Explaining the role of the coast in the transformation of the spatial organization of coastal cities in the context of historical developments (Case study: Mahmoudabad city)

During the recent decades, the coastal city of Mahmudabad has faced many challenges and issues, including changing the spatial organization of the city in the context of economic abuses and spatial organization disproportionate to the needs of the local people and reducing ecological capacities, due to the rapid physical growth and rapid population adoption. Thus, the spatial developments of this city have been studied in terms of the urbanization developments of the last few decades. The aim was to know the elements of the spatial organization of the city of Mahmudabad in different historical stages and to analyze its spatial dynamics. First, with an analytical method, a structured review of the ideas of thinkers and related research experiences has been done; then, the applicability of the obtained factors has been considered as judging criteria for the urban space organization of Mahmoudabad in different periods, through the documentary review and interpretation of aerial photos. Research data has been collected from existing documents, including travelogues, books, urban development documents, interviews, and aerial images. The research period was from 1872 to 2020. The results indicated that the city of Mahmudabad has been affected by the ruling of political systems and population growth, migration trends, and demand for land and housing during different periods. The study of the change process of the city's spatial organization showed that this city's spatial organization has changed from a very simple and organic spatial organization to a complex organization with the predominance of specific elements of tourism, entertainment, and administrative service. Therefore, in the spatial organization of coastal cities, including the city under study, the formation of tourism zones with the predominance of coastal towns, temporary residential-recreational zones, and high-altitude zones with temporary recreational-leisure functions is the dominant spatial issue.
 
Extended Abstract
Introduction
During recent decades, the coastal city of Mahmudabad has faced many challenges and issues, such as changing the city's spatial organization in the context of economic abuses and spatial organization that is not proportionate to the needs of the local people and the reduction of ecological capacities. Thus, in this research, an attempt has been made to examine the spatial developments of this city in terms of urbanization developments in recent decades. Therefore, the research aimed to know the elements of the spatial organization of Mahmudabad in different historical stages and to analyze its spatial dynamics.
Methodology
First, with an analytical method, a structured review of the ideas of thinkers and related research experiences has been done; then, the applicability of the obtained factors has been considered as judging criteria for the urban space organization of Mahmoudabad in different periods, through the documentary review and interpretation of aerial photos. Research data has been collected from existing documents, including travelogues, books, urban development documents, interviews, and aerial images. The research period was from 1872 to 2020.
Results and discussion
The findings showed that the coastal cities of the northern part of Iran, especially the city of Mahmoudabad, have adopted a different pattern of urban growth in recent decades. But various forces such as population growth, area, increase in the division of social work, multiple uses, and opening of communication routes have played a role in the city's spatial organization. But the dominant force in the city's spatial organization is the formation of large areas of second homes and tall towers along the coast and the income from extensive construction inside and outside the city. The findings indicated that in different time processes, the lifestyle and house building, activity, and income generation of the people of Mahmudabad have changed. The most important factor is the growth of land purchase demand, extensive construction of villa. The construction of villa houses and the recreation towers of the second house caused the shape and city's spatial organization to change from a rural-urban agricultural, livestock, and fishing to a tourist and recreational city. As in recent researches, the dominance of tourism in the organization of coastal cities has been confirmed. Also, the findings of this research showed that over time, the mix of uses in the central part of the city has changed and the amount of diversity, density and granularity of uses has also increased, and this has increased the role of the centrality of the city and the prominence of this part compared to other parts of the city. The important point regarding the research problem is the transformation of the spatial organization of Mahmudabad. The coastal cities of northern part of Iran, including the city under study, due to their proximity to population centers such as Tehran, Karaj, Rasht, Sari, Mashhad, etc., have followed their development process from the demands created in these cities. Also, the reopening of transmission routes, the increase in car traffic, and the improvement of the people's economic situation have increased the importance of tourism in northern cities, including Mahmoudabad. This has increased the role of tourism in northern cities and the growth of land and housing prices, including in the city in question. The existing findings indicated the change in the role of Mahmudabad from the traditional function to the service-tourism role.
Conclusion
The results indicated that Mahmudabad has been affected by the ruling political systems and population growth, the migration process, and the demand for land and housing. Examining the change process of the spatial organization of the city showed that the spatial organization of Mahmudabad has changed from a very simple and organic spatial organization to a complex organization with the predominance of special elements of tourism, recreation, and administrative service. Therefore, in the spatial organization of coastal cities, including the city under study, the formation of tourism zones with the predominance of coastal towns, temporary residential-recreational areas and elevated zones with temporary recreational functions is the dominant spatial issue.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the persons for scientific consulting in this paper.