Organizing and developing the tourism axis of the villages of Vardij and Varish

Based on international experiences, if tourism does not adopt a sustainability approach, meaning balancing its economic, environmental, and socio-cultural dimensions, its drawbacks will outweigh its benefits, leading to long-term environmental quality degradation and subsequent reduction in tourism volume. Therefore, tourism should aim to improve the quality of life of the host community, ensure intergenerational and intra-generational equity, preserve environmental quality through maintaining the ecosystem, and ensure cultural integrity and social cohesion among communities, as well as create necessary facilities and amenities. The reality is that managing waterways and rivers in Tehran is highly costly in terms of human resources (including legal, administrative, and enforcement costs) and financially, especially during rainy seasons when they cause problems for the city. However, through modern approaches in urban tourism and developing sustainable tourism potential in these river valleys, not only can costs be significantly reduced, but organizing commercial and recreational activities and environmental valuation within these areas can also contribute to the city's and municipality's economy. These river valleys, apart from creating recreational and economic opportunities in the city, help urban management achieve diverse goals such as increasing recreational areas, sports grounds, and creating more security in undefended spaces. The main objective of this research is to examine the capabilities and limitations of northern Tehran's river valleys to achieve sustainable tourism development, so that while protecting environmental values, it can also be economically beneficial for urban management. This project, based on its goal, falls under applied research and, in terms of its nature, is categorized as descriptive-analytical research and survey-based methodology. For collecting information relevant to the research topic, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used. Information collection methods in this research are documentary and survey-based, with specialized interviews, observations, document reviews, and questionnaires organized based on the Likert scale. The sampling method in this project, given the statistical population, is cluster-based. Required information for this research is collected through both library and field methods. In this research, Cronbach's alpha method is used for reliability measurement, and the alpha coefficient is calculated using SPSS software. For analyzing the collected information, qualitative methods are used in two ways: preparing and producing cognitive and analytical maps using SWOT tables for analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and quantifying strategies using the SWOT quantitative matrix and determining the strategic position of the studied area. This knowledge base is compiled into four main sections: the first section outlines the river valley issue and the necessity of finding ways to reduce costs and increase sustainable revenues through interdepartmental synergy among responsible executive agencies. The second section discusses various tourism development theories focusing on urban tourism. The third section evaluates the current status of the river valleys, and the last section presents proposals and solutions.