Journal of Sustainable Urban & Regional Development Studies (JSURDS)
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Assessment of Social Justice Based on the City Prosperity Index in the Ten Districts of Tabriz

Articles in Press

Document Type : Article extracted from dissertations

Authors

Hossin Nazm Far 1
Vahid Rahimi 2

1 Professor, Department of Geography & Rural Planning, Faculty of Planning and Environmental Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

2 MSc of Science in Geography and Urban Planning, Mohaghegh Ardabili University of Ardabil, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract
Background and Objective: The contemporary world, marked by rapid transformations, requires dynamic indicators to promote justice—particularly in the fair distribution of urban services and facilities. Due to ongoing inequalities in developing cities, recent academic and institutional efforts have focused on urban models that integrate social justice to achieve sustainable development and improve the quality of life. Within this framework, the City Prosperity Index (CPI) has emerged as a key tool for evaluating justice across various urban dimensions. This study aims to assess the ten municipal districts of Tabriz in terms of their social justice performance, as one of the five main dimensions of urban prosperity.
Methodology: To achieve the research objectives, five criteria and indicators were employed, considering data limitations and the lack of official statistics. The spatial scope covers the ten municipal districts of Tabriz. The PROMETHEE and GAIA models were applied for ranking and analysis, while the ANP model was used for weighting the indicators. Geographic Information System (GIS) tools were also employed to visualize spatial patterns and disparities among districts.
Results and findings: The results of analyzing the social justice index across the five sub-criteria in the ten districts of Tabriz indicate that District 6, with a net Phi value of 0.400 and a score of 100, ranks first in terms of social justice performance. It is followed by District 2 (Φ = 0.178, score = 61.39). Districts 1, 5, and 9 fall within the medium level of social justice, with corresponding Phi values of 0.156, 0.133, and 0.044. In the low-performance range are Districts 8, 4, 3, and 7, with Phi values of –0.044, –0.067, –0.178, and –0.200, respectively. The lowest rank belongs to District 10, which demonstrates a highly unfavorable condition in terms of access to social justice–related services and facilities. Among the ten districts of Tabriz, only Districts 6 and 2 occupy high or very high positions in terms of social justice, whereas Districts 8, 4, 3, and 7 exhibit poor conditions, and District 10 shows a very poor status. Therefore, promoting balanced urban growth and reinforcing the driving factors of social justice should be prioritized by urban planners and decision-makers in Tabriz.

Keywords

Keywords: Social Justice
Urban Prosperity
Tabriz
PROMETHEE
GIS
Subjects
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Available Online from 23 May 2026

  • Receive Date 10 March 2026
  • Revise Date 19 April 2026
  • Accept Date 19 May 2026
  • First Publish Date 23 May 2026
  • Publish Date 23 May 2026

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