Urban Design
Azam Karimi Yazdi; Naser Barati; majid zarei
Abstract
The urban space is the setting for embodiment of public life and social discourse in a context involving the components of responsibility for place quality. Consideration of place quality as perceived by the users of an urban space at the same level as place components as assumed by the urban designers ...
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The urban space is the setting for embodiment of public life and social discourse in a context involving the components of responsibility for place quality. Consideration of place quality as perceived by the users of an urban space at the same level as place components as assumed by the urban designers demonstrates the concern for the social aspect of the space, facilitating the realization of the perceptional urban design scheme. The application of the scheme in the organization and revitalization of any urban environment makes it possible to simultaneously consider three basic factors in the acquisition of the perceived quality of place: urban environment or space, space users, and space designers. This suggests the necessity of citizens’ active participation in intervention in urban areas. Design of public places with desirable physical and visual quality in accordance with citizen’s perceptional characteristics and capabilities is what urban designers are responsible for. The aim of participation for professionals as social advisors is to provide the required technical assistance to help realize the aspirations of the community with appropriate solutions. The present study attempts to organize the components of the quality of urban environment from the viewpoint of experts and practical urban design projects after encoding them from functional (use, convenience, and activity), physical, perceptual, semantic, and environmental aspects. According to studies conducted in the area of environment quality and the relevant theoretical approaches, assessment of perceived place quality in the investigated environment from the space users’ and designers’ perspectives was considered in this applied research as the approach of choice within the conceptual model framework for provision of an area where the citizens have a peace of mind. The study sought to obtain the components associated with each of the aspects of urban environment quality, norms and measures of the aspects of urban design, and sub-measures and policies of the perceptual and semantic aspects of urban design as the research framework of the paper. For that purpose, the Imamzadeh Saleh (PBUH) urban complex in Tajrish, Tehran (including the space in front of the Imamzadeh and the marketplace and the area between the stream bed and Tajrish Square) was investigated in a case study. In the evaluation of the perceptual measures of the place under investigation, the quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the questionnaire in the extraction of the respondents’ subjective information on the quality of place were assessed as maps and diagrams in a descriptive-analytical survey. Assessment of urban space perception obtains the factors involved in spatial perception using the measure arrangement method under a classification of perceptual qualitative norms as visual perception, conceptual interaction with the environment, discipline, or quality of view and landscape in the perceptual aspect of the urban space or as interpretation, meaningful communication, or identity in the semantic aspect. The results applied in the revitalization of the urban complex and its future conception in accordance with the perceptual-semantic norms of place led the authors to statement of a series of purposes in line with the qualitative norm measures of the perceptual-semantic aspects of environmental responsibility and formulation of the design principles, purposes, and administrative policies. Another finding of the study was that the length of the citizens’ confrontation and interaction with the citizens and the environment under investigation is also effective on perception of the space and its depth and nature. The research demonstrated that there are still controversies between the public and experts both on issues such as vitality and on the expectations of the two groups about the area of investigation, although they are agreed in general. Therefore, the paper sought to answer the following questions. What qualitative measures and norms are relevant in evaluation of the perceptual-semantic aspects of place? What design policies make it possible to achieve the perceptual-semantic measures and norms of place in general? How are the perceptual-semantic measures considered in the future conception of the studied area statement of its macro-purposes and, therefore, formulation of the design principles, design micro-purposes, and administrative policies of the design product?
