Abstract ABSTRACT "A STUDY OF GROWTH AND RELATED PROBLEMS OF CITY IN "

1. Introduction: The urbanization is always associated with crowding and related issues. Such problems are well felt all over the globe. Iran is r>ot exception to the same. In addition to this, the country is under growing economic change and hence rural-urban migrations have added the severity of the problem. The present study attempts to understand such problems and to suggest ways and means to resolve them. For this type of study one city like Malayer is selected as the study region.

2. Distribution of population in Iran and Hamedan State: According to 2006 census, about 170326 of total population of Iran (70495782), to exist in Hamedan state. In Hamedan province, the largest city is Hamedan with 637304 populations and it has ranks 14' in the population between the other province of Iran. This province has 22 cities which one of them is Malayer city.

3. Malayer District: The Malayer is located in west of Iran and is situated in the south-west of the Hamedan province. This city is including 3 districts, 1 central district (Malayer), 2, district and 3, Jukar district. This city is bounded by Hamedan city to north, Arak city to east, and to west and to south. The present study aims at understanding the problems and prospects of Malayer with an urbanization perspective.

4. Malayer city: According to 2006 census, total geographical area of ^'e Malayer is 2218.28 hectare. In 1956 census, the Malater city had 33.8 thousand people, which were concentrated in the city center. In other word the urban population has had

VI considerable increase during the years and in 2006 census the population was 172683. Malayer is second largest city in Hamedan state and in hieractural order of the population centers, it appears to be a major pole in absorbing the population and presenting the urban services, the growth need programmer the concerning urban and rural fields.

5. Malayer City at a glance: According to researches the city of Mahyer has a record less than 200 years where as in some places around the city, had been records of pre-historic citizenship. Malayer plan is the place of living of a race who was the witness of different kings and a lot of different evident in different historical eras. So, it becomes clear that Malayer has been developed in a wide geographical area in which there were citizens so long time ago. This city is formed in a very fertile flat plain beside a river called "Haramabad" in the West of the city. In the center of Malayer in the present place of the city, by the order of Fath Alishah - the King of Iran - for his son to live there and gradually became important and attracted the population of the village and other cities nearby and this caused its physical development and population increase to today's situation. Unfortunately, from the beginning of the Islamic of revolution in Iran (from 1986) this city has been like other cities of Iran and the migration from villages to city has been high and can be observed till today and hence new neighborhoods are constantly being established. It created too much problems like density of population in the city special in city center, lack of accessibility to some functions, etc. In 1986 to 1996 population growth were 39% and the last decade (1996-2006) it was 19%.

6. Hypothesis: It is well known fact that unless the problems of urban growth are not addressed properly, the urban life cannot be smooth. The present study attempts to understand such problems and to resolve the same for well being of the society. Thus, the hypothesis of the study based on this can be stated as under:

VII " 1. Malayer city has observed growth due to migration from the surrounding villages.

2. The urban growth has caused some changes in landuse in Malayer city. The space allotted to different urban functions has also increased. However, distribution of functional areas within the city is uneven. There is need to redistribute such areas according to the needs of the growing population of Malayer city.

3. Proper planning regarding distribution of urban services may be useful to make the city sustainable."

7. Main objectives: The main objective of the present work is to understand the problems associated with the growth of the city and to formulate plan to minimize such problems. Therefore, following objectives have been kept in mind for the present study. • To outline the growth of Malayer city from 1966-2006 and understand the factors of urban growth. • To identify and analyze landuse changes in the city. • To assess the problems in old center and newly added areas of the city. • To suggest an appropriate planning strategy to solve the problems of the city.

8. Methodology: The study carried out according to the following steps: 8.1. Secondary data has been collected from library, centre of census, Municipality of Malayer, Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Education, Universities, urban schemes of Malayer etc. The data about the population and all elements of population were collected from census center in 2006 of Iran and Hamedan province.

8.2 Primary Survey: It is difficult to get the data from secondary sources for some of parameters at micro level. Therefore, field survey was carried out. The survey was conducted to understand problems in the city and further information was gathered from

VIII educational, commercial, industrial and cultural centers. The data were collected by visiting and interviewing the knowledgeable persons.

8.3 Mapping with GIS: With the help of primary and secondary data, the maps were prepared. In addition, to extract aid and new landuse maps were prepared from Land sat TM and ETM+ data. Comparing new and old landuse maps in GIS changes of the city were understood. This information was used for urban planning in Malayer city. The data have been analyzed by ILWIS software.

9. Arrangement of Text: The present work is organized in five chapters. The study covers a period of few years term (from past up to now) to see the changes in the functioning of towns and their impact. The chapter one deals with the introduction, research questions, study area, hypothesis, objectives of the study, methodology, organizations of the study, etc. It also includes review of related literature. This chapter thus explains quality of living index in Iran like social index, educational index, etc. The urban standards in Iran like standards per capita of commercial, educational residential, transportation have been introduced in this part of the thesis. The second chapter deals with location, characteristics and geographical situation of Malayer city. This chapter also presents physiography, drainage, soils and climatology of the city. The population growth, migration, sex ratio, age distribution, demographic changes, literacy and about vocational structure would also be presented in the chapter. The third chapter is mainly devoted to deal with urban functions, services and urban life in Malayer city. The functions selected for study are green space, defense, commercial, residential, cultural, religious, industrial, transportation, health and hygiene, educational, sports facilities, tourism and entertainment centers, administrative, urban installations and equipment etc. The per capita areas under different landuse have been calculated and presented in the chapter. It is observed that the highest percentage is for residential area (27.39%) and the lowest percentage is for tourism and entertainment (0.03%).

IX The fourth chapter presents the planning strategies and suggested plan for Malayer city for minimizing severity of the urban problems.

This is followed by the fifth chapter which presents major findings, limitations, and significance along with concluding remarks.

10. Suggestions: The programs related to controlling the population and area of the city are considered as one of the programs of the countries for urban planning. It is clear that suggestions and proper solutions are the factors that can lead the cities for better human life. Therefore, the unbalanced development of the cities will be prevented. The study has made the suggestions like better implement of government schemes for Malayer city such as improvement of functions, the control of migration and usual expansion. It has also been suggested planning, that can help to develop the city in the future with minimum damage to environment.

11. Conclusion: The study has identified information and knowledge base regarding strengths of Malayer city. The present work has helped to introduce solutions to the need and problems of this city. Furthermore, use of soft ware ILWIS has helped urban planning and has introduced the scope to improve and implement the schemes. According to research, incompatibility between landuses and unsuitable sites are important problems of Malayer city. These problems have made other problems in the city such as traffic, density of population and landuses in the city center. Therefore, if we keep the landuses in suitable site, it will solve many problems that need urban planning for better human resource and environment. The well-designed planning strategy based on problems and present situation can help to resolve the problems in the city and other cities as well. Thus, the study concludes that the hypothesis stated in the beginning, has been proved.

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