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Reviewing the Concept of Territorial Cohesion and operationalizing it in Fars Province
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MAJID DELFI  , ESFANDIAR ZEBARDAST * |
| TEHRAN UNIVERSITY , zebardst@ut.ac.ir |
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Abstract: (493 Views) |
Objective: Considering the ongoing studies to review the spatial planning plan of Fars Province, the concept of "Territorial Cohesion" of the European :union: can be used to set goals and measure the level of cohesion in the indicators accepted in past periods to enable better policy-making for the future. By examining the spatial and regional plans in Fars Province, due to the conflicting nature of the plans' goals and their inconsistency with the existing transitional conditions, the necessity of defining umbrella concepts is felt so that, in addition to forming a comprehensive political attitude, it is possible to temporarily de-contesting the concepts in the direction of public action and improving evaluation.
Method: Due to the contesting nature of macro-concepts such as territorial cohesion, in order to operationalize them, there is a need to address them through a combination of essentialist/pragmatist and positivist/constructivist lenses. In this regard, the methodological structure of the INTERCO project, which was used by ESPON to develop territorial cohesion indicators, was used in the present study.
Results: The concept of territorial cohesion has not been directly used in the plans of Fars Province. Thus, macro-narratives (storylines) that can implicitly express this concept were synthesis by reviewing the visions, perspectives, and goals of the plans; in parallel, the criteria and indicators used regarding territorial cohesion were compiled from theoretical potential indicators and ESPON thesaurus and presented in focus groups. The macro-narratives are sometimes competitors, non-aligned, or in conflict with each other, which were discussed in workshops (a total of three workshops). By passing through the filter of eight criteria of the concept of territorial cohesion (used by INTERCO), four macro-territorial goals were proposed for Fars Province, and the indicators for measuring each of the goals and the desired direction of changes were agreed upon. Finally, the status of cohesion for each indicator was measured by calculating sigma convergence
Conclusions: The present study shows that in the year of preparation of the spatial planning plan of Fars province, out of 35 indicators that have been examined in the form of four territorial goals, 14 are in a state of convergence. We have also faced a lack of data to measure the indicators of governance, and environmental quality at the county scale, which shows the necessity of defining these indicators and measuring them in future plans. |
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| Keywords: Regional Planning, Spatial Planning, Balanced Development, Territorial Convergence, Mixed research method |
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
عمران و شهرسازی
Received: 2024/12/17 | Accepted: 2025/03/12
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