A query in the assessment of development in metropolises Iran Case of study: Shiraz city

Measurement the condition of urban amenities distribution for achieving to balance in different urban relations is critical. Accordingly, this study is formed based on configuration of distribution of urban services and amenities in Shiraz city as one of the most important metropolises in Iran. While investigating this issue, the answers to these questions would be determined that first, how is the distribution of homogeneous areas of Shiraz in terms of development and second, what factors are most effective in reducing developmental discrepancy between different areas of this city. To answer these questions, various methods including field studies and documentary studies have been used for data gathering. Using these methods, 60 indicators have been studied which 35 of them have been assessed by questionnaire and 25 of them have been specified by referring to the various government information and documentary information. For data analysis, two techniques have beenused which are factor analysis and numerical taxonomy. After specifying the indicators, using factor analysis of the data, 15 factors or hide indicators have been extracted. The results of numerical taxonomy of this study demonstrate that historical - cultural areas and marginal areas of south, east and north-east of Shiraz are in a low level of development and between different areas of the city is a huge difference in terms of development. According to this study, three factors can greatly reduce this huge difference which are : the first factor, the radius of access to infrastructural organizations in the field of sport and health (such as clinic and hospital) and the economy (such as banks). Second, factors such as income, family welfare, employment and empowerment of families which are assisted by funding agencies, and the third factor, the quality of urban infrastructure such as asphalt and water.These three factors collectively cover more than 40% of the variance and so it seems that Shiraz urban management at the first step should plan for promoting these factors in the deprived areas.

Keywords:

development , development indicators , numerical taxonomy , factor analysis , hierarchical clustering