Urban Design
Seyed Mojtaba Safdarnejad; Seyed Abdolhadi Daneshpour; Mostafa Behzadfar
Abstract
Highlights · Playing various diverse roles by rivers and their abundant quality values for humans and their habitats · Utilizing the competitive advantage of urban rivers according to a ...
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Highlights · Playing various diverse roles by rivers and their abundant quality values for humans and their habitats · Utilizing the competitive advantage of urban rivers according to a comprehensive planning and a holistic, multi-sectoral, intelligent, and creative management · Necessity of paying attention to the core characteristics of the rivers and their use as character shaping components of public places based on urban rivers in planning and design process 1. Introduction Rivers have been effective in the location, appearance, and development of settlements, everywhere including in Iran, and have offered them various qualities. The current problem of water in the country has emphasized the issue of water quality and health of rivers. However, simultaneous protection of rivers, response to the concern of how to handle them in the development of settlements, and utilization of this gift to the benefit of the public requires an identification of their dimensions, functions, and values within different branches of science. Recognition of the importance of rivers, along with avoidance of an incomprehensive view in their planning, management, and exploitation, provides a collective consensus among the people, officials, and professionals, which paves the way for the use of rivers to improve the quality of life. 2. Theoretical Framework By reviewing the functions, values, and qualities of rivers, while emphasizing the need for their protection, this study seeks to re-examine and re-emphasize their importance for settlements and their inhabitants and the need for comprehensive consideration of these natural phenomena. It also highlights the need to change attitudes toward rivers and avoid sectoral planning and management in different scales and systems of study, and indicates the importance of adopting a comprehensive view. In the context of urban design, the study explains the central role of rivers in distinguishing public places. Accordingly, the primary purposes of the research are to review and account for the functions, values, and qualities of rivers for settlements and to explain the dimensions of river-centeredness in cities and public places. The secondary purposes are to account for the different dimensions of urban rivers in accordance with the systems of study in different branches of science and to explain the necessity of adopting a holistic approach in confrontation with urban rivers. The review of the research literature indicates that most studies have examined aspects of the role and value of rivers along with their focuses. Specifically, domestic studies have not attempted to comprehensively investigate the issue, and involve minor references to certain functions or qualities of rivers. In addition, these studies have not examined the centrality of rivers in settlements and public places. 3. Methodology This developmental-applied research seeks to reform the attitudes and perspectives of urban management professionals and experts in river-related branches of science (including urban planning and design) and to note the importance of a holistic view for their protection and use by reviewing the roles and functions of rivers and their qualities and values for humans and settlements. In addition, the present study attempts to investigate the centrality of the river in public places that are based on this natural phenomenon. It is based on the empiricism paradigm and a qualitative approach, where the method of multi-case study is adopted to examine the status of theoretical concepts extracted from the literature in order to collect the necessary data for description, analysis, and comparison of the case samples along with field surveys. 4. Results and Discussion The present study has examined the related literature including field surveys conducted in different Iranian cities with rivers, identified, formulated, and presented the roles and functions/values and qualities of the river as environmental/ecological, physical/spatial, functional, economic, social/cultural, perceptual and psychological, legal, geographical, and other systems of study, and shown the scopes of investigation of various branches of science for them. In addition, it has introduced the multiple dimensions of rivers and indicated the necessity of overhaul and metamorphosis treatment of rivers due to their multifaceted nature after provision of the required framework within river-related branches of science. On the one hand, the study has identified the items that can be inferred as differentiating factors in river-based public places using river characteristics with logical conclusions drawn from river roles/functions/values/qualities. On the other hand, the findings confirm that water and its effects and characteristics (i.e. the status of the river as basis) are the most important factors used for distinguishing river-centered public places from others. Therefore, it is necessary in the planning and design of such places to consider the central features of the river and use them as components that shape the distinct personality of the place. Thus, effectiveness of the river and river-centeredness in public places with rivers as basis at sustainable place-making requires particular concern for activity and attempt, function and use, climatic comfort, economic competitiveness, social interaction, identity and culture, energy supply, education and culture, landscaping, physical and mental well-being, self-actualization, pedestrianism, meaning creation, infrastructure, appearance and landscape, internal cohesion, external cohesion, and connection with the nature. 5. Conclusion Playing numerous, diverse roles, rivers provide many values and qualities for the settlements involving them and their inhabitants. Although Iran is located mostly in arid and semi-arid climates, many of its settlements experience the presence of small and large rivers, permanent and seasonal. Taking advantage of this opportunity and enjoying such qualities and values as a competitive advantage requires a well-codified, comprehensive plan and transcendental, intelligent, creative management. The results of the research demonstrate that most of the interviewees believe that the river can be used as a public place provided that the required training is offered to users, and proper planning, design, and maintenance is established under the supervision of the government and urban management as designated domains for the river free of the risk of damaging it. Potential applications of this research include the integration of planning, design, and management of rivers, sustainable place-making and reconstruction with a focus on rivers, revision of urban development documents, and revision of the relevant laws. Acknowledgement The present article has been developed based on the PhD dissertation of Seyed Mojtaba Safdarnejad in Urban Planning, entitled Regeneration of Urban Rivers as Sustainable Public Places, in progress at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Science and Technology under supervision of Dr. Sayed Abdolhadi Daneshpour and advisory of Dr. Mustafa Behzadfar. Highlights 1. Playing various diverse roles by rivers and their abundant quality values for humans and their habitats 2- Utilizing the competitive advantage of urban rivers according to a comprehensive planning and a holistic, multi-sectoral, intelligent, and creative management 3- Necessity of paying attention to the core characteristics of the rivers and their use as character shaping components of public places based on urban rivers in planning and design process
Urban Planning
Mohammad Masoud; Shirzad Yazdani; Mostafa Behzadfar
Abstract
Iran’s urban planning system has undergone many changes in recent decades. An issue that has had a significant impact on the development of Iranian cities has been that of building density in urban development plans. In order to address the issue, the present article was aimed at specifying the ...
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Iran’s urban planning system has undergone many changes in recent decades. An issue that has had a significant impact on the development of Iranian cities has been that of building density in urban development plans. In order to address the issue, the present article was aimed at specifying the density of residential buildings in comprehensive plans of Iran’s provincial capitals since the preparation of the first plan so far and providing a typology thereof and explaining its features. This original descriptive-analytical article adopted a documentary data collection method with direct reference to access the data, analyzed simply through description of the relationships between them. The findings indicated that five different types of residential building density specification method could be identified: Traditional Method (with three subtypes: Reduction, Incremental, and Three-Level), Floating Method, Strategic-Structural Method, Combined Method, and Other Methods. On that basis, a historical trend was identified in the proposed typology, where each type or subtype in a certain period of the timeline has the greatest impact in specification of the density of residential buildings in cities. Moreover, the study of the historical evolution of such types demonstrated that laws approved by the upper hand and regulations concerning the issue of building density have functioned as turning points for application of these methods in Iran’s comprehensive urban plans. The adoption of the Regulations for Increasing Density and High-Rise Buildings by the Iranian Supreme Council of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1990 turned the inverse relationship between the two variables of parcel size and building density into a direct relationship. This resulted in the development of open spaces and increase in building density in the municipal rules and regulations for construction and urban planning, considered particularly in the theoretical foundations and development patterns in plans. Another important factor in the shift from traditional to three-tier subtypes was the Rules and Regulations for Cities’ Residential Zoning to Apartment Complexes, Multi-households, and Single Units to Preserve Neighborhood Rights in Residential Units, ratified in 1992. Along with the earlier regulations, these induced a lasting change in the approach adopted in the plan to the issue of specifying building density. This approach causes the increase in the density of buildings to be conditioned upon increase in outdoor space, decrease in the level of residential infrastructure, avoidance of segregation, and observance of neighborhood rights through provision of light and sun and avoidance of overlook. Another influential factor that has led to the creation of a strategic-structural type involves the (Comprehensive) Strategic-Structural Plan of the city of Tehran, ratified in 2007, which was followed by nearly all the subsequent plans. Finally, the comprehensive plans of Tehran in 1969, 1991, and 2007 have played an important role in specification of density in other plans, where the widespread zoning of building density began from the comprehensive plan of Tehran ratified in 1969. In general, the study of density specification experiences in provincial capitals can provide urban planners and designers with guidelines for specification of the density of residential buildings. Thus, they can pathologize the existing methods and provide optimal density specification methods based on the requirements of each city and the internal and external advantages, so as to achieve the correct forecast in the use of resources, lands, natural environments, and infrastructures according to population capacity and upper-hand rules.
Urban Design
Yones Changalvaiee; Mostafa Behzadfar; Mahmud Mohhamadi; Zahra Sadat Saeideh Zarabadid
Abstract
As an interface between humans and their peripheral environment, urban form is the embodiment of formative and transformative flows of the built form. Energy flows of urban form production, operation and maintenance lead to the generation and transformation of built form which is the transmitter of information ...
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As an interface between humans and their peripheral environment, urban form is the embodiment of formative and transformative flows of the built form. Energy flows of urban form production, operation and maintenance lead to the generation and transformation of built form which is the transmitter of information flows, such as visual and perceptual flows, between humans as receptor and the built environment. On this basis, continuous and integrated interactions between humans and the living environment is considered as energy operational flows of environmental comfort (heating and cooling energy demand) and informational flows of perception, cognition and evaluation of the built form (focusing on visual interaction) which are the two generic flows of built form in relation with humans. These relations and interconnections between energy and information flows are excavated based on the Eco Efficient Urban Form (EEUF) model. The present research aims to explore the relationship between these two flows and the built form based on two distinct states of occlusivity factor: distribution of built elements in vertical plane (Adolphe occlusivity factor for operational energy flows), and Benedikt occlusivity factor for visual information flows which demonstrates the interconnections between the horizontal built elements perimeter map and visual sight flows. The analytical content of the study was chosen from the morphological aspects of Isfahan in the form of ten morphological types presenting general morphological trends of Isfahan. With regard to these, results indicate that there is an inverse correlation between the two states of occlusivity: occlusivity in vertical planes for energy performances and occlusivity in horizontal planes for sustainable visual information flows between built form and humans. The results reveal that the fabrics with organic morphological aspects and structure have a higher value in terms of energy performance occlusivisty factor, especially effective for decreasing heating energy demand in cold seasons, and a lower value in terms of isovist occlusivity factor, indicating higher value of isovist compactness leading to coherency in visual information flows. Hence, the results indicate that the integration between two generic flows of sustainable urban form is demonstrable for old tissues with old organic morphological patterns. The main contribution of the study is to confirm the relationship and interconnection between generic flows of energy and information as the key content of EEUF model.The research is focused on the operational mode of energy flows (indoor energy demand) and the visual interactions of information flows. Finally, future research should therefore concentrate on the investigation of the integrity between perceptional aspects of urban form and outdoor environmental comfort as the main characteristics of urban form environmental performance in the form of EEUF model. It is worth to mention that the study is mostly focused on the environmental performance and morphological configuration in hot and arid climate. Therefore, other effective parameters such as structures, visual proportion of vertical facades, aesthetic aspects, meaning of place, environmental preferences, sense of place, etc. necessitate further investigations in the future. Reanalysis of the study model according to the new types of morphological units and other climates as well as addressing perceptional aspects can provide valuable results for developing sustainable urban form frameworks.
Urban Design
Nima Ostovar; Mostafa behzadfar; bahador zamani; mahmood ghale noee
Volume 4, Issue 16 , November 2015, , Pages 39-54
Abstract
By design, some features of physical spaces can affect people’s image of time. Reviewing the literature shows a correlation between physical dimension of space and users’ time image; a number of place variables, affecting the duration estimation of time that also causes some environmental ...
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By design, some features of physical spaces can affect people’s image of time. Reviewing the literature shows a correlation between physical dimension of space and users’ time image; a number of place variables, affecting the duration estimation of time that also causes some environmental norms affecting the sense of place. Although, in urban design studies psychological and perceptional aspects of time image is neglected and there is no codified framework to study that, the present study aims to investigate the role of environmental elements in building and supporting the image of time. To achieve this aim, based on reviewing the related literature, a theoretical framework defined that includes some main variables: Time-quantitative variables, dynamic-time features, non-temporal variables, and normative variables. To approach a practical structure in study, "Naghsh-e-Jahan Square" as a case was studied using a mixed research method including storytelling for data collection and AHP for quantitative analysis. In one hand, a “semi-structure interview” technique employed that the analysis of interviews indicated a structure of temporal concepts in people's description of their daily life in "Naghsh-e-Jahan Square". On the other hand, quantifying norms and environmental elements (according to non-temporal variables) was conducted. AHP technique was used to compare the quantified environmental norms, with the impact level of environmental elements that concluded from Fuzzy questionnaires. The result indicates that square manifests different qualitative concepts in different times. Each one of these concepts are along with evidences as dynamic-time features and also quantitative & qualitative factors.
