Urban Management
khatere amiri; mohammad Masoud; darioush moradi chadegani; negin sadeghy; faramarz Safi-Esfahani
Abstract
Highlights- The e-empowerment process is effective in the promotion of citizen participation and urban regeneration of neighborhoods in the city of Isfahan, Iran suffering urban decline.- The use case diagram of the e-empowerment process of Isfahan residents in areas suffering urban decline shows ...
Read More
Highlights- The e-empowerment process is effective in the promotion of citizen participation and urban regeneration of neighborhoods in the city of Isfahan, Iran suffering urban decline.- The use case diagram of the e-empowerment process of Isfahan residents in areas suffering urban decline shows the relationship between users and their activities.- Requirements engineering was used for provision of the use case diagram of Isfahan urban decline e-empowerment. IntroductionAreas suffering urban decline are involved with an intertwined combination of physical, social, and economic problems that intensify various dimensions of urban decline (including economic decline, social decline, physical decline, and environmental decline) and reduce the quality of life for residents.Thus, sufficient motivation is provided for urban management and planning systems to intervene in these areas. A new method of intervention is to apply the urban regeneration approach.Based on public-private partnership, this approach leads to regeneration of dynamic urban spaces, in order to sustain and improve the quality of urban life. Accordingly, urban regeneration has put the community empowerment process on the agenda in order to increase the level of citizen participation of the residents of these areas so that they can solve their problems.The community empowerment follows to increase the residents’ shares in decision-making for the living environment in interaction with decision-makers and politicians. With the development of the information and communication technology (ICT), the interaction between politicians and residents is facilitated. Therefore, this article seeks to provide the e-empowerment use case diagram for implementation of cybernetic space for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan.Theoretical frameworkThis article introduces the following three concepts.A: Areas suffering urban declineThese areas are places with worn-out urban infrastructure, service, and access, unable to meet the needs of their residents. Due to the low income of the residents of these areas and the insufficient motivation for investors, improvement and renovation is difficult to achieve in these areas. The decline in these areas includes economic, social, physical, and environmental aspects.B: Community empowerment in cybernetic spaceThe process of community empowerment seeks to increase residents’ control and the resulting collective gains.This process follows from the decentralization of power, and attempts to upgrade residents’ power of decision-making about their living environment. The capabilities of cybernetic space facilitate the implementation of community empowerment in this field, which is known as e-empowerment. It facilitates communication between citizens and decision-makers for participation with awareness.C: Use case diagramThe diagram of communication between users and their activities in cyberspace is based on the information and communication technology (ICT). This template is a visual representation of the process implementation using the actions, tasks, and activities of the users of that process, which shows the hierarchy of activities in order to solve a problem, produce a product, or provide a type of service to a target population.MethodologyThis research is conducted in four stages, as follows.A. Analysis of the severity of urban decline in its four types in Isfahan, using the text analysis method (involving texts derived from programs and reports concerning the approvals of areas suffering urban decline).B. Requirements elicitation, including the following:a) analysis of the stakeholders involved in the regeneration of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan, using the power-benefit matrix method, which utilizes a structured questionnaire for professionals.b) introduction of a community e-empowerment process particular to residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan and use of the social survey method based on behavior measurement and Likert scale measurement, utilizing a structured questionnaire for residents.c) introduction of the implementation mechanism of the community e-empowerment process for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan using expert panel methods and interviews (involving questionnaires without a special structure for experts).C. Requirements analysis using expert panel methods and interviews (involving questionnaires without a special structure for experts).D. Presentation of the use case diagram’s process of community e-empowerment, dedicated to residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan using the visual paradigm software.Discussion and findingsThe findings demonstrate that an appropriate e-empowerment process for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan involves the steps of e- education) with the characteristics of e-empowerment(, e-learning, awareness, e-consultation, and e-involvement. The effective users in this process include residents, facilitating experts, technical experts, instructors, support experts, and decision-makers.ConclusionUsers of the e-empowerment process (including residents, facilitating experts, technical experts, instructors, support experts, and decision-makers) communicate with each other in cybernetic space within the framework of a use Case diagram by performing the following activities and processes:A- participation and membership in virtual groups and communitiesB- going through the stages of community e-empowerment (teaching the empowerment process, assessing the skills of citizens, holding awareness-raising sessions, establishing and enhancing communications and interactions, creating a spirit of demand, and undertaking responsibility)C- information and mutual opinion announcement D- provision of decision-making skills and fundamentals.AcknowledgmentThis article is Retrieved from the Ph.D. Thesis in the field of urban planning entitled "The application of cybernetic space capacities to design community empowerment model urban decay areas Isfahan " by the first author with the guidance of the second author and the third author The fourth and fifth have been defended in the Islamic Azad University Isfahan (khorasgan) Branch.
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 ...
Read More
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 Planning
Mohammad Saeid Izadi; Mohammad Masoud; Amir Mohammad Moazezi Mehr-e-Tehran
Volume 5, Issue 20 , November 2016, , Pages 79-91
Abstract
Urban segregation as an undeniable urban reality is a multidimensional and multi-faceted phenomenon, which occurs in space and time. This phenomenon is determined not just by fragmented spaces or socio-economic differentiation but also by interaction of all dimensions (spatial, social and economic) and ...
Read More
Urban segregation as an undeniable urban reality is a multidimensional and multi-faceted phenomenon, which occurs in space and time. This phenomenon is determined not just by fragmented spaces or socio-economic differentiation but also by interaction of all dimensions (spatial, social and economic) and their differentiations. Despite these varieties, there is no holistic approach to studying and dealing with this phenomenon. Although segregation has been regarded as a social issue, little attention has been paid to space and spatial structure of the city as effective factors in formation and development of urban segregation. Therefore, in anti-segregation practices, there are no hybrid analytical methods of spatial and socio-economic aspects.
In this paper, the research method is “theory development trajectory” which is based on literature review and its aim is to develop and complete the existing theory. Thus, the concept of urban segregation is developed as a precise and comprehensive exponent of reality with a high degree of predictability in implementation. In the process of conceptual development, urban segregation - based on its spatial connotation - is introduced as a spatial and socio-economic phenomenon. The designed conceptual model depending on the contribution of the aspects of urban segregation manifestation includes four parts: “areas with Spatial Segregation (absolute segregation)”, “areas with Involuntary Segregation (absolute segregation)”, “areas with Socio-economic segregation” and “areas without segregation (integrated areas)”.For testing the model, neighborhood areas of Isfahan were studied and analyzed because nowadays, urban segregation is involved at urban quarter levels and becomes visible through the socio-spatial gaps. For clarifying the proposed model at the level of neighbourhood quarters, data gathered from analyzing effective dimensions on urban segregation was synthesized and the state of Isfahan quarters were determined based on the development ranking and average value of integration. Appraisal of 188 quarters and their place at the model presents high conformity of results with reality. Deteriorated urban areas and quarters such as “Aligholi Agha”, “Zeinabieh”, “Vahid”, “Hemmat Abad”, Marchin”, “Juibareh”, “Koujan”, “Baboukan”, “Shahshahan”, Atsharan” and “Ghaemieh” were placed at absolute segregation area (part (3) of the model) and affluent quarters such as “Malek”, “Isfahan University distrct”, “Bagh e Negar (Ayeeneh Khaneh)”, “Abshar”, “Saadat Abad”, “Hezar Jarib”, “Barazandeh” and “Sheikh e Eshragh” which are in a good state in each dimension were placed in part (1) of the model showing areas without segregation (integrated areas). Therefore, in the test, most of the deteriorated urban areas and quarters were placed in absolute segregation area of the model and affluent quarters in the northern parts of the city were placed in areas without segregation (integrated areas).Therefore, the findings reveal the model efficiency in describing the situation and status of urban areas. Due to the placement of the quarters at each four parts of the model, different descriptions for their status were obtained. Thus, proposed priorities and actions for each urban quarter should be planned according to their placement in the model. It can be argued that this proposed holistic model can be used as an effective tool to support decision making regarding urban quarters and their level of segregation. The real and holistic image represented by this model acts as a base for defining priorities and types of necessary actions to establish balance and equality in the city.
