@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2538-4384    Geographical Researches 2020;35(2):95-103

Background
Sports space per capita is of great importance because of sport's undeniable role in public physical and mental health.
Previous Studies
Balanced, equal, and sustainable development of the sports space is essential in space development programs [Namazi & Hosseini, 2018]. Razavi et al. (2010), in their research on the spatial analysis of sports space in Amol, show distribution of the majority of the small sports sites is not standard in terms of the practical distance. Although medium and large sites are better distributed, they do not still meet the exact standards. Ghorbani et al. (2016) believe the lack of the correct and appropriate sports space distribution is one of Iran's serious problems, including the city's social inequity, inappropriate access, and bad impacts of various land-uses on each other. Sports space per capita is one of the fundamental information needed to construct and develop sports space [Pourmohammadi et al., 2011].
Aim(s)
This study aimed to analyze the per capita sports space and Geo-locate them in Golestan.
Research type
This is a descriptive survey carried out using field studies.
Research society, place and time
The current research statistic population includes all sports sites in Golestan cities.
Sampling method and number
721 sports sites (all sports sites in Golestan) were studied in this research.
Used devices&materials
ArcGIS and SPSS software were used for the preparation of the map and the statistical analysis, respectively.
Findings by Text
According to table 1 and the general census of the population and housing in 2016, Golestan province had a population of 1868819 in which 995615 people live in cities, and 871546 people live in the villages. From the total of 1415159 m^2 sports spaces in the province, 668733 m^2 accounts for the urban areas, and 746425m^2are allocated in rural areas. The detailed information is shown in Table 1.According to the table2, 1046258 m^2out of 1415155m^2 are outdoors, while 368897m^2 are indoors. As for the location, 746425m^2 are located in rural areas and 668730m^2are located in urban areas, which are presented in table 2 in detail. The current research results show 145 out of 721 sports sites are outdoors, and 578 are indoors. According to figure 1, 179 and 542 sports sites out of 721sites are located in rural and urban areas. 293 sites are owned by the administration of sport and youth, 54 sites by the governmental entities, 26 sites by the universities, 225 sites by the private sector, 17 sites by the municipality, 87 sites by the education department, and 19 sites by the army.According to table 3, total sports space per capita in the province is 0.76m^2 while it is 0.86m^2 in rural areas and 0.71m^2 in urban areas. In-detail information of the cities is shown in table 3, separately.
Main comparison to the similar studies
The evaluation of Golestan sports space shows sports space per capita in the province is 0.76m^2 which is 0.86m^2 in rural areas and 0.71m^2. Rezaie (2010) showed the per capita sports space is 0.8m^2 which shows the sports space has not changed significantly. According to the recommended sports space in the fourth development program (1m^2), there is no considerable difference between the Golestan sports space per capita and that of the fourth program. Golestan's situation is even better than that of Alborz, with 0.24m^2, Isfahan with 0.37m^2And Tehran with 0.50m^2 [Alavi et al., 2018; Namazi & Hosseini, 2018; Hadian, 2016].
Suggestions
According to the distribution maps and the concentration of sports space in cities' main streets, it is suggested to pay more attention to the distances to provide better access to all residents. The current research results can help the chiefs have a better understanding of the construction of new sports sites and set proper priorities. It is suggested to build new sites in areas with less per capita sports space. It would be good to build new sites in rural areas since they suffer from the shortage of indoor sports space. The last point is that the needed area estimation is not the only criterion that should be considered in land use planning, but geo-locating, a combination of various land uses, and different land uses' relationship with each other should be mentioned.
Limitations
There is no limitation reported
Conclusions
According to the results, the per capita sports space is less than the country development program's recommended area. Moreover, they are not distributed fairly, and there is a significant difference between rural and urban areas.
Acknowledgments
We thank all directors of sports and youth administration in Golestan who supported the current research.
Conflict of interest
This article is extracted from a research project by Islamic Azad University of Gorgan and Golestan administration of sport and youth. Then, there are no conflicts of interest.
Ethical Permissions
The statistical population of the current research includes all sports sites under the supervision of sport and youth administration. Such sites' location information is presented with the permission of the administration.
Funding Sources
The current research is extracted from a non-academic project, and all funds are paid by the Golestan administration of sport and youth.

TABLES and CHARTS

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