Analysis of the State of the Urban Ecological Edge with an Emphasis on Ecotourism (Study case: District 15 in the southeast of Tehran)

The ever-increasing population growth and the destruction of nature and the replacement of artificial spaces in their place have created many environmental problems for cities. Therefore, cities that are managed without regard to the environment and the effects of human activities on it, cause irreparable damage to the natural landscape. The ecological approach is a necessary approach in the reconstruction of existing urban contexts, the use of natural attractions in the field of ecotourism. The main question of the research is the analysis of the factors and areas that have caused negative changes in the ecological margin of the 15th district in the southeast of Tehran by emphasizing ecotourism. The research is applied in terms of purpose, in terms of analytical nature and in terms of qualitative-quantitative method and library information collection method. The statistical population of the research includes 80 experts from the municipality of Region 15, neighborhood development offices and urban planning professors, and the technique used is the Delphi method. The sampling method is probability type and classification type and the data collection tool is a closed questionnaire. Data analysis is from TOPSIS model. The results of the findings show that environmental, physical, economic, social, management, tourism, and functional factors have an effect on the natural attractions of the southeast edge of Tehran (region 15). Also, the analysis of the data shows that the green space and vegetation preservation criterion with a score of 0.504 has been able to be at the top of the examined criteria. 1. Introduction Rapid urbanization in Iran has caused problems such as land use changes, reduction of green space, social anomalies, spread of pollution and spread of instability. The impact of the mentioned problems is different in urban areas and causes environmental, physical, social, and economic differences. On the other hand, changes in land use for economic gain cause the destruction of green space and have a direct effect on the ecological edge of urban areas. Ecological edges are linear elements that play a role in the formation of the urban landscape and defining the boundaries of cities. The new patterns of the city of Tehran and life in it have long distanced citizens from the experience of being in nature and connecting with it. However, most urban areas have natural boundaries with valuable ecological elements and a platform to satisfy the naturalistic needs of citizens. (Ebrahimi Dehkordi, 1399/ 2). Based on the physical development and expansion of the city of Tehran and its surroundings, the level of green space and vegetation and urban edges is reduced and such growth continues until now. District 15 in the southeast of Tehran is one of the important areas of urban planning, based on meeting the needs of leisure and tourism and having natural attractions. In the south and east of Tehran, we are facing a density greater than the city's capacity and an unbalanced and non-standard distribution of recreational and tourism facilities. If most of the focus of tourism facilities and preservation of natural attractions is in the northern part of Tehran city. At present and during the past years, sufficient and effective measures have not been taken to maintain, support, sustain and develop ecology in this area of Tehran metropolis in terms of preserving ecological opportunities. Therefore, the research is looking for the reason for the negative changes in the ecological edge of the 15th region in the southeast of Tehran, with an emphasis on ecotourism. 2. Literature Review Urban edges are linear elements that are not used as roads or their nature is not useful in this discussion and is kept hidden in the halo of other functions. A quantitative physical edge is an element of the urban landscape that evokes a visually recognizable extension in the mental image of citizens. (Askarzadeh and Shokohi, 1399: 33). Natural attractions on the edge of cities can be used for another benefit in the tourism industry. Ecotourism is a relatively new phenomenon in the tourism industry, which forms only a part of the whole industry. This form of tourism enables human leisure activities mainly in nature and is based on purposeful travel combined with cultural, spiritual impressions, visiting and studying natural attractions and enjoying and enjoying its diverse phenomena. (Ashley et al, 2022: 62). Theorists such as Richard Register, Mark Roseland, David Enguichet, Ken Worthy, John Kanz, Rodney Erwight, Bantgar and Darko Radukovich have mentioned the issue of ecological city in different fields. Meanwhile, more emphasis has been placed on Darkovich's theory. He considers ecological urbanism and ecological city to be the design and planning of cities on different scales in such a way that they are environmentally and culturally responsible and responsive to the conditions of their environment, and he believes that there are three main characteristics, namely ecological sustainability, which means the ability of the community and ecosystem to provide activities in The future stages without any pressure on the key resources of that system, as well as cultural sustainability, which means improving the quality of life to the extent that the ecosystem can tolerate, and finally, economic sustainability, which means accompanying environmental protection, will emerge in the ecological city.( Darko, 2009: 153.) The review of the research conducted in the field of ecological edge and ecotourism shows that in most studies more attention has been paid to the effect of environmental and economic factors on the ecological edge and the state of ecotourism in cities. But in the current research, in addition to environmental and economic factors, other physical, social, managerial, tourism and functional factors have been paid attention to in the ecological and ecotourism field, and this attention shows the difference and innovation of the research compared to other studies. 3. Methodology This research is applied in terms of its nature and based on a descriptive-analytical method. The statistical population consists of 80 experts from the municipality of Region 15, neighborhood development offices and urban planning professors. The sampling method used in the current research was a stratified and probabilistic one. In this way, the population of experts is divided into sub-populations. When the classes are known, one sample is extracted from each class. The data collection method is a library, which was used to determine the thematic framework, to know the concepts, views and theories, and based on this knowledge, as well as the basic studies on the geographical features of the region and life experience, the appropriate theory was chosen for the research. The data collection tool is a closed-ended questionnaire. TOPSIS model has been used to analyze the state of the ecological edge with an emphasis on ecotourism. 4. Results Considering the dimensions and criteria of the ecological edge of the 15th district in the southeast of Tehran, with an emphasis on ecotourism, using the TOPSIS model, the amount of analysis of the mentioned dimensions has been determined. On this basis, first, the criteria and items were calculated; This means that the questionnaire was filled out by the experts of the 15th district municipality, the 15th neighborhood development offices, and the professors of the urban planning field, and the average answers were calculated in the desired item, and then summarized under the dimensions, and in order to evaluate the criteria, it was placed in the TOPSIS model to determine the state of the attractions. be measured naturally. In relation to the answer to the research question, the environmental, physical, economic, social and managerial dimensions, tourism and performance have been influential on the ecological edge of District 15 in the southeast of Tehran. Based on the reviewed data, it can be said that the criterion of preserving green space and vegetation, with a score of 0.504, has been able to be at the top of the criteria and occupy the first place. 0.484 was able to take the second place among the criteria, and the criterion that took the third place emphasizes on increasing the availability of suitable infrastructure in order to access services, and finally, criteria such as reducing environmental pollution, improving the income Among the attractions of ecotourism, determining the border between the context and the periphery, promoting the establishment of public security, etc. are in lower ranks respectively. 5. Conclusion District 15 in the southeast of Tehran and as one of the big areas of Tehran has many natural resources and attractions that can attract tourists, but management organizations did not pay attention to it in their plans and programs. One of the important needs of the residents of the mentioned area is to have access to tourism facilities in natural areas and away from the crowded areas of the area, so that instead of visiting and traveling a long distance to the northern part of the city, they can enjoy recreational facilities in the area of their residence. Also, the heights in the southern and eastern edge of the region, such as Masoudi and Bibi Shahrabano, are suitable spaces for the development of tourist sites. These areas with their heights have the ability to attract citizens from other areas. On the other hand, due to changes in land use and destruction of green space, especially the change of Mesgar Abad area from rural to urban context, illegal constructions, existence of social anomaly and low level of security, existence of air pollution, etc. Do not spend leisure time on this edge. The results of the data analysis showed that the criterion of preserving green space and vegetation in the environmental dimension, the criterion of the continuity of the physical and natural form i