**1. Introduction**

In most of the cities of some countries, due to rapid urbanization, urban growth related to urban population growth has been seen. Rapid growth in built environment and land uses without planning and lack of ecological approach have natural environment make smaller

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and have risen to ecological and biological destruction on natural resources. When the global population continues to grow, dramatic challenges in the early twenty-first century are those ecosystems are changing from the landscape to the global scales, due to increase in popula‐ tion and urbanization [1]. It is time to consider all decisions from planning strategies to architectural design and usage of technologic tools for retro-fitting ecological condition in the cities. The result to be occurred is to change the view point looking and taking into account or monitoring cities and settlements in which we live.

Adoption of the city as an ecosystem gives rise to protection and consideration of this ecosystem for spatial organizations at every scale and adoption of ecological balance in land use planning. Fictionalize of urban space is a process starting planning. If ecological ap‐ proach guides not only in planning, but also in urban design and building design process, natural resources can be used without consumption and it can be enabled that people live in a healthy urban environment.

Urban ecology has become an expanding field ofresearch during the last two decades. Various studies carried out on urban climate, soils, flora, fauna, urban habitats, and green space of cities [2]. Urban areas contain many land use types and every land-use type has a distinctive structure from vegetation perspective. The knowledge of characteristic vegetation structure of land-use types can help making a connection between urban areas and surrounding natural areas and taking advantage for studies building up urban open space systems [3].

Recently, although some issues like rational utilization of natural resources and energy efficiency in buildings have been taken place in legal legislation in some developing coun‐ tries, still there are some issues to be added to the legislative frame and application process in order to decrease ecological footprint on the settlements and built environments, not only consume at minimum level of natural resource but take maximum advantage from them. Transformation of nonrenewable natural resources to the unique capital of socio-economic development and growth process is depend on adoption of the eco-economic policies and utilization of the eco-technologies enabling the life circle and increasing retrieval possibili‐ ties of wastes which occur in every steps of consumption process.

There is an increasing need to enable the transformation of our preferences from using nonrenewable resources to renewable energy, non-consumable resources in order to supply fundamental human requirements [4]. This will demand a large data source of ecological planning and design tools, indicators, case studies, and applicators.

For sustainable urbanization, as many scientists have pointed out, growing urban environ‐ ment depend on human's increasing demands, it is time to consider planning, design, and producing strategies and to measure with indicators ecological footprints, CO2 emissions, air and water pollution, degradation, deforestation, and unpredictable urban sprawl. To realize monitoring and controlling the issues mentioned above, there is a need for frameworks theoretically constituted and applicable.
