Spatial analysis of the impacts of the urban form on the energy consumption of Karaj over the Covid-19 era (2019–2022)

Sustainable urban development as part of every nation’s development policies tries to achieve a balanced physical, social, environmental, and economic development of cities. The issue was drastically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as many crises like cities’ energy consumption was emerged. Considering the significance of the issue, this study spatially analyzed the impact of the urban form as a dimension of urban sustainability on the energy consumption of Karaj city over the Covid-19 pandemic (2019–2021). The required data, including the consumption of electricity and gasoline (of 35 gasoline stations) and the data on urban form, including density, use diversity, connectivity, and accessibility (on 173 neighborhoods of Karaj) were collected from Alborz Electric Power Distribution Company, Alborz National Oil Products Distribution Company, Karaj Municipality ICT Organization. Data analysis was done using GIS software and weighted regression option of geography, GWR, and Moran’s I (indicating the spatial distribution pattern of energy consumption). The results showed that the impact of independent variable “urban form” on “electricity consumption” over the studies period is R 2  = 0.68 and on gasoline consumption is R 2  = 0.73. This amount (R 2 ) showed the high impact of Karaj’s urban form on its energy consumption over the Covid-19 pandemic, but its spatial distribution shows some differences. The results of the spatial analysis showed that over the Covid-19 period, Karaj’s urban neighborhoods with dense forms have had higher electricity consumption, while the urban neighborhoods having a spiral form and located on the skirt of ten regions of the city, consumed more gasoline. In other words, the impact of the urban form on gasoline and electricity consumption is not the same. This study can be applied as a report on the spatial impacts of urban form on energy consumption, using an accurate model in other similar situations.