Analysis of Location of Knowledge-Based Landuses with an Emphasis on Sustainability of City (Case Study: Bandar Abbas City)

Background and purpose: During the recent decades, the world has witnessed major economic, social, technical and environmental changes that have deeply affected the patterns of urbanization, human activities and lifestyle. Knowledge- based City is of the newly introduced concepts in the field of urban studies, which has been proposed with regard to the ever-increasing problems of cities, and the need to manage and develop this system based on knowledge and data. The components and indicators of knowledge-based city effect on one hand different urban areas, and on the other hand other urban areas affect this concept. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to explore and investigate the role of locating knowledge-based land-uses on attracting and retaining knowledge workers and managers of Bandar Abbas, and as a result the sustainability of the city.
Materials and Methods: this research, in terms of nature, is an objective research, in terms of epistemology, is a pragmatism research, and in terms of research method, it is considered qualitative research, and also has cognitive and applied aspects. The strategy used in this research is the grounded theory method. To collect the data of this research, the semi-structured interview method was used. The interviewee was free to answer the questions, and describe and explain the categories as far as he/she wanted to. To conduct interviews, the statistical population of the research included managers and knowledge specialists in 55 growth and technology centers in Bandar ­Abbas, which is a total of 68 people; moreover, the interview of the statistical population continued until the theoretical saturation, and as a result the sample population included 15 individuals of the relevant knowledge-based managers. The data collected from the interviews were analyzed by MAXQDA software. From the total of 501 frequency of the primary open code, 56symbols were created, and from this number of symbols, 18 concepts were created and the effective indicators in the realization of knowledge-based view in Bandar Abbas were obtained in 5aspects. Also, in order to check the distribution of knowledge-based land-uses in Bandar Abbas, distribution maps of knowledge-based land-uses and urban areas have been prepared by ArcGIS software.
Findings and discussion: indicators effective in realizing the knowledge city in Bandar Abbas have been obtained in 5aspects being proper urban infrastructure, desirable urban-structure, knowledge sharing, information and communication technology networks, and knowledge-based management; furthermore,  according to the maps prepared in ArcGIS software, it was found that in general, Bandar Abbas municipality district 1, out of the 4 districts, is in the best condition in terms of this type of land-use. In addition, higher educational use is considered as one of the main and important centers for attracting knowledge workers. In the eastern and western parts of  Bandar Abbas city, meaning district 1 and 3 of the municipality, other urban districts are far from this type of land-use. In other words, the distribution of this land-use is undesirable and it needs to be reviewed so that an optimal distribution is achieved.
Conclusion: In order to realize and strengthen knowledge-based aspect in Bandar Abbas, land-use shall provide the necessary benefits in the urban planning department, to attract and maintain the population and knowledge workers; , Therefore, urban development plans should be prepared according to the needs of knowledge-workers.  Considering that the conventional frameworks for preparing urban development plans are not appropriate in most cities, the Knowledge-based government should take actions in line with the desired urban-structure and appropriate infrastructures. This would be achieved with land-use planning and the prediction and distribution of knowledge-based land-uses in a multi-core manner at the city.