Introduction Unstructured use of motor vehicles has created many social problems especially in large cities. Heavy traffic, fatal accidents, obesity and less mobility, voice pollution, air pollution, ...physical harms such as headache, eye sting, respiratory diseases, heart diseases, some cancers and finally increasing of consumption of the fossil fuel are some direct consequences of the expansion of the using motor vehicles in large cities. A basic strategy in confrontation with these social problems, is expansion of using bicycle in urban transportation particularly for short trips. Using bicycle has widely been considered in many large cities in developed countries because of economical, traffic, physical and the environmental advantages but has not been developed in Iran. Concerning the difficulties of Iranian large cities in base possibilities in transportation and also extraordinary production of the motor vehicles that has been reached to 2 million cars in a year, using bicycles is necessary. Many factors have been presented for explaining of the barriers of the expansion of the using bicycle for transportation but on the basis of the attitude-behavior theories in sociological area it seems that there is a significant relationship between attitude toward bicycle and using bicycle. Attitude is a negative or positive emotional state into a subject that consists of three dimensions of cognitive, behavioral and sentimental. Allport believed that attitude affects on ones response to objects and the related situations. Fishbein and Ajzen in framework of the reasoned action theory showed that there is a close relationship between attitude toward a specific behavior and doing that behavior but there is a mediator between them in which is titled intension that is ones tendency to act. Results of the meta analysis of the research that have investigated relationship between attitude and behavior show that attitude can explain behavior but the rate of the coefficient in every topic or area is different. Method and Materials The research is a survey study. The population is all men aged 15-64 in Isfahan. Sample size is 400 persons that were selected by means of random multi stage sampling method. The measurement tool is two researcher-made scales including using bicycle and attitude into bicycle. The using bicycle scale was divided into two dimensions of working use and creational use, and attitude toward bicycle was defined into two aspects of cognitive and emotional attitude. Validity of the scales was measured by factor analysis technique, and reliability was calculated by cronbach alpha coefficient. Based on the results, KMO test is 0.933 for using bicycle scale, and 0.838 for attitude toward bicycle scale, which show that the sample size is adequate. Moreover, Bartlett test, is significant for both scales, suggesting that there is a significant correlation among variables. In total, the factor analysis of the using bicycle scale, after the elimination of 1 item, extracted two factors, including working and creational, and also factor analysis of the attitude toward bicycle scale, after the deletion of 6 items, extracted two factors, including cognitive and emotional. The results show that the explained variance in the using bicycle scale is 56.8 percent and in the attitude toward bicycle scale is 34.5 percent. The reliability of the scales has been calculated using alpha cronbach coefficient, that the value is 0.93 for the using bicycle scale, and 0.68 for the attitude toward bicycle scale. In total, 400 persons answered the questionnaires. The mean age of respondents is 33.7 years. 190 respondents (47.5%) are single and 209(52.2%) are married. 387 respondents (96.8%) are employed and 13(3.2%) unemployed. 11 respondents (2.8%) are illiterate, 84(21%) have education lesser diploma, 146(36.5%) are diploma, and 157 respondents (39.3%) have academic education. On the basis of the scales results, the mean using bicycle score with range of 0-76 is 18.02 and the mean attitude toward bicycle score with range of 14-70 is 51.3. Is there a significant relationship between attitude toward bicycle and using bicycle? For the purpose of the measurement of the relationship between two constructs totally, and their dimensions, simple linear regression test has been used. The results are presented in Table 1.On the basis of the Table 1, the relationship between attitude toward bicycle and using bicycle is significant. The table also shows that the relationships between various dimensions of the two constructs are significant, except the relationship between emotional attitude toward bicycle and creational use of bicycle. Table 1. Relationship between Attitude toward Bicycle and Using Bicycle. Variables R Adjusted R Square F Sig Beta t Sig Attitude toward bicycle Using bicycle .188 .033 14.6 .000 .596 3.8 .000 Emotional attitude toward bicycle Working use of bicycle -.102 .008 4.2 .041 -.314 1.2 .041 Emotional attitude toward bicycle Creational use of bicycle .017 -.002 .11 .741 .055 .33 .741 Cognitive attitude toward bicycle Working use of bicycle .236 .053 23.4 .000 .459 4.8 .000 Cognitive attitude toward bicycle Creational use of bicycle .218 .045 19.9 .000 .462 4.5 .000 Is there a significant relationship between demographic variables and using bicycle? In the framework of the demographic variables, five variables including marital status, employment situation, age, income, and education level have been considered and their relationship with the using bicycle has been analyzed using suitable statistical tests. The results show that there is a significant relationship between marital status and using bicycle and the single men use bicycle more than married men. There is no significant relationship between employment situation and using bicycle. There is a significant relationship between age and using bicycle and with arising age using bicycle is decreased. There is a significant relationship between income and using bicycle and with increasing income using bicycle is decreased. And finally there is no significant relationship between education level and using bicycle. Discussion and conclusion The main goal of this research is to investigate relationship between attitude toward bicycle and using bicycle among the men in Isfahan. Based on the descriptive research findings, mean using bicycle score is low in Iran. This situation is not satisfactory for a metropolis such as Isfahan that has an increasing population and motor vehicles, and also has many difficulties in urban base facilities and must be changed. In addition to mean attitude toward bicycle is high that is an opportunity for urban planners. Inferential findings show that attitude toward bicycle has a significant impact on using bicycle. In other words, increase attitude toward bicycle means an increase in using bicycle for short trips. This research finding theoretically confirm relation between attitude and behavior. Moreover it is compatible with results of the research that show there is significant relationship between attitude toward bicycle and using bicycle. There is an inverse significant relationship between age and using bicycle and with rising age using bicycle is decreased. This research finding shows that urban infrastructure in Isfahan for using bicycle is not available and consequently with rising age, bicycle risk is increased. There is a direct significant relationship between income rate and using bicycle and with increasing income rate, using bicycle is also increased. This research finding is rooted in social prestige bicycle and higher classes prefer to use motor vehicle for transportation instead of bicycle. There is a significant relationship between marital status and using bicycle and single men use bicycle more than married men but there is no significant relationship between education level and using bicycle. This research findings show that with rising education level in spite of rising income, using bicycle is not decreased. And finally there is no significant relationship between employed and unemployed persons in using bicycle. On the basis of the evidences such as increasing population and motor vehicles in large cities in Iran and existence of difficulties in urban infrastructure for transportation, expansion of the culture of using bicycle is necessary. Findings of this research show that there is a significant relationship between attitude toward bicycle and using bicycle. So this article suggests that for diffusion of using bicycle culture, urban planners must try to create positive attitude toward bicycle among citizens and increase it.
The present study examines some heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) contents in urban soils of 23 cities in Isfahan province, central Iran. For this purpose, 83 topsoil samples were ...collected and analyzed by ICP-MS. Results showed that the concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn are higher than background values, while Co, Cr and Ni concentrations are close to the background. Compared with heavy metal concentrations in selected cities around the world, As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations in urban soils of Isfahan are relatively enriched. Moreover, natural background concentrations of Co, Cr and Ni in Isfahan province soil are high and the apparent enrichment relative to other major cities of the world is due to this high background contents. Calculated contamination factor (CF) confirmed that As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn are extremely enriched in the urban soils. Furthermore, pollution load index (PLI) and Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) highlighted that highly contaminated cities are mostly affected by pollution from traffic, industries and Shahkuh Pb-Zn mine. Based on hazard quotients (HQ), hazard index (HI) and cancer risk (CR) calculated in this study, human health risk (particularly for Pb and Cd) have reached alarming scales. Results from principle component analysis (PCA) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) introduces three sources for soils heavy metals including mine and industries (mainly for Pb, Zn, Cd and As); urban activities (particularly for Cu, Pb and Zn); and geogenic source (Ni, Co and Cr).
•The soils of the study area are highly contaminated with As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn.•Co, Cr and Ni are mostly geogenic in the soils of the study area.•Mining, steel industry, municipal waste dumps and traffic are the main sources of soil pollution.•Exposure to soils contaminated with Cd and Pb poses high cancer risk for local inhabitants.
IntroductionIn 2016, almost 55% of the world’s population were living in cities which is anticipated to amount to 66% by 2050. As the population grows, competition between cities as tourism ...destinations also grows (Boivin & Tanguay, 2019:67). Tourism is a major industry globally, with so many people spending their time in recreation and travel each year (Taghvaei & Jozi-Khamsalouei, 2016:163). This rapidly growing industry which is affecting economies considerably (Bazrafshan & Bameri, 2018:168), is becoming one of the main components of the world’s trade shortly (Taghvaei & Hosseini-Khah, 2017:9). Today, tourists seek to gain more interactive and satisfying experiences, as creative tourism can be an effective way to connect this (Mohammadi et al. 2016:5). Creative tourism is gaining momentum and seeks to provide modern tourism development strategies (Kiani Salmi & Safari, 2017:117). Creative tourism paves the way for societies to achieve development (Saniei et al. 2014:84). With an oil-dependent economy, Iran has not done non-oil economy and revenue generation through other channels; thus, it should seriously engage in tourism (Taghvaei et al. 2013:172) because it enjoys the potential to become a strong tourism hub.Meanwhile, creative tourism refers to a more developed form of tourism that has a rich historical and cultural background in Iran, especially in Isfahan (Shafie et al. 2014:251), which enjoys nationally and internationally-recognized attractions and draws many tourists from all over Iran and the world (Taghvaei & Izadi, 2012:32). Therefore, given the positive outcomes that tourism may bring about for cities and also the role of the city of Isfahan as a tourism city, the present research investigates the most important components affecting the creative tourism development in Isfahan and emphasizes tourism attractions. It also seeks to answer the following questions: What is the distribution of tourism attractions in Isfahan? AndWhat are the most important components affecting the development of creative tourism in Isfahan?Data and MethodThe present research falls under applied-developmental studies in terms of goals and uses a descriptive-analytical method from a methodological perspective. Data required were gathered from library and document sources and field surveys. A research questionnaire was developed using indicators extracted from books, scientific articles, views, and related theories in creative tourism, including four dimensions and 29 indicators. Also, factorial analysis, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) (TOPSIS and SAW), Partially Ordered Set (POSET) methods, and entropy coefficient were used to analyze the data.According to Isfahan’s Handicraft and Tourism Organization, the statistical population was 850000 in 2018. The Cochran formula yielded a total sample size of 385 tourists and officials working in the tourism sector (Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization) selected via the snowball sampling method.Results and DiscussionFactor analysis model findings suggest that social-cultural (9 variables), artistic-cultural (6 variables), structural-institutional (7 variables), and finally economic (6 variables) factors were the most important factors affecting the materialization of creative tourism in the city of Isfahan, which could explain 49.73% of the total variance. AHP, TOPSIS and SAW methods were used to prioritize the indicators. Also, the POSET method was used to rank the indicators.Model findings of the cultural dimension suggest that the criterion of official attention to the cultural heritage, learning experiences and new skills and holding handicraft industries workshops are ranked first to third, respectively. Model finding of the structural dimension also suggests that creativity in design, standard location and quality of tourism infrastructure, and the effects of night transportation on the use of tourism attractions take first to third ranks, respectively. The prioritization of social dimension indicators reveals that the sub-criterion of security and peace of mind in tourism spaces, greater interaction between people and tourists and holding sports-cultural games take first to third priorities. As regards the economic dimension, components of handicrafts industries marketing, appropriate distribution of sale centers and diversity of tourism services consistent with all income groups are ranked first to third. In the meantime, the entropy coefficient for the distribution of attractions in the city of Isfahan was 0.5, which indicates a greater concentration and imbalanced distribution of the attractions in the municipal districts of the city. It is thus required to develop and balance new attractions fundamentally.ConclusionWith so many historical sites, the metropolis of Isfahan is considered one of the most popular tourist hubs in Iran, which necessitates tourism planning for this city. The distribution of tourism attractions in Isfahan indicates greater concentration and imbalanced distribution of the attractions in municipal areas of the city. Despite the large number of tourists flowing into this city, their presence is limited to some areas, with people of Isfahan themselves having to travel longer distances to see the attractions. Thus, one of the critical solutions is to employ successfully implemented models and ideas for creating new attractions in areas which lack attractions. Also, to materialize creative tourism in Isfahan, it is imperative to provide planning on major components and indicators and understand and prioritize these indicators so that creative tourism is developed and implemented.
There is a growing public concern about the potential accumulation of heavy metals in agricultural soils of Iran. This is mainly the result of rapid urban, mining and industrial discordant ...development over the last several decades, which has jeopardized the ecology, food safety, human health, and sustainable development of agriculture. To investigate the soil pollution, a total of 105 agricultural soil samples and 40 background soil samples were collected from the Isfahan industrial zone. Accordingly, total concentrations of 7 heavy metals (including Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Co and Cr), associated with Al, Fe, Mn and some physicochemical properties of soils were determined. The geochemical background and threshold was predicted using the Median Absolute Deviation (MAD) method. The median concentrations of heavy metals in agricultural soil were nearly similar to those of background soil, with some outlier data in the vicinity of the industrial and mining areas. Based on correlation coefficient and factor analyses, the primary source of Ni, Co, Cr, Fe and Al was determined to be geogenic, whereas the source of Pb, Zn and Cd is substantially controlled by anthropic activity. Our observations proved that in the Isfahan industrial zone, both human and natural sources affect the concentrations of Cu and Mn. Maps of heavy metal pollution indices in agricultural soils reveal high level of pollution in the vicinity of BamaPb-Zn mining area along with Esfahan and Mobarakeh Iron-Steel plants.
•The geochemical background of heavy metals was determined by MAD method.•The multivariate statistical analysis methods were used to identify of elemental affinity.•Nemero's soil pollution index (Pn) was used in the evaluation of agricultural soil quality.•Pn show that Pb, Zn and Cd have high degree of contamination in the study area.•The maps of the pollution indices showed the high level of pollution nearby and along the mining and industrial zones.
Introduction: Today, the parasitic contamination of edible vegetables, which are usually consumed raw, is one of the important issues of human societies. Parasitic contamination has been repeatedly ...identified in previous studies on edible vegetables. Due to the changes in farmers’ behavior regarding the use of fertilizers for agricultural land fertility over recent years, some changes have certainly happened in the contamination level of these crops, which are investigated in this study. Objectives: The present study seeks to examine the changes in the infection of vegetables caused by the use of chemical fertilizers as an alternative to animal and human excretion for the fertilization of cultivatable soil. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using the descriptive cross-sectional method in Isfahan, Iran. In this regard, 70 samples from 10 types of edible vegetables, including leek, basil, mint, spring onion, radish, parsley, lettuce, cress, tarragon, and coriander, were prepared from 70 vegetable shops of the city. Each sample was placed in a separate bag and evaluated after washing, centrifugation, sedimentation, and staining. Eventually, the results were reported as descriptive statistics. Results: None of the prepared samples were contaminated with the pathogen parasite in the present study. Conclusion: Due to the change in farmers’ behavior concerning fertilization of agricultural products, it seems that the parasitic contamination of these products has lowered, and it is necessary to focus on other contaminants of these products, such as chemicals.
This study investigates trace elements and PAHs content in road dust of Isfahan metropolis, central Iran. The mean concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn are 22.15, 2.14, 182.26, 66.63, ...393.33, 6.95 and 707.19mgkg−1, respectively. When compared with upper continental crust, the samples generally display elevated trace element concentrations, except for Co and Cr. The decreasing trend of calculated enrichment factors (EFs) is Cd>Pb>Sb>Zn>Cu>As>Ni>Cr>Co. Calculated potential ecological risk reveals that among the analyzed metals, Cd and Pb, have a higher potential ecological risk. Statistically, two identified main sources of trace elements include road traffic emissions and resuspension of soil particles. As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb and Zn in Isfahan road dust are strongly influenced by anthropogenic activity, mainly traffic emissions, while Co, Cr and Ni originate from resuspension of soil natural parent particles. The sum of 13 major PAHs (∑13PAHs) mass concentration ranges from 184.64 to 3221.72μgkg−1 with the mean being 1074.58μgkg−1. PAHs sources are identified using PCA analysis. It is demonstrated that the PAHs in Isfahan road dust are mainly derived from traffic emission, coal combustion and petroleum. Toxic equivalent concentrations (TEQs) of PAHs in the road dust ranges between 25.021μgkg−1 and 230.893μgkg−1. High correlation coefficients (r2=0.909 and 0.822, p<0.01) between Benzoapyrene, Benzob+kfluoranthene and toxicity equivalent concentrations of road dust indicate that Benzoapyrene and Benzob+kfluoranthenes are major TEQ contributors. The total incremental life time cancer risk (ILCR) of exposure to PAHs from Isfahan metropolis urban dust is 4.85×10−4 for adult and 5.02×10−4 for children. Estimated results of ILCR indicate that Isfahan residents are potentially exposed to high cancer risk via both dust ingestion and dermal contact.
•This study assesses a comprehensive environmental risk of trace metals and PAHs pollution in road dust.•As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn contamination were found to be significantly elevated in Isfahan road dust.•Traffic is the major contributing source of road dust pollution.•Exposure to PAHs in road dust poses high cancer risk for Isfahan residents.
Artemisia L. is the largest genus of the Anthemideae tribe and one of the largest genera in the family Asteraceae. Globally, the number of species of this genus has been more than 500 species, of ...which 34 species have been reported in Iran and 8 species in Isfahan province. The wide distribution of Artemisia species in Iran makes this genus one of the main elements of the Irano-Turanian region. In order to morphologically investigate the genus Artemisia, quantitative and qualitative characters related to reproductive and vegetative structures of this plant were collected in 64 samples. Based on morphological characters resulted from the specimens using GenAlEx 6.5 and NTsys 2.02 software, cluster diagrams and principal component analysis (PCoA) were drawn. In the cluster diagram, the Seriphidium Besser ex Less. Dracunculus Besser Rydb. and Artemisia subgenera were placed in separate clusters and next to each other. The results of the present study showed that some traits such as gender and situation of flowers in the capitulum, indumentum of the stem and receptacle, the situation of petiole at the basal and middle leaves, trichrome on both sides of the leaf surface, and the shape of outer phyllaries and their indumentum have more taxonomic value. Finally, an identification key of the Artemisia species in Isfahan province was provided.
Sustainability assessment and sustainability indicators are familiar terms that have gained significant importance. Non-compliance between the sustainable development principles and transportation ...infrastructure projects is changing the appearance of historic cities from livable and vibrant atmosphere into the car-oriented condition and cause environmental and social problems. There exist numerous studies on measuring the sustainability of transportation at the country, state, city, and even traffic zone levels, but few have addressed the sustainability of micro-scale projects. The objective of this study is to assess the sustainability of infrastructure projects on urban transportation systems and evaluate their compliance with principles of sustainable development. According to made intensive field visits, run expert interviews, and development master plans relevant to the case study, nine scenarios are proposed to improve the traffic situation of Azadi district in Isfahan city. Obviously, a slight change in the urban streets network, would have a significant effect on traffic performance in larger area, therefore, all the proposed scenarios are modeled in Trans Cad 5.0 software environment to determine their influence area (IA) as the study area. Ten quantitative indicators in three dimensions (environmental, social, and economic) pertinent to the urban transportation are selected based on review of the related literature and available data in Isfahan. The IA and all proposed scenarios are simulated and calibrated in AIMSUN 8.0 environment and the indicators are quantified in a direct and indirect manner through AIMSUN outputs. A composite sustainability index (CSI) is applied for integrating the effects of selected indicators based on their rankings given by the experts regarding to the goals of Isfahan vision in 2025. The results indicate that public transportation development projects are the most compliant scenarios with the principles of urban sustainable development and the best options for the future development in Azadi district. This proposed framework, would assist policy-makers and traffic engineers in other cities to evaluate the sustainability of urban transportation infrastructure projects.
•Present a framework for transportation infrastructure projects sustainability assessment•Determining the influence area (IA) of the case study through Trans Cad 5.0 software•Considering 10 sustainable indicators and quantified through AIMSUN 8.0 abilities and predictive models•Aggregating indicators with respect to the goals of Isfahan vision in 2025•Propose public transportation development projects as the most sustainable scenarios
