Determining the capacity infill development in growing metropolitans : a case study of Urmia city

Growing population and increase of urbanization have created a phenomenon called urban sprawl in major cities of the world that have imposed many environmental and economic consequences on cities. Recent researches have shown that Urmia urban development process has always been as urban sprawl during the last years and there is an essential need to reduce this process. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determining the capacity of Urmia city areas and identifying a suitable plot for infill development. By investigating the current situation of Urmia, and the policies of smart growth attitude, urban infill development policy was selected as a good solution to deal with Urmia sprawl. The prone and potential areas have unique features for urban infill development which their identification and separation depend on various factors. Selection of all factors is not possible for conduction of research, so, in the present study, nine parameters resulted by the descriptive-analytical method, based on the past studies and other scholars' experiences, Experts comments, information and existed indicators in the region. Evaluate the indicators, face to face interviews (using a researcher-made questionnaire) have been performed by experts in the field too. Determine the importance coefficient of the parameters, the analytical-hierarchy approach used. Finally, the provided informational layers entered the appropriate mathematical models and integrated based on the logic governing these models. The current study based on the current OWA approach to overlap the layers and the maps were simulated and prepared in scenarios. Results show a large area of Urmia is suitable for urban infill development and major parts with the potential of this development is located in region 3 and one respectively. Also, region 4 is at a proper level regarding access to examined indexes.