A Participatory Framework for Land Re-Adjustment in Inefficient Urban Fabrics: A Fuzzy-Delphi Approach to Physical Development Modelling (Case Study: Eastern Zone of Zanjan City)

Norouzi, Akbar; Ardalan, Daryoush; Khatibi, Seyed Mohammadreza

doi:10.22034/ijumes.2026.2086768.1359

A Participatory Framework for Land Re-Adjustment in Inefficient Urban Fabrics: A Fuzzy-Delphi Approach to Physical Development Modelling (Case Study: Eastern Zone of Zanjan City)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Akbar Norouzi

Daryoush Ardalan

Seyed Mohammadreza Khatibi

Department of Urban Planning, Qa.C., Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran

10.22034/ijumes.2026.2086768.1359

Abstract

Inefficient urban fabrics, characterised by structural decay, fragmented land tenure, inadequate infrastructure, and socio-economic marginalisation, represent one of the most pressing urban governance challenges of the twenty-first century. In Iran, more than 166,000 hectares of urban land equivalent to 23 per cent of the national urban area are classified as Inefficient , rendering conventional, top-down redevelopment strategies both financially unsustainable and institutionally inadequate. This study proposes an operational model for land re-adjustment (LRA) within Inefficient urban fabrics in eastern zone of Zanjan city, grounded in the principles of physical development and validated through a participatory Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM). The research adopts an analytical–applied design; data were gathered through documentary and library methods and assessed qualitatively. Drawing on a systematic review of theoretical layers, twenty-one initial factors were extracted and subjected to four sequential Fuzzy Delphi rounds with a fifteen-member expert panel. Successive rounds applied escalating consensus thresholds (2.5, 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 on a five-point Likert scale), reducing the factor set from 21 to 18, 15, 13, and finally confirming 13 indicators as the proposed model. Consensus was verified by Kendall's coefficient of concordance, which reached 0.792 in the final round. Findings indicate that spatial organisation (4.17), urban fabric connectivity (4.15), street permeability (4.25), and ownership rate (4.25) exert the highest influence on the proposed LRA model. The study concludes that the integration of physical development principles with participatory land management instruments constitutes a strategically viable path toward sustainable urban regeneration in Iranian mid-size cities.

Graphical Abstract

A Participatory Framework for Land Re-Adjustment in Inefficient Urban Fabrics: A Fuzzy-Delphi Approach to Physical Development Modelling (Case Study: Eastern Zone of Zanjan City)

Highlights

● A fifteen-member expert Fuzzy Delphi panel validated thirteen physical development indicators for land re-adjustment (LRA) in Inefficient urban fabrics across four iterative rounds, reaching Kendall's W = 0.792 as evidence of stable expert consensus.

● Street permeability and ownership rate (both mean = 4.25) emerged as the highest-priority model indicators, confirming that spatial inaccessibility and fragmented land tenure are the co-primary structural barriers to LRA implementation in Iranian Inefficient urban contexts.

● Spatial organisation (4.17), urban fabric connectivity (4.15), and system efficiency (4.16) constitute the second-tier priority cluster, establishing morphological coherence and systemic integration as essential design objectives for LRA-guided regeneration schemes.

● The Fuzzy Delphi process demonstrated progressive convergence evidenced by declining standard deviations and stabilising Kendall's W across rounds, confirming theoretical saturation and validating the methodological rigour of the thirteen-factor proposed model.

● The study contributes an operationally applicable, participatory, and theoretically grounded model that directly connects physical development principles with land management instruments, addressing a documented gap in the urban regeneration literature for Iranian mid-size cities like Zanjan city.

Keywords

Fuzzy Delphi method

Inefficient urban fabric, land re-adjustment, physical development, urban regeneration, Zanjan City

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