterns of urban growth, concepts such as urban intelligence have emerged forcing many planners to seek new ways to understand and pursue regional and large-scale spatial planning (Sciara, 2020, p. 1). It aims to improve the quality of life for residents in terms of personal, social, cultural, economic, environmental, and physiological aspects. In recent years, Iran’s metropolises, including Isfahan, have faced new challenges in terms of environmental sustainability, economic growth, population, and technological progress. As a result, today’s cities need integrated policies and innovative new methods to manage and improve the complexity of urban living conditions. It should be noted that the metropolis of Isfahan is facing many changes in the economic, social, managerial, etc. areas. The realization of intelligence can be provided by presenting appropriate solutions to reduce the cost of infrastructure and urban services, excessive use of cars, air pollution, water, etc. that helped managers and city officials. Therefore, in order to improve the city and its public services, there is a need for measures and tools that increase urban efficiency and performance. Urban planners need to implement smart solutions to strengthen the city’s competitiveness, improve environmental and economic efficiency, facilitate resilience, and emphasize this approach to energy production and distribution, transportation, waste management, and pollution control.Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effective components in smartening the city of Isfahan.Methodology: This research is applied-developmental in terms of purpose, and descriptive-analytical and survey in terms of method. Data collection was done using both library and field methods and referring to documentary sources, articles, and related theories. After extracting and comparing the indicators in the approaches of scattered cities, compact cities, smart growth, electronic cities, and smart cities, important and common indicators for smartening in the form of 5 dimensions were developed including physical-spatial (8 items), environmental-ecological (5 items), economic (8 items), social (8 items), and managerial-political (8 items). Each of these dimensions has sub-criteria that form the basis of the present research. To achieve the objectives of the research (i.e. analysis of the main components of intelligence approaches and analysis of weaknesses, strengths, threats and opportunities to achieve intelligence in Isfahan), factor analysis and the SWOT model have been used. The statistical population of the study includes experts and trustees of Isfahan municipality, urban planning, intelligence, urban planning, and university professors. The sample size was selected based on the snowball sampling method of 60 people and a questionnaire was distributed among them.ResultsAnalysis of the main components of smartening approaches in IsfahanThe factor analysis method was used to identify the underlying dimensions of the research. By summarizing the variables in the form of new factors, their importance was categorized in order of importance and the main components in terms of smartening the city of Isfahan were prioritized over the research variables based on the opinions of experts and trustees. Finally, that managerial-economic, environmental-economic, physical, and social factors were recognized as the most important factors in the development of intelligence in Isfahan, and these factors explain 64% of the total variance.Analysis of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of smartening in Isfahan metropolis and ways to improve itRegarding the existing weaknesses in order to achieve intelligence in the city of Isfahan, the lack of management in waste and urban recycling with a score of 0.656, is the most important weakness in the system that needs improvement in terms of planning.Analysis of external factors affecting the realization of intelligence in IsfahanOrganizing public transportation with a score of 0.602 is an opportunity to realize the intelligence of the city of Isfahan. The unavailability of quality facilities and services with a score of 0.634, is considered the most important threat to the realization of intelligence.Urban planners emphasize that the importance of cities in the regional, national, or global economy is increasing. In this regard, with the aim of improving aspects such as quality of life and empowerment of citizens, urban intelligence is considered a conceptual scenario and urban planners are widely encouraged to implement smart solutions. The metropolis of Isfahan, the third most popular city in Iran and the fourteenth most popular city in the Middle East, needs to create perspectives to create a safe and sustainable environment for living and working in urban programs. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the main components of smartening approaches in Isfahan. The results of factor analysis based on the 37 variables show that the four factors of economic-managerial, economic-environmental, physical, and social aspects have the highest variance and are the most important components in the development of intelligence in Isfahan. Using the SWOT model, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of smartening in Isfahan were identified and relevant strategies were presented.Innovation: The concept of ‘Smartening cities’ is the ultimate form of approaches such as scattered cities, compact cities, smart growth, electronic cities, and smart cities which form and complement each other over time. In the present study, the common indicators of these theories were used to smarten Isfahan city. Keywords: Smartening Cities, Factor Analysis, SWOT, Isfahan. References- Abudu, D., Echima, R., & Andogah, G. (2019). Spatial assessment of urban sprawl in Arua Municipality, Uganda. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, 22(3), 315-322.- Afzali Naniz, M., Modiri, M., & Farhoudi, R. (2018). Prioritization of indicators in the process of smartening cities (case study of Kerman). Quarterly Journal of Urban Research and Planning, 9(35), 11-30 (in Persian).- Ahad, M. A., Paiva, S., Tripathi, G., & Feroz, N. (2020). Enabling technologies and sustainable smart cities. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 61, 1-11.- Artmann, M., Kohler, M., Meinel, G., Gan, J., & Ioja, I. (2017). How smart growth and green infrastructure can mutually support each other a conceptual framework for compact and green cities. Journal of Ecological Indicators, 1-12.- Azadkhani, P., Hosseinzadeh, J., & Ahmadi, Gh. (2019). Spatial analysis of smart urban growth indicators in Ilam. Quarterly Journal of Geography and Environmental Studies, 29, 59-68 (in Persian).- Azani, M., & Parvaresh, R. (2018). Comparison of land use pattern, surface dispersion and smart growth in sustainable development (case study: District 11 of Isfahan). Quarterly Journal of Geography and Environmental Studies, 7(25), 57-72 (in Persian).- Barba-Sánchez, V., Arias-Antúnez, E., & Orozco-Barbosa, L. (2020). Smart cities as a source for entrepreneurial opportunities: Evidence for Spain. Journal of Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 148, 1-10.- B., Khamparia, A., Sagayam, K. M., Sharma, S. K., Ahad, M. A., & Debnath, N. C. (2020). Blockchain for smart cities: A review of architectures, integration trends and future research directions. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 61, 102360.- Clement, J., & Crutzen, N. (2021). How local policy priorities set the smart city agenda. Journal of Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 171, 1-11.- De Guimaraes, J. C. F., Severo, E. A., Júnior, L. A. F., Da Costa, W. P. L. B., & Salmoria, F. T. (2020). Governance and quality of life in smart cities: Towards sustainable development goals. Journal of Cleaner Production, 253, 1-13.- Deilami, K., & Kamruzzaman, M. (2017). Modelling the urban heat island effect of smart growth policy scenarios in Brisbane. Journal of Land Use Policy, 64, 38-55.- Deng, Y., Qi, W., Fu, B., & Wang, K. (2019). Geographical transformations of urban sprawl: Exploring the spatial heterogeneity across cities in China 1992–2015, Cities, 105, 1-13.- Duygan, M., Fischer, M., Parli, R., & Ingold, K. (2021). Where do smart cities grow? The spatial and socio-economic configurations of smart city development. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 77, 1-36.- Heidari Kushkeno, M., & Almasi Sarvestani, R. (2020). Recognizing the components of smart citizen in urban environment with technological learning approach (case study of Yazd). Quarterly Journal of Urban Economics and Management, 7(25), 59-76 (in Persian).- Gabriel, S. A., Faria, J. A., & Moglen, G. E. (2006). A multiobjective optimization approach to smart growth in land development. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 40(3), 212-248.- Gehrke, S. R., & Clifton, K. J. (2017). A pathway linking smart growth neighborhoods to home-based pedestrian travel. Journal of Travel Behavior and Society, 7, 52-62.- Grant, J., & Tsenkova, S. (2012). New urbanism and smart growth movements. Elsevier Ltd.- Gren, A., Colding, J., Berghauser-Pont, M., & Marcus, L. (2018). How smart is smart growth? Examining the environmental validation behind city compaction. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 48(6), 580-589.- Hadi Biglou, H., Sarvar, R., & Nouri, A. (2018). Explain the feasibility of good urban governance with emphasis on smart location; Case Study of Tehran. Journal of Urban Management, 52, 189-204 (in Persian).- Hosseini, H., & Ghadami, M. (2013). Analysis of Sabzevar spatial physical development pattern. Journal of Geographical Space Quarterly, 13(44), 219-240 (in Persian).- Hosseinikhah, H., & Varesi, H. (2019). Smart urban growth with emphasis on TDR method to provide urban services (case study: Yasuj city). Quarterly Journal of Geography and Urban-Regional Planning, 9(32), 99-124 (in Persian).- Lee, J., & Lim, S. (2018). The selection of compact city policy instruments and their effects on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector: The case of South Korea. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 37, 116-124.- Li, X., Fong, P. S., Dai, Sh., & Li, Y. (2019). Towards sustainable smart cities: An empirical comparative assessment and development pattern optimization in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 215, 730-743.- Lom, M., & Pribyl, O. (2021). Smart city model based on systems theory. International Journal of Information Management, 56, 1-11.- Ma, S., Zhao, Y., & Tan, X. (2020). Exploring smart growth boundaries of urban agglomeration with land use spatial optimization: A case study of Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city group, China. Journal of Chinese Geographical Science, 30(4), 665-676.- Macke, J., Sarate, J. A. R., & de Atayde Moschen, A. (2019). Smart sustainable cities evaluation and sense of community. Journal of Cleaner Production, 239, 1-8.- Mattoni, B., Pompei, L., Losilla, J. C., & Bisegna, F. (2020). Planning smart cities: Comparison of two quantitative multi-criteria methods applied to real case studies. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 60, 1-29.- Mendonca, R., Roebeling, P., Martins, F., Fidelis, T., Teotonio, C., Alves, H., & Rocha, J. (2020). Assessing economic instruments to steer urban residential sprawl, using a hedonic pricing simulation modelling approach. Journal of Land Use Policy, 92, 104458.- Molaei, M., Shah Hassani, G., & Dabbachi, S. (2016). Explaining and analyzing how smart cities are in the context of key components and influential factors. Naghsh Jahan Research Quarterly, (3-6), 93-75 (in Persian).- Mouratidis, K. (2019). Compact city, urban sprawl, and subjective well-being. Cities, 92, 261-272.- Nastaran, M., & Farzaneh, P. (2019). Development and validation of criteria and indicators of smart city development (case study: district three of Isfahan). Journal of Geography and Urban Space Development, 6(1), 147-164 (in Persian).- Neirotti, P., De Marco, A., Cagliano, A. C., Mangano, G., & Scorrano, F. (2014). Current trends in smart city initiatives: Some stylised facts. Cities, 38, 25-36.- Pašalić, I. N., Ćukušić, M., & Jadrić, M. (2020). Smart city research advances in Southeast Europe. International Journal of Information Management, 58, 1-11.- Pearsall, H. (2017). Staying cool in the compact city: Vacant land and urban heating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Journal of Applied Geography, 79, 84-92.- Poorahmad, A., Ziari, K., Hatami Nejad, H., & Parsa Pashabadi, Sh. (2018). Explaining the concept and characteristics of the smart city. Bagh-e Nazar, 15(15) 5-26 (in Persian).- Prasad, D., & Alizadeh, T. (2020). What makes Indian cities smart? A policy analysis of smart cities mission. Journal of Telematics and Informatics, 55, 1-32.- Quijano-Sanchez, L., Cantador, I., Cortés-Cediel, M., & Gil, O. (2020). Recommender systems for smart cities. Journal of Information Systems, 92, 1-22.- Rahnama, M., Hosseini, M., & Mohammadi Hamidi, S. (2021). Assessment and evaluation of smart city indicators in Ahvaz metropolis. Journal of Human Geography Research, 52(2), 589-611 (in Persian).- Rezaei Bazanjani, R., Azani, M., Saberi, H., & Momeni, M. (2019). Strategic planning of Kerman urban areas based on smart urban growth. Journal of Geography (Regional Planning), 10(1), 157-179 (in Persian).- Richter, B., & Behnisch, M. (2019). Integrated evaluation framework for environmental planning in the context of compact green cities. Journal of Ecological Indicators, 96, 38-53.- Riggs, Chamberlain, F. (2018). The TOD and smart growth implications of the LA adaptive reuse ordinance. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 1-45.- Rokanuddin Eftekhari, A., Portaheri, M., & Adinehvand, E. (2021). Assessing the level of intelligent growth pattern in rural areas of Tehran. Journal of Spatial Planning, 24(1), 108-181 (in Persian).- Sciara, G. (2020). Implementing regional smart growth without regional authority: The limits of information for nudging local land use. Cities, 103, 1-10.- Sha, F., Li, B., Law, Y. W., & Yip, P. S. (2019). Associations between commuting and well-being in the context of a compact city with a well-developed public transport system. Journal of Transport and Health, 13, 103-114.- Shahbazi, M., Chobgin, H., & Nohesara, M. (2013). Electronic city (Concept to Application). Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 5(3), 889-909.- Sharifi, A. (2020). A typology of smart city assessment tools and indicator sets. Journal of Sustainable Cities and Society, 53, 1-37.- Shokri Yazdanabad, Sh., & Behzadfar, M. (2019). Reduction of environmental problems in organic and old contexts with the smart city approach (literature review and construction of field studies framework using network analysis technique (ANP). Journal of Urban Management, 54, 128-115.- Susanti, R., Soetomo, S., Buchori, I., & Brotosunaryo, P. (2016). Smart growth, smart city and density: in search of the appropriate indicator for residential density in Indonesia. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 227, 194-201.- Taghvaei, M., & Ali Akbari, A. (2018). Assessing the level of satisfaction with organizational housing in Isfahan, Geography. Quarterly Journal of the Iranian Geographical Association, 16, 59 (in Persian).- Balideh, A., & Rahimi, H. (2020). An analysis of the importance of environmental quality components from the perspective of tourists (Case study: Isfahan metropolis). Journal of Urban and Regional Sustainable Development Studies, 1(1), 21-31 (in Persian).- Taghvaei, M., Hosseinikhah, H., & Shakermi, K. (2019). Assessing and evaluating the factors affecting the realization of e-city and spatial analysis of digital divide in medium-sized cities (Case study: Yasuj city). Journal of Geography and Regional Development, 17(1), 125-154 (in Persian).- Taghvaei, M., & Kiomarsi, H. (2012). Application of techniques and models in tourism planning and management. Isfahan: Moazami Publication (in Persian).- Taghvaei, M., Varesi, H., & Khayyam Bashi, E. (2019). Isfahan Metropolis Resilience Prediction Model in Crises and Unexpected Events. Journal of Geographical Research Quarterly, 35(1), 20-30 (in Persian).- Taghvaei, M., Varesi, H., & Narimani, M. (2015). Physical development strategy and sustainable shape of Isfahan city with the approach of smart growth and intensive city. Journal of Urban Management, 41, 339-358 (in Persian).- Tappert, S., Klöti, T., & Drilling, M. (2018). Contested urban green spaces in the compact city: The (re-)negotiation of urban gardening in Swiss cities. Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning, 170, 69-78.- The Smart Growth Network (www.smartgrowth.org/about).- Trindade Neves, F., Castro Neto, M., & Aparicio, M, (2020). The impacts of open data initiatives on smart cities: A framework for evaluation and monitoring. Cities, 106, 1-15.- Ylipulli, J., & Luusua, A. (2020). Smart cities with a Nordic twist? Public sector digitalization in Finnish data-rich cities. Journal of Telematics and Informatics, 55, 1-18.- Zanganeh Shahraki, S., Khodabandeh Lou, H., & Abbasi Fallah, V. (2015). An Analysis of the Role of Intelligent Urban Growth in Strengthening Neighborhood Identity. Urban-Regional, 29, 214-201 (in Persian).

Keywords

• smartening cities
• factor analysis
• swot
• isfahan