Page 117 - JCAU-7-3

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Spatial analysis of urban garden space

production in relation to rural land use: A case
study of Zanjan City

Manijeh Ahmadi 1 , Zahra Khodakarami 2 , Ahmad Asadi 3 ,
4
Mohammad Taghi Heydari * , and Mohammad Sadeg Azizi 2
1 Department of Geography, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran
2 Department of Geography and Rural Planning, Faculty of Geography, Kharazmi University, Tehran,
Iran
3 Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Humanities, Bozorgmehr University of
Qaenat, Qaen, Iran
4 Department of Geography and Urban Planning, Faculty of Humanities, University of Zanjan,
Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

The present study examines land use pattern changes from a food security
perspective. In this study, Landsat series satellite images were classified using
*Corresponding author: R software, applying two different classification methods: Neural network and
Mohamad Taghi Heydari
(Mt.heydari@znu.ac.ir) random forest. These methods were applied to satellite images from five different
years – 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020. The findings indicate a growing trend in
Citation: Ahmadi, M.,
Khodakarami, Z., Asadi, A., Heydari, Garden City development, driven by the conversion of barren lands and pastures
M.T. & Azizi, M.S. (2025). Spatial into gardens and arboretums. This transformation can have both potential positive
analysis of urban garden space and negative impacts on the region’s physical and environmental indicators.
production in relation to rural land
use: A case study of Zanjan City. In addition, the expansion of urban and industrial spaces has been one of the
Journal of Chinese Architecture and primary causes of natural vegetation loss. Furthermore, an analysis of land cover
Urbanism, 7(3): 6234. changes from 2000 to 2020 using IDRISI TerrSet software revealed that a significant
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.6234
portion of barren land was converted into tree plantation. This shift is in line with
Received: November 18, 2024 the expansion of Garden City activities in the studied area, particularly in the past
Revised: February 11, 2025 decade.
Accepted: February 20, 2025
Published online: March 20, 2025 Keywords: Production of space; Garden City; Land use; Food security; Zanjan City
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution- 1. Introduction
Non-Commercial 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all Urban food supply has gained prominence in academic discourse (Zerbian &
non-commercial use, distribution, Romero, 2021). In 2020, an estimated 720 – 811 million people worldwide faced
and reproduction in any medium, hunger, highlighting the urgency of addressing food security (Food and Agriculture
provided the original work is
properly cited. Organization [FAO] et al., 2021). Despite global efforts, progress toward the Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) of ensuring year-round access to safe, nutritious food for all
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with remains insufficient, and malnutrition persists. One promising approach to enhancing
regard to jurisdictional claims in food security and livelihoods is urban agriculture. By cultivating crops and raising
published maps and institutional livestock within city boundaries, urban agriculture strengthens local food systems
affiliations.

Volume 7 Issue 3 (2025) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.6234