دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی برنامه ریزی استراتژیک برای کشت درختان و درختان میوه در منازل شهری با استفاده از روش SWOT: مشهد - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

In urban landscape planning, using or not-using fruitful trees and shrubs as part of urban agriculture is a significant challenge. This study evaluated the important factors affecting cultivation of fruitful shrubs and trees in urban landscapes. It also utilized these factors in developing effective strategies for cultivation of these groups of plants in landscaping of the metropolitan city of Mashhad, Iran. It would be crucial for urban landscape managers and decision-makers to understand the relative importance of the affecting factors and to develop effective planning strategies for using these groups of plants in urban landscaping. To support their decision making process, a SWOT analysis approach was applied. Twelve factors and their relative weighting were examined through focus group interviews. This was followed by a semi-structured questionnaire survey with landscape decision makers in the city of Mashhad. The results suggested a range of SWOT strategies among which StrengthThreat (ST) strategies were the most important strategies. These ST strategies should be applied in productive cultivation of trees and shrubs in landscape development in the city of Mashhad. One of the main strategies which might be applicable for urban agriculture development in developing countries is using germplasms of native fruit trees with low water requirements. Using native species leads to sustainable use of local water and soil resources that are critical in these countries, such as the countries in the Middle East, on the benefit of employing more labors that are relatively cheap. This can also improve satisfaction of the society with reduction in unemployment rates.

3.3. SWOT matrix and strategic position

To develop the SWOT matrix, internal and external factors and their associated weights and coefficients were compared together and appropriate and effective key strategies based on authors’ experiences, field data and documents were studied and recorded. The strategies presented in Table 5 are the general guidelines to achieve the ultimate goals. On the basis of the above analysis and its comparison with the results of the previous studies, the following countermeasures are essential to be considered for developing urban agriculture in Mashhad, Iran. Production cost was a big challenge to develop urban agriculture (Poulsen and Spiker, 2014). Therefore, strategies to reduce it such as establishment of agricultural landscapes close to the shopping centers, decreasing labor costs for tree cultivation, handling and fruit harvesting through encouraging people’s participation, and propagating and selling fruit trees as a source of income should be taken into consideration. One of the strengths in developing urban agriculture in Mashhad is presence of fruit shopping centers which belong to the municipality and this strength can be used not only for developing urban agriculture in this city, but also for promoting agricultural products with high standards of health. Furthermore, strategies associated with marketing and market improvement such as “pick your own” or “buy one get one for free” are realized as another important requirement in developing economical utilization of urban agriculture (Chengyong, 2010; Liu, 2013). Moreover, sustainable urban agriculture requires rich knowledge and skills on low-input products. The involvement of experts and professionals with high knowledge and experience contributes to promote knowledge of this field (Cheng-yong, 2010), and also can assist to industrialize agricultural production in the urban environment (Liu, 2013).