comparative analysis of environmental principals for the distribution of urban land uses (case studies: the united states, the great britain, canada and iran)

the aim of this research is to analyze the environmental principals which are used for land use planning of iranian communities in order to determine whether they are sufficient and efficient for conserving and improving the quality of urban environments or not. first, the environmental principals were extracted from municipal local plans (community plans) of the spatial planning systems of iran and some pioneer countries in the field of urban land use planning such as united states, the great britain and canada, and they were then categorized in two separate groups. having done that, through the analysis of the advantages, disadvantages and compatibility of these two groups, the homogenous and applicable environmental principals for urban land use planning in iran proposed in a combined new set. in the next stage, the environmental principals for the distribution of urban land uses planned for urban development of the region 5’s municipality of tehran (as one of the most recent practical set of principles applied for urban land use planning of iranian communities) were compared with the principals proposed in the new combined set. the results revealed that the region 5 principals are inefficient and insufficient for improving the quality of urban environment. in the final analysis, it was revealed that a combination of common and homogenous environmental principals of urban land use planning in the pioneer studied countries and iran can form an appropriate model for sustainable urban planning in iran.