On the master plan conformance with urban reality: A comparative assessment

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The gap between urban planning and its implementation in cities has led to the evaluation of urban plans which heightens the efficiency of plans. This research evaluates the dissimilarities between the city’s reality and planned prospects. METHODS: To assess that, the Delphi technique was utilized to determine the criteria then Geographic Information System and quantitative models namely Mean Center, Standard Deviational Ellipse, and Planning Implementation Rate were employed. FINDINGS: The outcomes reveal that Mashhad’s direction of urban development corresponds to the master plan. The second estimated alternative for the population (with 83.52%) has a high level of conformity. On the subject of land use, conforming and non-conforming uses account for 47% and 23.80% respectively. A preponderance of non-conforming uses is in the south-to-east, north, and northwest parts of the city, and zone 7 accommodates the highest area of non-conforming uses among other zones. The implementation rate is 94.7%, showing that the current urban forms were implemented following the master plan to a large extent. However, the construction outside the city’s limit is not under regulation. Three areas with high density located in the west, northwest, and east (Bahonar town) have the highest level of non-conformity. CONCLUSION: The master plan could not achieve its street network goal due to an approximately 58% mismatch with the existing network. As a result, the conflicts in spatial findings could have been shaped by the implementation or inattention to planning regulations.