Measuring the Effects of Development Pressure on the Physical Resilience of Coastal Cities With Emphasis on Ecological Criteria (Case Study: Babolsar City)

Paying attention to the criteria of physical resilience in the evaluation of the effects of urban development can, in addition to solving the problems of disproportionate distribution of space, housing, and services, prevent the extensive change of productive uses and threats to the coastal environment of these cities. This research has measured the effects of development pressure on the physical resilience of the coastal town of Babolsar with an emphasis on ecological criteria. The method of the present study is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical, and field in nature. The statistical population in this research included experts from the executive bodies and citizens of Babolsar city, and based on the Cochran formula, the sample size was determined to be 273 citizens and 48 experts. The method of collecting library and survey information and the process of data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics in the form of SPSS-PLS software and the SOAR model. The results of the research indicate that in the process of urban development in Babolsar, the impact of development pressure on ecological components has the greatest impact on habitat and wildlife and changing the natural landscape. Regarding the level of awareness and performance of urban management in reducing the impact of development pressure on physical resilience, from the point of view of citizens, the greatest performance is in the field of creating compatibility between the benefits of various economic activities, the lack of concentration of human activities in the fields of ecotourism, fishing industry, commerce,e, and services. According to the opinions of experts, the highest performance of urban management is in the field of development of public access to the beach and their lowest performance is in the field of preventing the change and destruction of fertile lands. Based on structural modeling, according to ecological criteria, development pressure has greatly affected the physical resilience of the coastal city of Babolsar.
 
Extended Abstract
1-Introduction
Paying attention to the criteria of physical resilience in evaluating the effects of urban development can, in addition to solving the problems of disproportionate distribution of space, housing and services, be effective in the proper organization of the urban space and prevent the extensive change of productive uses and threats to the coastal environment of these cities. To analyze more deeply the effects of development pressure on the physical resilience of coastal cities based on ecological criteria, we will investigate the issue in the coastal city of Babolsar. The city of Babolsar is one of the coastal cities of Mazandaran province, which is located at the end of the Babol River, under the influence of two natural factors, the Caspian Sea and the Babol River, and the formation conditions of the coastal plain of the Caspian Sea. According to the population and housing census of 2015, Babolsar has 59,966 people. population and area are 1938.1 hectares, this city had 7237 people and an area of 60.3 hectares in 1335 is The population of Babolsar city has increased by 8.28 times with a growth rate of 3.44% during the 35th to 95th census periods, and its area has increased by 32.14 times (Population and Housing Census, 1335-1395). In general, the growth of the city of Babolsar has been very high compared to the growth of the population, and no proportionality and order has been seen in this process. This disproportionate form of city development has led to many environmental problems such as indiscriminate construction in the 60 meters of the sea, reducing the quality of the coastal ecosystem, extensive land use changes, severe space limitations for development, etc. The topic of physical resilience becomes necessary to reduce vulnerability. Therefore, the main problem of the current research is to measure the effects of development pressure on the physical resilience of Babolsar city based on ecological criteria.
 
2-Materials and Methods
The method of the present study is applied in terms of purpose, descriptive-analytical, and field in nature. The statistical population in this research included experts from the executive bodies and citizens of Babolsar city, and based on the Cochran formula, the sample size was determined to be 273 citizens and 48 experts. The method of collecting library and survey information and the method of data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (one-sample t-test, Fisher test, Cramer's coefficient, and structural modeling) in the form of SPSS-PLS software and SOAR model.
 
3- Results and Discussion
Identifying vulnerable areas in coastal cities such as Babolsar to apply a sustainable management system that is appropriate to the ecological capacity of the region is one of the effective solutions to prevent the increasing destruction of these areas, and promoting sustainability and resilience in these cities is considered a priority. Exploiting the development rights of these areas and the resulting resources leads to land speculation, increasing real estate prices, directing development towards productive and ecologically sensitive lands, and socio-economic segregation. Indiscriminate exploitation of natural and underground resources, lack of attention to the quality of water resources, creating inconsistencies between the benefits of various economic activities due to partiality in development plans that can lead to inconsistencies between the interests of beneficiaries and local communities, limiting public access to the beach, the lack of efficiency of executive programs and the lack of coordination between decision-making bodies are important factors in the decline of environmental quality in these areas.
 
4- Conclusion
In the coastal city of Babolsar, according to the ecological criteria, the development pressure has greatly affected the habitat and wildlife, changing the natural landscape and reducing the physical resilience of the city. Little attention to the location of land uses by environmental issues (respecting the privacy of rivers), little attention to urban development plans to environmental considerations and the capacity of coastal places for development, and low compliance with urban planning rules and regulations in the areas of land use zoning, density and separation of land from vulnerable factors in the city It is a beach in Babolsar. Little attention to the ecological power of coastal areas in urban development programs leads to upcoming challenges, including unbalanced development, loss of place dignity, neglect of natural heritage protection, low resilience of the city in the face of disasters, and degradation of environmental quality. Based on the T-Tech test, a sample showed that the component of tourist attractions had a positive effect on physical resilience, and the component of land governance had a negative effect and was one of the factors reducing physical resilience in Babolsar city. The relation of the development factors affecting the physical resilience of Babolsar city based on the result of Fisher's test shows a significant relationship between the development factors and the physical resilience of Babolsar city. Regarding the level of awareness and performance of urban management in reducing the impact of development pressure on physical resilience, from the point of view of citizens, the greatest performance is in the field of creating compatibility between the benefits of various economic activities, the lack of concentration of human activities in the fields of ecotourism, fishing industry, commerce, and services. According to the opinions of experts, the highest performance of urban management is in the field of development of public access to the beach and their lowest performance is in the field of preventing the change and destruction of fertile lands. Based on structural modeling, according to ecological criteria, development pressure has greatly affected the physical resilience of the coastal city of Babolsar.