Efficiency evaluation of urban development in Yazd City, Central Iran using data envelopment analysis

Unplanned growth of cities is a matter of concern these days. Lack of attention to proper patterns of urban development has left so many harmful effects on human health and the environment. One of the most effective methods that can be used to measure the efficiency of urban development is data envelopment analysis (DEA). The present study is an attempt to evaluate the performance and efficiency of development of Yazd City using the DEA over the years 1983-2013. In this regard, the ecological factors, affecting the growth of the city of Yazd in the study period, were identified initially. The factors include elevation, slope, aspect, geology, morphology, soil, water quantity, climatic features, and land cover. Next, using variable returns to scale (BCC) based on the output-oriented approach, the efficiency of development of Yazd City was calculated by GAMS software to recognize efficient and inefficient units. Then, Anderson-Peterson (AP) ranking method was used to rank the most efficient units in the development of Yazd City over the study years. The obtained results indicated that the DMUs 2 (1984), 3 (1986), 12 (1994), 15 (1997), 21 (2004), up to 30 (2013) were efficient and introduced as units with proper performance in terms of ecological indicators affecting the urban growth. According to the Anderson-Peterson method, DMU 3 (1986) was recognized as the most efficient unit, ranked the highest (with a score of 1.20319) among the other 30 units in terms of ecological indicators affecting development of the urban growth. The research findings could clarify the strength and weak points of the ecological characteristics of the city. According to which, a comprehensive understanding of the performance of the city could be given to relevant authorities in order to amend inefficient units of urban development or direct the orientation of the city growth toward the most efficient directions.