Mid-Size City Management Performance in Land Use Planning: A Case Study of Urban Land Use Disparities in Bonab

Abstract
Rapid Urbanization and concentration of population in urban areas is one of the main characteristics of today’s world. In developing countries lack of necessary infrastructures, disproportionate growth, insufficient planning skills and mismanagement have caused great disparities in the distribution of urban land uses. This brings insecurity among inhabitants and inhibits sustainable development. The hypothesis of this paper is based on the quantitative and qualitative differences of land use distribution that exist between national standards and local applications with emphasis on the role of city mismanagement in the issue. Bonab, the case study, is a small town in East Azerbaijan Province. Urban land use in various aspects is analyzed by using four indexes of “desirability, capacity, adaptability and social justice”. The result shows that desirability index is positive due to physical settings of the place, where topography does not prevent future expansions. The other three indexes, however, are all proved to be negative mainly due to unplanned and uncontrolled distribution of land uses. Weak management and dispersed decision-making centers play the major role and enhance problems.

Keywords: Urban management, Urban land use, Evaluation, Compatibility analyzes, Bonab.