University of Isfahan Geography and Environmental Planning 2008-5362 28 2 2017 08 23 Measuring the Ranking of Urban Settlements of Ardabil Province in terms of Possessing the Creative City Index Measuring the Ranking of Urban Settlements of Ardabil Province in terms of Possessing the Creative City Index 167 184 22259 10.22108/gep.2017.98107.0 FA Hossein Nazmfar Sarideh Alavi Ali Eseghi Journal Article 2015 09 25 Cities are always centers for innovation and creativity, and today the world is witnessing a jump to a better quality of life, and trying to improve the quality of life is one of the main goals of its development. In this way, focusing on cities as the main players is very important. Each of the urban settlements of Ardabil province has the capability to become a creative city due to its historical background, rich culture, ethnic diversity, borderline location, holding numerous festivals and having many traditional foods. The purpose of this study was to assess the status and distribution of the indicators of a creative city via using the multi-criteria and decision-making models in the city of Ardabil. The research method of is descriptive-analytical through utilizing TOPSIS model, <em>VIKOR </em>and Shannon Entropy Index. In this research, urban settlements in Ardabil province have been ranked and graded according to 26 indicators of the creative city indexes. The results of the study show that the level of utilization of urban settlements in Ardebil province is different from the indicators of the creative city and there is a great gap between the urban settlements of the province. The best situation in terms of indicators of the creative city is based on the TOPSIS was in Ardabil, Sarein, and Meshkinshahr; and the lowest rate was observed in Bileh Savar and Nayer. According to VIKOR model, the highest rate of possessing the indicators of the creative city is related to the urban settlements of Ardabil, Meshkinshahr and Parsabad, and the least amount of access to these indicators is related to the urban settlements of Kosar and Nayer. Cities are always centers for innovation and creativity, and today the world is witnessing a jump to a better quality of life, and trying to improve the quality of life is one of the main goals of its development. In this way, focusing on cities as the main players is very important. Each of the urban settlements of Ardabil province has the capability to become a creative city due to its historical background, rich culture, ethnic diversity, borderline location, holding numerous festivals and having many traditional foods. The purpose of this study was to assess the status and distribution of the indicators of a creative city via using the multi-criteria and decision-making models in the city of Ardabil. The research method of is descriptive-analytical through utilizing TOPSIS model, <em>VIKOR </em>and Shannon Entropy Index. In this research, urban settlements in Ardabil province have been ranked and graded according to 26 indicators of the creative city indexes. The results of the study show that the level of utilization of urban settlements in Ardebil province is different from the indicators of the creative city and there is a great gap between the urban settlements of the province. The best situation in terms of indicators of the creative city is based on the TOPSIS was in Ardabil, Sarein, and Meshkinshahr; and the lowest rate was observed in Bileh Savar and Nayer. According to VIKOR model, the highest rate of possessing the indicators of the creative city is related to the urban settlements of Ardabil, Meshkinshahr and Parsabad, and the least amount of access to these indicators is related to the urban settlements of Kosar and Nayer. https://gep.ui.ac.ir/article_22259_409e3856484387395bd6051a4e1d626b.pdf