Assessing the Current Situation of Ahvaz Metropolis in Using Technology to Improve Environmental Quality

Document Type : Independent Research Articles

Authors

1 Ph.D. in Geography and Urban Planning, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Shahis Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Nowadays, the intelligent use of technology as an efficient strategy to improve environmental quality, especially in the cities of advanced countries, is on the agenda. In this process, measuring the current situation is considered the first step towards using technology to improve environmental quality. However, the problem is that such a measurement has not been done in the Ahvaz metropolis. Therefore, the aim of the research is to measure the current situation of the Ahvaz metropolis in terms of using technology to improve environmental quality. This research is an applied-developmental problem-oriented study that follows an exploratory approach by using the document library and survey data collection methods. The Kolmograph-Smirnoff, Shapiro-Wilk, TT sample, and Friedman ranking tests were used for analyzing the data. The survey tool was a 5-point Likert questionnaire, whose final content validity and reliability were confirmed by the professors' opinion and Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.893, respectively. The statistical community of the research consisted of experts. The sampling method was a two-stage cluster, through which 142 samples of academic experts were selected. Considering that the number of the statistical population is not known, this sample size is sufficient according to Rasko's rules. Based on the findings of the research, following a passive and deterministic attitude, which is under the influence of centralist policies in the framework of the center-periphery system and the political economy based on oil rent, has caused not only the use of technology in this metropolis not be done to improve the quality environmental protection, but it has also created many problems in Ahvaz metropolis, especially environmental problems. In the end, some solutions were suggested based on the research findings.

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