Strategic analysis of the sponge city for zoning areas susceptible to green infrastructure development in Zanjan city

Document Type : Original Research Articles

Authors

1 PhD Student in Geography and Urban Planning, Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

2 Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

The sponge city approach, as a new paradigm in sustainable surface water management, is a strategic response to the challenges arising from accelerated urban development and changes in the natural hydrological cycle. The present study is a descriptive-analytical study following a strategic analysis of the sponge city approach for zoning areas susceptible to green infrastructure development in the city of Zanjan. The research indicators are in two categories: objective statistical data that were extracted and analyzed in the form of a map, and GIS analyses. The second is subjective data in the form of sponge city components, including 4 welfare-cultural components: supporting, regulating the city ecosystem, and productive. For data analysis, the fuzzy overlap technique in the GIS environment, the one-sample T-test with SPSS software and the Structural Equation Modeling with SmartPLS software were used. The research findings show that 40% of the city area (mainly in the southern and southwestern regions) is located in areas with high and very high priority for flooding. These critical areas are mainly characterized by a slope of less than 5 percent, a high density of hard tissue (more than 60%), and a distance of more than 500 meters from the main waterways. Thus, the concentration of critical flood hotspots is in the southern and southwestern regions of the city. Also, the production components with a coefficient of 36.83 and the support components with a coefficient of 41.32 are in a relatively favorable state. On the other hand, according to the structural equation model analysis, the welfare-cultural component with a path coefficient of 3.356 has the largest contribution to explaining the sponge city in Zanjan. Overall, realizing a sponge city in Zanjan requires a serious determination to transform integrated surface water management, redesign urban spaces based on permeability patterns, and combine technical solutions with improving cultural-welfare indicators.

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References

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Geography and Regional Future Studies
Volume 4, Issue 2 - Serial Number 14
Summer
August 2026
Pages 142-157

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