Urban Design
Forouzan Rahmani; Hossein Nourmohammadzad
Abstract
A structure is a whole composed of divisions, connectors, joints, and boundaries, which are formed through transformations around regulators in accordance with certain principles. The structure theory, selected as the theoretical framework, comprehensively addresses the structure components, functions ...
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A structure is a whole composed of divisions, connectors, joints, and boundaries, which are formed through transformations around regulators in accordance with certain principles. The structure theory, selected as the theoretical framework, comprehensively addresses the structure components, functions that create the structure (transformations), regulators, which serve to regulate the structure, and principles, which form the basis for the structure. Every structure involves a meaning, an idea formed in the reader’s mind of a word, sentence, paragraph, or text. The structure of meaning involves a network of semantic units taking shape through transformations around regulators in adherence to certain principles. Likewise, the physical structure of a city is a whole composed of physical components (form, material, and content) taking shape through transformations around regulators in adherence to certain principles. People react to the surrounding environment according to the meaning taken from it, and their responses to the environment are based on what it means to them. It is therefore important to study the meaning of the environment. The necessity of addressing urban design by focusing on meaning is clear as long as the main audience of meaning is man, and the most important purpose of urban design is to establish a relationship between man and his perceived environment. Research on semantic structure in the context of urban studies can be conducted from its different aspects. Since the physical aspect is the most tangible, stable, objective aspect of the city, such research is performed within its physical structure. The historic area of the city of Yazd, Iran is one of the most valuable areas that could be examined as a text in the city viewed as a book. As a text, the area involves words, sentences, and paragraphs that are semantically rich. Each piece of the area assumes a role as a word. A set of pieces forms a sentence, a set of sentences make a paragraph, and the set of paragraphs creates the text. The text can be read as a whole with no interference with the validity of the paragraphs, sentences, or words, and each word, sentence, or paragraph can be recited with no reference to the whole text to obtain the meaning. In recent years, the physical structure of the historic area of Yazd has lost part of its meaning due to factors such as isolation, destruction, and distress, and other parts have been left with inadequate meanings. This has caused problems with the interpretation of the text, preventing the reader’s mind from developing a clear image thereof. Moreover, some of the interventions made in the area have caused the relevant meanings to be lost. It seems necessary, therefore, to conduct research on provision of agreement between the semantic and physical structures. The notions of structure, meaning, and physique were first reviewed in this research, and their theoretical models were developed and presented. Then, the semantic and physical structures of the historic area under investigation were studied with a descriptive survey using the above models, and the relationship between the two structures was examined with a comparative method. The achievements of the research included the provision of macro-, mid-, and micro-level agreement and correspondence between the physical and semantic structures and the intersection of the principles and their components. Use of the presented models in similar cases is recommended.
Urban Design
Leila Rahimi; Islam Karami
Abstract
Existing experience suggests that the perceptual environment of citizens plays an essential role in the perception of the quality of urban environments. Given the wide variations in urban life, in particular urban life in Tabriz as a metropolis, it is particularly important to recognize the quality of ...
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Existing experience suggests that the perceptual environment of citizens plays an essential role in the perception of the quality of urban environments. Given the wide variations in urban life, in particular urban life in Tabriz as a metropolis, it is particularly important to recognize the quality of urban and neighborhood environment. Therefore, Golshahr and Parvaz neighborhoods are considered as newly designed neighborhoods (less than 30 years old) with appropriate architectural and urban spaces and a high level of facilities and services. This paper presents an instrument for measuring perceived residential environment quality in urban environments. This instrument consists of 11 scales categorized into four criteria including spatial aspects, human aspects, functional aspects, and contextual aspects. The spatial aspects include three scales: architectural-planning space, organization and accessibility of roads, and green space. The human aspects involve one scale: people and social relations. Functional aspects include four scales: welfare, recreational, commercial, and transport services. Contextual aspects cover three scales: pace of life, environmental health, and upkeep. The paper aims to identify and measure perceived residential environment quality and improve the related psychometric qualities. Cognitive psychology is the conceptual framework of this research that focuses on environmental perception. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: 1- What level is the residents’ perceived quality of Tabriz neighborhoods (Golshahr and Parvaz regions)? 2- What factors affact residents’ perceived quality of Tabriz neighborhoods? The research method is descriptive-experimental and the data collection instrument is a questionnaire including 11 scales based on different dimensions of the research variables. The questionnaire comprised of 62 questions in the form of a five-point Likert scale. It was clustery distributed among 250 residents of Golshahr and Parvaz regions in Tabriz. The data was analyzed using the one-sample t-test, paired comparison, multiple regression analysis and path model analysis in SPSS software. Results confirm the factorial structure of the scale and indicate that, among the individual factors, sex and ownership affect the residents’ perceived quality of the neighborhood. Among the four main components, the social and then contextual components have a greater impact on the perceived quality of the neighborhood, while these two dimensions have the lowest score among the inhabitants of the neighborhoods. Among the scales, the green space scale from spatial aspect, discretion and civility from the human aspect, transportation services from the functional aspect, and upkeep and maintenance from the contextual aspect have the highest impact on the residents’ perceived quality of the neighborhood. Thus, the impact on the perceived quality of neighborhood increases when moving from the physical to the social-psychological-mental space, but the emphasis of the decisions of urban planners are more on the spatial and functional dimensions. Another interesting result is that, in addition to the social dimension, attention should be paid to the contextual dimension of the neighborhoods in order to promote inhabitants’ perceived quality of the neighborhood.
Urban Design
Abstract
Urban design involves the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces, transport systems, services, and amenities. It is the process of giving form, shape, and character to groups of buildings, neighborhoods, and the city in whole. Urban design is about making connections between people and ...
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Urban design involves the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces, transport systems, services, and amenities. It is the process of giving form, shape, and character to groups of buildings, neighborhoods, and the city in whole. Urban design is about making connections between people and places, movement and urban form, nature and the built fabric. It draws together the many strands of place-making, environmental stewardship, social equity and economic viability to create places with distinct beauty and identity. On the other hand, implementation tools offer different mechanisms for the delivery of quality urban design outcomes, and are used by a range of professionals to manage, motivate and organize urban design projects. While being disparate, these tools focus on the means of building quality urban design projects. Implementation can therefore be considered throughout all stages of an urban design project. A number of these tools focus on discussing and resolving design issues before the execution of a project. They can help clear roadblocks in the design process, provide collaborative management structures, and develop creative design solutions. Also, project implementation (or project execution) is the phase where visions and plans become reality. This is the logical conclusion after evaluating, deciding, visioning, planning, applying for funds and finding the financial resources of a project. After careful planning of the project, one will be ready to start the project implementation phase, the third phase in the project management life cycle. The implementation phase involves putting the project plan into action. It is here that the project manager will coordinate and direct project resources to meet the objectives of the project plan. As the project unfolds, it is the project manager’s job to direct and manage each activity, every step of the way. That is what happens in the implementation phase of the project life cycle: you follow the plan you have put together and handle any problems that comes up. The implementation phase is where you and your project team actually do the project work to produce the deliverables. The word “deliverable” means anything your project delivers. The deliverables for your project include all the products or services that you and your team are producing/performing for the client, customer, or sponsor, including all the project management documents that you put together. Along with the rapid growth of urbanization and the formation of urban development plans, urban design experts try to improve the quality of the environment. However, the field of urban design is a young and emerging field in the world, especially in Iran where it is considered as a fledgling discipline. The findings show that, in the current situation of Iran, the power-related criteria (political, administrative, economic and knowledge) attract the highest attention and the criteria related to dialogue, participation and interaction (public participation, legal interaction) are with the lowest levels of attention. An interactive model based on a reasonable balance between top-down and bottom-up approaches, drawing from Foucault’s theory of power and Habermas’s theory of communicative action, is suggested to better realize urban design projects in Iran.
Urban Design
sajjad zolfigol; mehrdad Karimi moshaver
Abstract
A quick view of the public spaces in each city would reveal the role of the square as a built environment. Assessment of “city life” involves a qualitative evaluation of different activities and the way different people perform them (group or individual activities, state of activities, the ...
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A quick view of the public spaces in each city would reveal the role of the square as a built environment. Assessment of “city life” involves a qualitative evaluation of different activities and the way different people perform them (group or individual activities, state of activities, the time of each activity). An environment that plays the role of an urban node in cities is recognized as the place of presence of different social groups and the physical realm of sustainable social interaction. The latest urban developments, expansion of cities and increased number of vehicles make squares act as a node to solve the traffic problem of cities while the first-made squares were intended for the presence of humans and social relationships in urban realms. In fact, prior to addressing the effect of humans and environment (separately without considering their relationship) on urban design and urban space, it is essential to understand their relations, the ways they are related, and the causes and effects of such relationships. Indeed, human, environment and their relationship should be considered in the urban design process. The relation between humans and environment is a process that connects them and provides the possibility of social interactions. Urban space is full of actions and reactions of people with specific behaviors and behavior settings. People’s presence in public spaces and social communities, the dynamic behavior of users, increased people’s spirit and appropriate use of public space are helpful in having a prosperous and dynamic society. Therefore, human activity, as a determining factor in improving the form and meaning attributes of a place, can result in vitalizing and diversifying the place. The behavior setting theory announces that it can be considered as a basic unit for an environment that simultaneously includes physical and social factors in the whole frame and affects user behavior. Behavior settings are real units of environment that naturally occur and are identifiable for people inside those settings because they have relationships with their daily life. The significance of the relationship between humans and urban environment, especially squares that have a vital role in urban spaces, reveals the importance of this research. The primary goal of this research is reviewing the relationship between users and environmental quality in order to improve intelligent designs for people. This practical research applies such techniques as documentary review, non-participant observation and survey. Field notes were obtained through observation and perception of users’ behaviors. The obtained data was analyzed in SPSS22 software. The analyses, conducted for several distinct purposes, overlap to some extent, while, at the same time, leaving many other possible applications behind. While a design framework is often cited as the reason for conducting these analyses, a still more systematic way to approach behavior analyses in urban design is required with the potential to supplement and extend the traditional methods with new layers referring to temporary and spatial behavior. The result points out that people are equally involved with social and physical aspects of Bu Ali Sina square. The users prefer behavior settings that provide the grounds for gathering, creating social behaviors, visiting friends and strangers, and doing different activities with a unifying meaning.
Urban Design
Sahar Samavati; Ehsan Ranjbar
Abstract
The topic of happiness has attracted the attention of urban experts in the last decade. Cities such as Copenhagen and Bogotá are creating literature based on their experiences in this area. The quality of the city and urban spaces is a significant factor affecting happiness. The amount of happiness ...
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The topic of happiness has attracted the attention of urban experts in the last decade. Cities such as Copenhagen and Bogotá are creating literature based on their experiences in this area. The quality of the city and urban spaces is a significant factor affecting happiness. The amount of happiness in urban spaces can be a reflection of the quality of these spaces. Similar to vitality, hence, happiness can also be seen as a quality of urban spaces. Happiness has become a key concept in recent urban studies. Happiness literature considers the role of place, local communities, social cohesion and sense of belonging. Unveiling the concept of “urban happiness”, Enrique Penalosa, the mayor of Bogota, revealed the potential for happiness and wellbeing in government policies, planning, and decision making. Penalosa’s policies and decision makers in the “wellbeing infrastructure” emphasize the crucial role of planners and decision-makers in improving citizens’ quality of life and happiness. The global data indicates Iran’s inadequate status in the field of happiness, part being due to the poor quality of urban spaces that cannot provide the grounds for happiness. As one of the first researches in the field of urban happiness in Iran, this research seeks to analyze the factors affecting happiness in Tehran’s urban spaces. Reviewing the global and domestic studies based on the content analysis method, a specific conceptual model was developed. The model presents the factors affecting the macro-to-micro level happiness in urban spaces. As pedestrian spaces and walkways are important due to the presence of citizens, these spaces were selected in Tehran center based on the analysis of the case study in order to provide a realistic understanding of the factors affecting happiness in urban spaces. Purposeful questionnaires were developed based on field study, preliminary discussions and conceptual model. To find hidden relationships between variables, SEM method was used to analyze the data extracted from the questionnaires. The Veenhoven index was used as one of the most reliable indicators for assessing the overall state of happiness in this area. This research seeks to find the factors affecting happiness in urban spaces based on a comprehensive survey that analyzes citizens’ mental and objective perceptions of space. Providing such a comprehensive outlook on factors affecting happiness in urban spaces in Iran, especially in Tehran, can be a suitable basis for formulating policies and strategies for organizing and improving the quality of urban spaces in order to promote the status of happiness in the city. Also, based on the impact of cultural and social conditions on the overall state of happiness, the results of this study can provide an understanding of the dimensions of happiness based on the status of urban spaces in Iran. The findings show that the average level of happiness among citizens on the basis of Veenhoven index is 5.90 out of 10. The results of the analysis indicate that physical aspects, urban space qualities, subjective dimensions, and community characteristics are the most important factors affecting happiness, and physical characteristics have the highest impact on happiness. Also, the citizens’ happiness in pedestrian zones of Tehran’s historical center is more affected by the quality of urban space, especially its physical properties, than the macro aspects of community.
Urban Design
Mahdi Montazerolhodjah; B N; mojtaba sharifnejad; Z F
Abstract
Rapid sprawl of urban areas in Iranian cities in the last few decades was the result of two population growth factors: (1) natural increase in population, and (2) migration to urban areas. These conditions are aggravated during times of transition from a pre-industrial society to an industrial one. This ...
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Rapid sprawl of urban areas in Iranian cities in the last few decades was the result of two population growth factors: (1) natural increase in population, and (2) migration to urban areas. These conditions are aggravated during times of transition from a pre-industrial society to an industrial one. This trend has led to a shortfall in many sectors, primarily housing. One of the innovative schemes in response to this problem in many cities like Yazd, which has received wide acknowledgement, has been “sites-and-services” scheme. In a sites-and-services scheme, the preparation of land and procurement of infrastructure and services are the responsibility of the project authorities. Depending on the investment made, resources available, the implementing agency or degree of organization of the beneficiaries, sites-and-services schemes were activated in a number of differing ways in Yazd. These types of schemes provide only what the households cannot easily get or afford themselves: a plot of land with basic, essential utilities (clean water, sanitation, flood protection, security lighting, etc.) and municipal services (waste collection, schools, etc.). Sites-and-services projects have formed the main pattern of urban development during the past decades in Yazd. However, many of these projects have had a planning oriented process, have just focused on land use planning, population density and transportation and have ignored the environmental qualities. These condition has created urban textures with very poor quality, image and townscape. Although there are references to the aesthetic aspect and its role in urban contexts in some of these layouts, what is witnessed in reality is discrepancies between buildings and spaces and, therefore, their lack of visual appeal. Meanwhile, the visual environment in urban contexts is composed of a sophisticated structure of physical and non-physical elements; it is the cognitive joint between humans and their environments; it can facilitate people’s perception and evaluation of their living context and boost their environmental comprehensibility. The objective of this research is to assess the physical indicators affecting the aesthetic component in contemporary urban developments formed as a result of site and services projects during the past four decades in different regions of Yazd. The related literature was reviewed to collect information and determine the study criteria regarding the physical indicators of aesthetic component in urban areas. The results from the literature review and observation survey served very well in codifying the variables and attributes for developing the questionnaire to examine the resident’s perception of the aesthetic components in their neighborhoods. The questionnaire survey was done in 3 selected regions (region 10 in Imamshahr, 92 hectare project in Azadshahr and 93 hectare Kowsar project in Safayeh) that have been formed in difference times. A sample of 100 participants was selected randomly from residents in each region. Pearson correlation and regression analyses were performed. According to this study, the effect of any physical indicator is different from a region to another. Nevertheless, the width of the road and façade continuity has been mentioned in all the three studied regions. After that, visual balance and architectural style have an important role in the aesthetic component. The findings may also be used to improve the site and services scheme strategies and design guidelines regarding future urban development in Yazd and other cities in Iran.
Urban Design
Firouz Armoun; seyyed yahya KH; E K
Abstract
Place names, as identity roots of those places, are able to convey the nature and flavor of the place and space through reconsidering its connection with the contextual and temporal needs. As soon as the name is heard, an image of its wholeness and figure is shaped in our mind. The connection between ...
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Place names, as identity roots of those places, are able to convey the nature and flavor of the place and space through reconsidering its connection with the contextual and temporal needs. As soon as the name is heard, an image of its wholeness and figure is shaped in our mind. The connection between a place’s name and the natural or build environment can be the same connection between the formal and conceptual components. When the original name of a city, neighborhood, alley or a specific place is mentioned, it will be illustrated with its unique characteristics in one’s mind. A place could be physically destroyed for a long time, but its name may stay in the minds of people and recall the quality, concept and feature of the place and its inhabitant’s mood and taste. Whether or not a place’s name is consistent with its objective reality and existing attributes can be considered as a significant measure of transparency and readability. However, the identity, quality and subjective dimensions of names are ignored in contemporary urban developments. Urban studies do not address the connection between the objective-subjective and semantic-physical factors of place names in the urban and landscape design. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the importance of connection between urban areas and places and their naming. It focuses on explaining its reflection and its force on the urban place’s perspective. The case study is Ardabil city and its historical fabric. It is of utmost importance to investigate this matter due to the historical-cultural eminence of Ardabil with more than 30 centuries of history. Most of the old neighborhoods and alleys in the historical fabric of the city have historical names, in a way that the old passages of the city are still called by the same historical names. This study is in need of credible documents and sources. The research method in this study is the mixed approach. To identify the original names of the places, the descriptive-analytic research method was used, which is based on documentation (texts, maps, images) along with field studies. The research results showed that political, economic, social, cultural and environmental factors had significant effects on traditional naming of urban places, especially in Ardabil. In addition, in some cases, the physical form and soul of a place is determined by its formation process. Such processes give more weight and color to the holiness of the city and its political and commercial dimensions. It seems that the names are metaphors representing the same things that were, are or could be in the city’s landscape, capacity and subjectivity.
Urban Design
F R; B Z
Abstract
Nowadays people’s health (physical, mental and social) is one of the main dilemmas of societies living in metropolitan areas. In this regard, urban design, as one of the influential disciplines among many others, seeks to find solutions to help solving these dilemmas by focusing on the physical ...
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Nowadays people’s health (physical, mental and social) is one of the main dilemmas of societies living in metropolitan areas. In this regard, urban design, as one of the influential disciplines among many others, seeks to find solutions to help solving these dilemmas by focusing on the physical and functional dimensions of the urban environment. The main questions of this paper are: what are the effective physical-environmental attributes on the social health of citizens and which of them are more effective? Accordingly, the main objective of this paper is to study and compare the effects of physical- environmental attributes on people’s social health. To achieve this aim, multiple regression method was applied to study, analyze and test the assumptions in order to (1) measure correlation among the mentioned indicators and social health and (2) to identify more effective indicators to predict social health. The study results demonstrate a few common indicators in both neighborhoods; some indicators in distinct neighborhoods have mutual correlation with social health. However, some of the indicators have no significant correlation with social health, these include age, job activities, suitable lighting of public spaces and car ownership. Some indicators have the most correlation in both neighborhoods; they have more certain correlation with social public life of people .These indicators include security and low crime rate in neighborhood, inclusiveness of public spaces, cohesion among neighborhood residents, safety and security of children in public spaces, sense of attachment to the neighborhood, education and townscape quality. In particular, security and low crime rates, sense of attachment to the neighborhood and inclusiveness of public spaces have a high correlation with resident’s social health. Results of the third assumption indicated that there were some differences among correlations between independent variables and social health in the two neighborhoods, one with a historical and traditional social and physical construction and another being a completely new grid neighborhood. Investigating the fourth assumption in the last stage, a limited number of indicators was extracted from the indicators with mutual correlation with social health to predict social health and form the regression equation. Regression results for Dardasht neighborhood indicate that only four indicators (among the indicators with a significant correlation with social health) are obtained as significant indicators in the regression results. Only the following indicators have enough significant predictive role for the dependent variable (social health): availability of gathering spaces, inclusiveness of public space, suitable security and low crime rate, social cohesion among neighborhood residents. However, there is not much difference between coefficients. The highest predicted effect is related to inclusiveness with 1.921 unstandardized coefficient B and the least predictive effect is related to social cohesion among community groups with 1.571 unstandardized coefficient B. The significant indicators in the regression equation for Mulla-Sadra neighborhood are more than those for Dardasht neighborhood, i.e. there are enough significant effect to predict the dependent variable. These indicators include security and crime rate, sense of attachment to the neighborhood, education level, inclusiveness of urban spaces, safety and security of children in public spaces, and suitable townscape of public spaces. Security and inclusiveness have the most coefficient value (2.345 and 1.939, respectively) and suitable townscape has the least coefficient value (1/374). The results indicate that only two indicators, security and inclusiveness, are common among regression results for the two neighborhoods, indicating the highest generalizability of these two indicators regarding different social and physical attributes of these two neighborhoods.
Urban Design
m h; sh e; enayat alah mohaghegh nasab
Abstract
At the present time, children’s rights and their participation in urbanism have found a special place in the world’s urbanism experiences. This approach allows children to influence and contribute to the planning and design of their environment. Since creating urban spaces in participatory ...
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At the present time, children’s rights and their participation in urbanism have found a special place in the world’s urbanism experiences. This approach allows children to influence and contribute to the planning and design of their environment. Since creating urban spaces in participatory process focuses on the stakeholders’ ideas, making suitable urban spaces for children necessitates their cooperation in the planning and design processes. Also, because of children’s different point of view of the city comparing to adults’, children’s participation methods will be different in urban planning and design process. Applying descriptive analysis method, this article reviews children’s participation concepts and process in creating children-friendly urban spaces. A pattern will be extracted for children’s participation process in the city to answer the questions of how to codify a participatory pattern based on teaching and creating a common language with children and what is the meaningful relationship between trained children’s ideas and suggestions and other substituent groups in planning and designing the city. In this research, it has been attempted to hold up educational sessions and workshops on urbanism for children to provide a suitable platform for their voluntary participation in the city of Sede Lenjan. In this way, children’s opinion, as the main involved group, can be investigated in friendly spaces and their suggestions and ideas can be adjusted properly to designers’ ideas. For this purpose, 128 children were trained and answered the distributed questionnaire. Findings of the research showed that the research process aimed at increasing children’s participation and creating a common language among them and other stakeholders and designers was efficient. It thus can be used very well in children’s participatory programs. Also, the findings of descriptive and inferential statistics (Pierson- Chi-squared) showed that children’s ideas had a huge difference with those other stakeholders and designers, emphasizing the necessity of using children’s active participation in the programs more than ever. The results of this research showed that seven steps should be considered in order to create a practical model of children participation: (1) researcher’s field studies; (2) publicizing and generalizing the research; (3) determining optimal sample among children; (4) teaching the participatory process and creating a common language with children; (5) survey of children to use their opinions in designing; (6) designing via the comments raised in the fifth step; (7) process modeling. The final results of data analysis revealed that what the designer group found by their presence in the city and discussing, observing and surveying the facilities, problems and design priorities was different with the reality of children’s life in the city because of children’s different understanding of their own unique needs and spaces. Also, city administrators, parents, residents and other social groups could not be a good substitute for children group, as their opinions had a huge difference with children’s opinions. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize a participatory process that considers direct viewpoints of children in designing child-friendly urban spaces.
Urban Design
Azin Hajiahmadi Hamedani; h m; l j
Abstract
Evaluation of every environment’s image is not just the result of impressions made by its external attributes on the mind of the observer. It is, however, created by the imagination of the observer. A city is lodged by a wide variety of people whose evaluation of the images they form in their mind ...
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Evaluation of every environment’s image is not just the result of impressions made by its external attributes on the mind of the observer. It is, however, created by the imagination of the observer. A city is lodged by a wide variety of people whose evaluation of the images they form in their mind is critical. The desirability of urban environments for various social strata, especially for women, depends on the relationship between human beings and the environment as well as their priorities and preferences. The distinctive characteristics of women in terms of feelings, sensation and evaluation of the environment should not be preferred over one anonther. To achieve a realistic and true viewpoint, it is impossible to ignore the interests and preferences of the citizens in relation to their living place. Since the relationship between an individual and their surrounding environment is formed in various levels such as the individual (e.g. feeling, perception, values, mental experiences, etc.) and social level (e.g. various social groups or the ones which are similar in terms of age and sex), it is better to examine the characteristics of various groups and social strata on the same level. The interpretations and mental images and meanings formed by women are unique depending on their values, priorities and experiences. There are some factors affecting the recognition of pleasantness attributes in urban space in women’s view, inducing what attracts women’s attention in the environments, how they are memorized, their mental image and their evaluation of the percieved space and the environmental preferences in selecting a desirable location. This article examines the factors affecting women mental image in order to allow the creation of a favorable environment from the perspective of this social group. It evaluates the preferences of their space. What is important is to identify and assess the main criteria for women in determining the optimum location with respect to the meaning derived from evaluated images. The aim of this research was to improve desirability of the environment from the perspective of women as well as their right to choose and evaluate the image of public spaces of Tehran. The research method is based on the techniques developed by Jack L. Nasar. In Nasar’s study, a phenomenological hermeneutic approach is used to describe the connotations and emotions image representation of women in the experience of urban spaces desirable / undesirable and nature of development of the city of Tehran. For this purpose, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted through purposive sampling. Interviews were recorded and the obtained data was written in the form of tables. Repeatability analysis was performed on the data. The results indicate that the optimal site selected through women’s mental image of highly desirable locations is associated with the concepts of freedom, justice, place dignity, socio-cultural prestige, historical identity, beauty, being stylish and full of details, quiet and cozy, vast but with privacy, green, happy mood and health.
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
elham zabetian
Abstract
A public urban space is successful when it attracts the citizens. The climate and thermal comfort conditions are factors affecting the usage pattern of sidewalks in public urban spaces. In general, awareness of sensory information and understanding of their complex process is called perception. Psychological ...
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A public urban space is successful when it attracts the citizens. The climate and thermal comfort conditions are factors affecting the usage pattern of sidewalks in public urban spaces. In general, awareness of sensory information and understanding of their complex process is called perception. Psychological aspects and their impact on the evaluation of thermal comfort makes a different perception of thermal sensation. Adaptation is the most important psychological factor affecting thermal comfort perception. Thus, the present article tries to develop an empirical model based on the studies assessing thermal psychological adaptation that can be tested in the future researches on several urban spaces. The empirical model is constructed through a conceptualization process based on a study of the basics and successful experiences worldwide. The model’s accuracy was first improved through inquiring ideas from 27 experts in this field and, second, taking advantage of Delphi’s reciprocal method. In the next stage, the aspects, scales and the subscales in the empirical model were ranked based on analytic hierarchical method (AHP). Expert Choice was used to determine each scale’s weight relative to its counterpart. In fact, the empirical model was applied to evaluate the studied concept. The model has two parts: a part assessing sense of place and another part assessing the psychological adaptation of thermal comfort. Based on the results, it can be argued that a model is necessary for blending the objective and subjective issues influencing the assessment of an individual’s adaptation for moving towards comfort in an urban space, because adaptation is a very important capability in enhancing the individuals’ presence in an urban space. Psychological reasons are the most important factors contributing to the adaptation enhancement. On the other hand, based on the studies conducted on the sense of place (that can be classified into various levels from alienation to devotion to place), such a sense can be effective in the creation of psychological adaptation that, in turn, is influential on the perceptions of comfort. Comfort is a multifaceted concept with many aspects that renders any research complicated. Thus, as an entry for such types of studies within the context of the urban design, this study attempts to concentrate only on one of its most important parts, i.e. thermal comfort. As it can be understood from a review of the global experiences in regard to thermal comfort perception, the thermal comfort perception and the thermal sense of individuals differ: the citizens can adapt themselves to the environmental comfort conditions for certain reasons (stemming from various levels of sense of place based on the findings of the current research), or, quite inversely, they could have lower adaptation threshold and leave the environment. The empirical model designed for assessing the relationship between the sense of place and thermal psychological adaptation in an urban space consists of various levels that are influenced by the individual factors. Thus, making plans for managing citizens’ behaviors in the urban space is a factor more important than physical planning to enhance citizens’ perceived level of comfort.
Urban Design
Faezeh BehnamiFard; Mitra Habibi
Abstract
So far, many studies have been carried out on the presence and activity of various age groups in the urban environment, including children, youth and adults. Attention to adolescents as an age group with specific needs has a relatively long history in foreign countries. Its first spells can be attributed ...
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So far, many studies have been carried out on the presence and activity of various age groups in the urban environment, including children, youth and adults. Attention to adolescents as an age group with specific needs has a relatively long history in foreign countries. Its first spells can be attributed to Lynch’s 1977 study. In his study, “Growing Up in Cities”, he studied a small group of adolescents in different cities to discover their use and value to their surroundings, and to understand the importance of urban spaces as vital resources for their growth from adolescence to adulthood. The research inspired further research on adolescents and their local environment. Since the mid-1990s, researchers have shown their interest in more extreme studies on the underlying government policies and strategies that lead to the isolation of adolescents from public spaces through monitoring their movements and neglecting activities such as skateboarding and graffiti. Over the past two decades, the trend of urban planners and designers in adolescent studies has also increased significantly in foreign countries, especially in European ones. On the other hand, it is believed today that dominant approaches and urban laws cause various social, economic, social and sexual discrimination among citizens. On the basis of such discrimination, the majority of public and active spaces of the city are at the disposal of adults while children and adolescents are on the sidelines. In Iran, however, the adolescent group remains largely ignored and most of their needs are not studied as an independent age group. In the present study, therefore, we try to focus on the activity of adolescents – as one of the groups not covered in our urban studies – in their favorite urban spaces. It is because this age group, on one hand, is considered a potentially very important part of the users of urban spaces, and, on the other hand, adolescents require to be present in urban spaces, experience a variety of social roles, and test their abilities in this context in order to grow as a person with a social identity. In line with this, Azadi Street, center of RajaeiShahr district, was selected as the case study, and 250 adolescents from 12 to 19 years old were chosen to be investigated through a questionnaire involving items about their activities and their level of satisfaction with environmental quality of the streets. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (independent t-test and multivariate regression). The analysis indicates that 11% and 74% of the teens go to the streets on a daily and weekly basis, respectively, often in the evening, along with their friends for window shopping, sitting at the parks, and watching other people. The highest to the lowest satisfaction level of adolescents with the components of environmental qualities of the street is related to security, accessibility, attractiveness, convenience, and comfort. With the exception of attractiveness, significant differences were found between boys and girls in terms of their satisfaction with the quality of environmental components. The results of the regression model also showed that 43% of boys’ and 75% of girls’ activity can be predicted by the components of environmental quality. Attractiveness and comfort are more important for boys and attractiveness, safety, convenience and comfort are considerably important and effective for girls.
Urban Design
Abstract
The public spaces of city shape social flows, provide the material needs of citizens, their intrinsic need for communication and face-to-face social interactions. Therefore, the quality of urban spaces in the formation of social interactions, the mental image of the city and its visualization are important. ...
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The public spaces of city shape social flows, provide the material needs of citizens, their intrinsic need for communication and face-to-face social interactions. Therefore, the quality of urban spaces in the formation of social interactions, the mental image of the city and its visualization are important. Several factors play a role in the formulation of the concept of quality, the most important of which is the configuration of urban spaces. The spatial configuration organizes the relationships between urban spaces. It is a factor in shaping qualitative variables such as readability and accessibility. Parks are one of the urban spaces whose social performance and productivity are directly affected by spatial quality. However, urban parks are now the epicenter of most social anomalies due to different factors and, as public spaces, are less able to provide a suitable environment for the formation of social interactions. In recent decades, the theory of space layout has made it possible to analyze the spatial configuration and its relationship with social, economic and physical factors using spatial variables.The present study investigates the structure and analyzes the features of spatial configuration of Mashhad in order to examine its effects on the spatial quality of urban parks. Configuration analysis provides an appropriate assessment of the spatial distribution, accessibility, security and readability of urban parks and can play an important role in redefining the quality of urban parks spatially. Since parks play an important role in urban spaces, evaluation of the layout, spatial distribution and access to urban parks in Mashhad are among the most important goals of the study. In addition, the readability and security of Mashhad parks are other parameters that are studied in this study using the space-layout theory variables. The present research is an applied research with a descriptive-analytical method. The statistical sample involves 290 parks in Mashhad in the five categories of neighborhood, local, district, region, and city. The research was conducted using spatial variables of space layout. The theoretical framework of the research was developed based on documentary and library studies with the aim of explaining the dimensions of spatial quality. Also, the city’s statistics in 2014, land use maps of 2011 (1/200 scale), satellite images and field surveys were used to analyze the data and collect information about the urban parks in Mashhad. The analyses were conducted in the GIS environment and 10 UCL Depthmap based on Mashhad’s axial map. The basic variables in this study were connectivity, interconnection, and control. The intermediate variables were readability, accessibility, space security, and cohesion. Research results show that despite the large dispersion of parks in the city, there is a spatial logic between the performance of parks and the city’s configuration. While regional parks are expected to be more readable in the structure and configuration of the city of Mashhad than district parks, the analyses show that they are less visible and accessible than other parks. The spatial distribution of these parks and their placement in spaces with a greater depth has decreased their spatial quality. Thus, one cannot expect significant functional and social effectiveness from this category of parks. In terms of spatial quality, urban parks are perhaps the only form of urban and social spaces that have the greatest impact on the spatial configuration of city due to their type of performance. The results of this study show that the distribution of urban parks in Mashhad is less spatially hierarchical. Although the main parks are distributed on a city scale in accordance with the axes of association and readability, most regional and district parks do not have such a distribution. This feature also affects the spatial cohesion of urban parks in relation to the structure of Mashhad and reduces the quality of space. Finally, it can be of said that, regardless of the spatial cohesion of Mashhad, which has a weak correlation with the components of the urban space and the city as whole, all the research indicators related to the quality of parks in Mashhad are poor and weak. This necessitates the attention to the park’s functional scale in the planning process, the proper location of urban parks, and the proper design according to the urban spatial pattern. Also, an assessment of the category of parks found that despite the number of neighborhood and local parks, these types of parks are better in terms of control than other parks, which seem to be logical according to the functional radius on a local scale. However, urban parks are of great importance in terms of accessibility and readability in the current structure of Mashhad. It seems that the assessment of spatial quality and its relationship with function can have an effective role in the planning and design of urban parks.
Urban Design
yaser shahbazi; Azita Balali Oskui; elham shahabi
Abstract
Flexibility index was added in the functional dimension as an effective factor for realizing the origin of desirability and promoting the creation of territorial perception. Flexibility refers to flexible furniture design and the flexible use of space in the form of both socialization and desocialization. ...
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Flexibility index was added in the functional dimension as an effective factor for realizing the origin of desirability and promoting the creation of territorial perception. Flexibility refers to flexible furniture design and the flexible use of space in the form of both socialization and desocialization. Culture is one of the most influential factors in determining territories, and differences in cultures demand the diversity and flexibility of territories. For example, within the scope of A and C, geometry provides flexibility in socialization and desocialization space. Face-to-face communication is possible in social organizations, and the distance between sitting spaces is within socio-advisory intervals. Organizing desocialization brings about social interaction. These practices should also be used in the design of public spaces. In public or semi-public places, spaces are sometimes considered as community-friendly places for people’s visits and sometimes as vacant spaces. According to John Lang, it should not be assumed that face-to-face relationship reduces the presence of people in social spaces. For such behaviors, there should be a previous inclination, and the territory should be in places acceptable to the people. Urban spaces should emphasize human pauses and must include factors such as good artistic design, proper spatial structure, hierarchy, physical comfort, flexibility of security, readability, engagement and popular participation, identity and cultural values for the realization of a universally desirable place.The Tabi’at Bridge, as the largest pedestrian overpass built in Tehran, Iran, was selected as the case study in this research to evaluate the desirable territory in public urban spaces. The 270-metre bridge connects two public parks – Taleghani Park and Abo-Atash Park – by spanning Modarres Expressway, one of the main highways in northern Tehran. The word tabi’at means “nature” in Persian. Construction of the bridge over a large highway was described as a big challenge, with platforms and temporary tunnels built to ensure that nothing fell onto the road below. The results of data analysis showed that providing security, particularly in the form of social monitoring and territory control is important for women. They also ask for the tangibility of territorial boundaries with men and the proper definition of the territories through design factors. Women also want more flexible spaces than men. Men demand wider and more arrogant walkways than women in the territories. Although the slogan of the project was “Nature Bridge is a place to stay” (Diba Project Designer, 2014), 33% of the desirable spaces identified in this study were deprived of the first means of establishing a territorial position in design process (A, D, I). Also, 53% of the spaces designated for pause lack a proper quality and only reduce the physical fatigue resulting from human factors such as age. This is while the precondition of a pause space is a territorial space. This highlights the importance of low-priority issues such as providing spatial indicators of territory which are absent even in well-designed architectural and urban plans.
Urban Design
Esmaeil Shieh; Mostafa Behzadfar; ahmad ali namdarian
Abstract
The concept of urbanscape has many complexities and ambiguities. These ambiguities lead to misunderstandings among the academic sources and professional circles. “Scape” and “landscape” have also deviated from their original meaning and nowadays are used for different purposes. ...
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The concept of urbanscape has many complexities and ambiguities. These ambiguities lead to misunderstandings among the academic sources and professional circles. “Scape” and “landscape” have also deviated from their original meaning and nowadays are used for different purposes. The concept of “image” and readability makes them more complex. Specially, the scape of cities has some common meanings with mystic literature in Iran leading to further misunderstanding. There are some disciplines referring to the concept of urbanscape, such as urban design, architecture and landscape architecture, and landscape urbanism. Each of these disciplines deems itself as the originator of the term “urbanscape”.This article tries to review various literature on these two concepts and their complexities. Reviewing these concepts shows that urbanscape has been affected by different paradigms of the philosophy of science and, nowadays, there is a paradigm shift in this field.This article shows that previous definitions have been based upon “positivist” and “critical rationality” paradigms. In these two approaches, urbanscape has been studied separate from the society. In line with this, urbanscape was considered as a physical dimension of the urban form or as perceptions of users. The development of a new theoretical framework for urbanscape needs fundamental reviewing in these paradigms. It needs a paradigm which justifies the “why” and “how” of urbanscape rather than just describing it. In other words, the new definition should pay attention to the mechanisms and basic structure of urbanscape.This article uses the qualitative method. Reviewing Henri Lefebvre’s notions, it uses the paradigm of “scientific realism” to develop the theory of urbanscape. Urbanscape is then considered as the “output of society’s reality”, an intrinsic reality which is always reproduced. Urbanscape could not be divided into subjective and objective scape before, for the relation of these two is not just a phenomenological one. Lefebvre’s “production of space” theory is based on a new definition of dialectic leading to the concept of spatial trialectics.From this point of view, a comprehensive framework is achieved by using phenomenology and semeiotic approach. According to these two approaches, urbanscape is not “subject or object” alone, it is also the output of a social fact conceived by users in a phenomenological and semiotic dynamic relation. Urbanscape is then divided into three categories which are produced and reproduced by influential forces on urbanscape. Perceived scape, conceived scape and lived scape are the three types of scape produced in a trialectic relation of influential forces.These three scapes are phenomenological aspects of urbanscape. However, these three are produced by the semeiotic dimension. This dimension is the factors that can create the phenomenological aspect of scape and are called forces. Each force is trying to produce its own scape. There is a sort of complexity, competition and dialogue between the forces.Therefore, urbanscape is neither a physical dimension nor a practical one; it has also social aspects produced by various forces.
Urban Design
fatemeh biniaz; toktam hanaee
Volume 6, Issue 23 , August 2017, , Pages 17-28
Abstract
Perception of urban space is the first step in communicating with the environment. This perception leads to the formation of an image of city and thus a person’s cognitive map of space. The age group, sex, as well as the level of the familiarity of an individual with the environment have a significant ...
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Perception of urban space is the first step in communicating with the environment. This perception leads to the formation of an image of city and thus a person’s cognitive map of space. The age group, sex, as well as the level of the familiarity of an individual with the environment have a significant effect on shaping this process. In fact, perception occurs when it affects human senses. Therefore, the more distinct the urban spaces are, the more complete can be the picture formed in the minds of people. It should be noted that people of different ages have different expectations of space and remember the urban space accordingly. Therefore, it can generally be said that a more perceptible and easy-to-understand environment can be grasped easier and a more complete picture of its structure can be shaped in people’s minds.
By analyzing citizens’ cognitive maps and deducing their perceptual similarities, one can measure how the legibility of an environment influences the cognitive perception of adults of different ages. This article seeks to achieve this goal with the aim of creating a legible urban space for adults. Data collection methods in this study include: literature review, descriptive statistics, and cognitive mapping technique. The library method was used to formulate research background, theoretical principles and research framework. Field methods, questionnaires, cognitive maps and routing techniques were used to understand the cognitive perception of adults of different ages and to recognize perceptual similarities with respect to the indicators defined in the theoretical framework. In fact, with this technique, one can deduce perceptual similarities by using cognitive maps and studying the presence of five elements of Lynch – i.e. landmark, path, node, edge, district and range – in cognitive maps drawn by individuals of 15-28, 29-40, 41-52, and 53-64 years age groups. Chi-square test was used to determine the relationships between variables. The target group of the study is also 15-64 year old individuals who are either residents, businessmen or users of the environment. The sample size was calculated using Cochran’s formula to be 132 individuals.
The findings of this study suggest that cognitive similarities between adults in the 15-64 years age group are more affected by node and landmarks, and that other Lynch elements do not play a role in shaping the adult mental image of the study environment. Also, easy routing by people in urban spaces is not only affected by order, symmetry, complexity, and guidance signs in the environment. Cognitive maps also show that the vast majority of adults have mapped the environment based on sequential order according to Appelard classification. It should be noted that there is a direct relationship between elements of the environment and its readability for adults of different ages. Studies on readability of the node element also show that the activity alone cannot cause spatial differentiation and legibility of the node. Also, the façade and elevation of buildings alone cannot enhance the visibility and legibility of an edge.
Urban Design
Volume 6, Issue 23 , August 2017, , Pages 29-38
Abstract
Privacy is conceived of as an interpersonal boundary process by which a person or group regulates interaction with others. The desire for privacy is a public deed, but it is related to variables such as culture, age, gender, personality, and physical environment. It appears that some cultures have a ...
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Privacy is conceived of as an interpersonal boundary process by which a person or group regulates interaction with others. The desire for privacy is a public deed, but it is related to variables such as culture, age, gender, personality, and physical environment. It appears that some cultures have a stronger preference for privacy and have more privacy needs than others. The differences in desire for privacy are not limited only to cultures, they actually exists in sub-cultures too. Iran has many sub-cultures which respond to privacy differently, but there have not been any research on the effect of culture on privacy. The present paper focuses on how Iranian women in different sub-cultures look at surveillance in their privacy. The primary purpose of this study is to examine whether women in Iranian sub-cultures (Gilaki, Kurdish, Turkish and Yazdi women) differ in their desired and achieved levels of privacy in parks. Another purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the desired and achieved levels of privacy and the experience of crowding in parks. The final purpose is to describe the cultural differences in the experience of crowding between Gilaki, Kurdish, Turkish and Yazdi women. This research uses a designed questionnaire to collect data. A number of 1173 women were randomly selected in Shahr (Rasht), Mellat (Sanandaj), Baghmisheh (Tabriz), and Azadegan (Yazd) parks. Chi-square test, Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that women in Iranian sub-cultures significantly differ in their desired privacy levels. Yazdi and Turkish women have higher needs for privacy (desired privacy) in the public spaces than other women. However, Gilaki women’s achieved privacy level is higher than that in other sub-cultures. On the other hand, the results indicate that Yazdi women perceive urban parks as more crowded than others. The crowded women (for all groups) have a higher mean of crowding score than the isolated and the optimum women. Regardless of culture, women’s desired and achieved privacy levels are related to the level of perceived crowding in public spaces. According to Hall, contact cultures are often found in tropical countries (Arabic countries, Mediterranean area, Middle-East countries, and Eastern Europe) while non-contact cultures are usually found in cold weather countries (north of Europe, north of America). Accordingly, Iran is regarded as having a contact culture. The results of this study, however, indicate that in different Iranian sub-cultures there are also differences in people’s tendency for privacy and social interaction in public places. There is no correlation between the results of this study and Hall’s taxonomy. Yazdi (dry and warm) and Turkish (cold, mountainous) people have contact cultures while Gilaki (Caspian mild) and Kurdish (very cold mountainous) people live in non-contact cultures. The main reason for this difference stems from the investigation of perceived crowdedness and tendency for privacy in public sphere. The behavior of Iranian women and their social interactions with others in public places are strongly affected by tradition and religion.
Urban Design
mitra beyzaie; amin shakiba; mohammad reza noghsan mohammadi
Abstract
The developments in recent decades, along with inattention to the features of a desired and efficient neighborhood in each district as well as a disregard for the views and demands of residents of such environments have caused various problems in neighborhood centers.The main objective of the present ...
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The developments in recent decades, along with inattention to the features of a desired and efficient neighborhood in each district as well as a disregard for the views and demands of residents of such environments have caused various problems in neighborhood centers.The main objective of the present research is to identify the problems with Yaghoubi and Posht Silo neighborhood centers in the historical and new texture of Yazd, respectively. The research analyzes these neighborhoods using the FMEA technique, which is mainly used to achieve the ideal level of quality.It is possible to identify and solve the problems of urban environments in a methodical and efficient way by using this technique and calibrating it with concepts in the field of urbanization.This research is an applied study which uses descriptive method and library documentation to describe its theoretical foundations. The second part of the study is related to the two neighborhood centers in Yazd. In this part, the FMEA technique is emphasized through descriptive-analytic method using field studies and surveys, interviews and questionnaires. The most significant result of the research is that for comparing the two neighborhood centers, which is obtained using the FMEA technique. While having some shortcomings in terms of the needs and conditions of its present time, the Yaghoubi neighborhood is much better than Silo due to pedestrianization and the placement of space at the level of human perception, its commercial usages, as well as the favorable combination of provocative functions of the residents.Drawing from the analytical results and prioritization issues, some strategies are recommended for improving the situation in the two neighborhood. Finally, the study summarizes the ideas taken from the Yaghoubi neighborhood center to improve the quality of the Posht Silo neighborhood center in accordance with the conditions of new urban textures. These ideas include:- Determining the space and scale of space at the level of human perception;- Relaxing the space by reducing the presence of drivers and assigning the neighborhood center to pedestrians;- Bringing together user-friendly applications for local residents for permanent presence;- Collecting users who are believed to be very important among people in Yazd and who are complementary to each other and have multilateral interactions;- Providing climatic comfort in space, considering the important points in designing according to the warm and dry climate of Yazd;- Handling the richness of visual sense in space due to the physical design of native architecture;- Handling enough enclosure and permeability for a favorable local environment;- Performing the promotion of native identity by utilizing the components of visual consistency while constructing complexes;- Handling the gathering and presence of more people by opening up space at the center of activities;- Handling security at all points using space resolution.Regarding the above ideas, it may be stated that, despite their formation in earlier times, neighborhood centers in the historical textures analyzed, Yaghoubi neighborhood center being a representative of them, are successful local spaces that fulfill “space expectations” in urban design knowledge and provide the user with a desirable space to adapt to the features required to form an ideal neighborhood center.
Urban Design
nesar daneshpayeh; F H
Abstract
The sense of place is a comprehensive and complex concept of human emotions about the environment that is created by human adaption to and use of place. It is also one of the important concepts in improving the quality of human environment and formation of the communicational bases of environmental users. ...
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The sense of place is a comprehensive and complex concept of human emotions about the environment that is created by human adaption to and use of place. It is also one of the important concepts in improving the quality of human environment and formation of the communicational bases of environmental users. This research explores the concept of sense of place through investigating different schools of study in the field and developing the principles and concepts in the theoretical framework. The research is looking for answers to this question: What are the criteria for explaining the process of creating a sense of place in the new developments in Tehran and what is their role, position and how do they communicate with each other? This research is a descriptive-analytical survey. The data was collected through documentary and library studies along with distributing questionnaires and doing interviews with professors teaching architecture and urban planning, as well as interviews with residents of the studied towns, the Cheshmeh and Dehkadeh – Olympic towns in District No. 22 of Tehran – and the Hakimyeh town in District No. 4 of Tehran. Samples were collected using simple random sampling. The criteria used for sampling included the lack of significant and fundamental changes, the evolution and stability of neighborhoods over time after their formation, proper access, and the information and statistics required for the selected research. In this regard, the ten main criteria, including visual richness, visual proportions, physical-spatial quality, legibility, perceptability, identity, accessibility, flexibility, comfort, place invitation in three physical, perceptual and functional aspects as well as meaning, the relationship and influence of each of the factors on locating a sense of place were investigated. In relation to each of the ten criteria, 4, 5, 8, 4, 4, 3, 2, 4, 2, 4, 3, 2, 4, 2, 4, 3, 2, 4, 2, and 4 variables were measured. The statistical methods of structural equation modeling, confirmatory factor analysis, maximum likelihood estimation, Pearson correlation test, and multiple linear regression were used to explain the nature of the relationship between the sense of place and the variables. Finally, it is possible to plan a 10-factor model for studying and measuring the sense of place in urban new development areas. The adequacy of this model due to its different indices shows that the model has an acceptable fitness in terms of data coordination with its functional structure. Based on the findings of the research, all three main physical, functional and perceptual components had a significant relationship with the dependent variable of sense of place. Visual richness, spatial quality and visual proportions had the most causal effect on the sense of place, which shows the higher effect of physical components on the sense of place from the viewpoint of the citizens, as compared with perceptual and functional variables. In conclusion, the creation of sense of place in new urban areas is based on the interaction between the residents and residence, and thus the person and place as well as the process of the creation of a sense of place is related to the physical, functional and perceptual dimensions of physical environment.
Urban Design
mahsa sholeh; Alireza Sadeghi; Peyman Najafi; Zahra Khaksar
Abstract
This paper intends to evaluate individual’s activity patterns in urban public realms. The nature of the public realm reflects our everyday life, civic culture and social discourses. In order to have a more popular and vibrant public realm, an attractive and safe environment, which meets the needs ...
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This paper intends to evaluate individual’s activity patterns in urban public realms. The nature of the public realm reflects our everyday life, civic culture and social discourses. In order to have a more popular and vibrant public realm, an attractive and safe environment, which meets the needs of its users, should be provided. In recent years, this issue has been an attractive topic not only for psychologists and sociologists but also for urban planners and all those involved in designing urban environments. In this regard, this study tries to analyze behavioural patterns and social activities in an urban public realm (Ahmadi Pedestrian Walkway) using Behavioral Observation method. This method leads to a systematic study of the behavioural patterns of individuals in the surrounding environment. In other words, the Behaviour Observation method is a novel way of recording and understanding the importance of public life in an urban environment. The aim of behaviour observation method is to determine how and by whom these public realms would be used and what facilities should be provided for the space users. Therefore, in this study, the physical-environmental qualities, activity patterns, and behavioural components are investigated through a field survey as well as natural and participatory observation. The tools of this methodology are recording the location of stationary activities, recording the stopping places, activity counting and tracking technique. To validate the findings of the study, a survey strategy was utilized to adapt the findings of the study to the viewpoints of 50 space users. The results revealed that Ahmadi Pedestrian Walkway in the middle hours of the day (14:00 to 17:00) encountered a fracture of stationary activity level and reduction of activity patterns. The highest pedestrian trace volume (76%) and stopping point (78%) were recorded in the shaded parts of the sidewalk. Also, evaluating the shadow maps, stationary activity maps, and pedestrian trace volumes, it seemed that the shading and climatic comfort had a correlation with behavioural patterns and social activities in Ahmadi Pedestrian Walkway.In conclusion, it can be argued that climatic comfort plays a crucial role in the vitality of urban public realms in Shiraz. Also, Behavioural Observation method is an effective way for measuring and analyzing behavioural patterns and social activities. Therefore, it can be considered in future ecological interventions of urban public realms.
Urban Design
Amir Shakibamanesh; Yasaman Hakimi
Abstract
One of the main issues in visual analysis of urban spaces is their visibility. It is one of the main research interests in recent urban studies due to the development of technology and digital software. The results of most recent studies suggest that the physical visibility of urban spaces is closely ...
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One of the main issues in visual analysis of urban spaces is their visibility. It is one of the main research interests in recent urban studies due to the development of technology and digital software. The results of most recent studies suggest that the physical visibility of urban spaces is closely connected to the possible behaviors occurring in them. Due to the fact that there are many different issues affecting different conditions of visibility and subsequently the perception of people, this article focuses specifically on urban squares to obtain more scientific and accurate results. In particular, having all the features of an actual urban square, the Sabzeh Meydan square which is located in the central area of Tehran is chosen as the case study. This square is visually analyzed by applying 3-dimensional isovist concept and studying its relation to other variables of population behaviors such as “pause and movement”, “individual and social behaviors” and “flow’s pace” considering the sex variable. For this purpose, the visibility map of the area was produced in GIS software and the relationship between the main variables of the study was examined by statistical analysis and correlation coefficients in SPSS.This study clearly showed that visibility was associated with behavioral patterns and affected the groups using spaces. The results indicated that women preferred to pause in places with moderate visibility. In fact, what they prefer is that the place where they pause should not have a weak or a high visibility. On the other hand, the findings showed that men were more likely to pause in places where visibility was more than other parts. The findings also showed a significant relationship between pause and motion behavior patterns and visibility, but the significance was not strong. Based on the statistics, pause behaviors are most likely to occur in places with more visibility and movement behaviors occur more in places where there is less visibility. People prefer to stay and pause in places which provide more functionality for viewing the surroundings. Other results of this study showed a significant relationship between individual and social behaviors and visibility level. This relationship was stronger than that in other cases. Statistics indicated that social behaviors were performed in places with a better visibility than other places. Field observations also showed that when the level of visibility decreased, individual behaviors outweighed social ones. In this research, the relationship between social and individual behaviors in sitting places and visibility level was also studied. The findings showed that the sitting places where most individual behaviors occurred were often located in areas with relatively good visibility levels. The results of studying the relationship between velocity and visibility level showed a significant relationship between the two variables. This means that as the visibility of a space increases, the speed of movement decreases. Based on field observations, it can also be said that people travel faster in environments with less visibility. Therefore, in urban spaces where people’s speed should decrease, visibility should increase compared to other urban elements.
Urban Design
Azin Mostofi; Hadi Sarvari
Volume 5, Issue 19 , August 2016, , Pages 57-68
Abstract
Abstract
This research attempts to shed light on land use impact on activities and pedestrian behavior. Furthermore, this paper aims to analyze the influential factors on urban street livability and vitality in order to provide a favorable basis to improve behavior diversity in urban public space. Daneshjou ...
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Abstract
This research attempts to shed light on land use impact on activities and pedestrian behavior. Furthermore, this paper aims to analyze the influential factors on urban street livability and vitality in order to provide a favorable basis to improve behavior diversity in urban public space. Daneshjou Street is a case study in this article. This street is located in western Mashhad. Mashhad is the capital of Khorasan_Razavi Province. According to pervious research, all actions undertaken to respond to human needs is considered an activity but behavior is how we do these activities. In this article, the category of Jan Gehl (necessary activities, optional activities, social activities) is used for studying behavior. According to investigation toward land use planning, we can consider frequency of use, the purpose of visits, and functional scales as essential land use properties. All these land use properties have a variety of sub-criteria. The purpose of the visit are a response to secondary needs and primary needs. Land use functional scales have neighborhood scale, regional scales, and district scales. Frequency of use includes once or more visits in a day, once or more visits in a week, once or more visits in a month, once or more visits in a year and visits at uncertain times. In this case study, we determined 5 types of land use:Commercial, Office, Open space (park), Mix-use residential and general service (gas station). This article is trying to answer the following question: "How do different land uses cause different behaviors? It seems that most urban design literature and text books have focused on the effects of different land uses on people‘s activities, and behaviors in urban public space is not studied or only narrowed to pedestrian walkways. This is a qualitative and descriptive analytic research study. The chosen methodology for the study behavior was direct observation and behavior pattern analysis and the methodology for studying land use comprised of observations and questionnaires. The sample size was 138. In Daneshjou Street, there are diverse activities and behaviors; for instance, it was possible to consider Walk to shops, Walk to do something, Transit, Walk to do a job, stand to do something or stand to wait as necessary activities and stroll, sit to eat and drink, sit to read, sit to rest and stand to eat and drink as optional activities. In addition, social activities observed included 2 people or more talking to each other, Cultural events and buying from venders. In Daneshjou Street, Mashhad, the frequency of necessary activities, optional activities and social activities were 29.5%, 33.7% and 36.8%, respectively.. Thus, social activities occurred more frequently than others activities in this case study. Pearson correlation test and chi square test were used for analyzing the information In conclusion, this study proves that land uses with a district functional scale, land uses with more than once a week visit frequency, and land uses responding to secondary needs could provide more variety of pedestrian behaviors in Daneshjou Street.
Urban Design
masoumeh ayashm; morteza mirgholami
Volume 5, Issue 19 , August 2016, , Pages 69-80
Abstract
Abstract
The concepts of place and sense of place have attracted many contemporary researchers in the field of urban design and planning. In the past, cities had a higher ability to establish connection between humans and space. Today, however, cities consist of many spaces without identity and meaning ...
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Abstract
The concepts of place and sense of place have attracted many contemporary researchers in the field of urban design and planning. In the past, cities had a higher ability to establish connection between humans and space. Today, however, cities consist of many spaces without identity and meaning which are produced through a process of homogenization emerging from capitalist urbanization. The production of non-places and identical spaces has marginalized the identity of local places and cultures. By using inconsistent pattern with the site context, only human's temporary needs will be resolved and regardless of place concept and a sense of place, urban spaces are formed in cities. Promotion of placelessness is the only feature of this kind of urban spaces making.
This research, by studying the fundamentals of place and the sense of place, examines the question of whether an integrated urban street has a unique sense of place in all its small parts such as its sequences. Through a critical review of different place features and models for evaluation of sense of place, a new model was synthesized. This model was then been used to analyze a case study in Urmia city (different sections of Imam Khomeini Street). Division of Emam Khomeini Street to different parts are based on people’s mental images and perception of this street. Three methods were used for analyzing this urban space. In the first method, according to the writer's field observation and final model ( presented in this study), Emam Khomeini street was analyzed. In the second method, results of the questionnaire based on some spatial words that describe the quality of urban spaces were presented. In the third method, parts of Emam Khomeini Street were analyzed using land use maps and land use distribution patterns. According to the findings, different parts of Imam Khomeini Street have different identities and thus create different senses of places. in addition, the amount of land use vitality in these parts of Emam Khomeini Street supported this fact.based on the results of this study, the amount of contribution of each parts are determined according to four factors (perceptual, physical, social and functional) presented in the model. Using this item can identify which aspect needs to be upgraded or modified in each section. In other words, the overall framework for improving urban spaces is clarified. In the third sequence, perceptual, physical and social factors and in first sequence, functional factor should be modified, and these amendments can improve spatial integration.
The research method used was descriptive-analytical using various methods such as library study, documentation and presence in the environment and questionnaire for data collection (field observations and questionnaire design and interviewing). The results of the study confirm the hypothesis that different sections of Emam Khomeini Axis have different impacts on people’s sense of place and meanings of the street.
Urban Design
Naser Barati; Seyyedeh Sepideh Najafi Taroujeni
Volume 5, Issue 19 , August 2016, , Pages 81-91
Abstract
The city is a set of signs and symptoms that manifest various contexts. Some of these indicators with regard to the continuation of participation in various generations, acceptance by people and exhibition of citizens’ identity and culture have changed into identity symbols. On the other hand, ...
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The city is a set of signs and symptoms that manifest various contexts. Some of these indicators with regard to the continuation of participation in various generations, acceptance by people and exhibition of citizens’ identity and culture have changed into identity symbols. On the other hand, the entrance of the city, due to the great impact on the imagination of city visitors in the first glance and in fact at the beginning of arrival is one of the most important sign placement and symbols in the structure of the city; therefore, made signs at the entrance tocities, with the passage of time, have changed to symbols that represent the integrity of the city and try to introduce it to the people. The symbol of the main eastern entrance of Qazvin city in Minudar square is an urban element recently completed. In this study, the quality of this element, as a significant urban symbol, is studied from the people’s point of view.
Based on the raised issues, the aim of this study is identifying design criteria of entrance symbols in general, as well as evaluating success of Qazvin’s monumental entrance symbol.
In order to achieve the aim of the study, this research examined the views of visitors to Qazvin’s eastern entrance square with the practical aim and descriptive- case study method. Required information on theoretical foundation was collected through literature review to identify the criteria and necessary features of the case study and the data was collected through questionnaires (half- open) as well as interviews with visitors based onquestionnaire results. In this study, two groups of people were questioned. The first group were the main ordinary observers who had been divided into two sub-groups as Qazvin dwellers and travelling passengers; the second group comprised of experts in urbanism and architecture. Gathered data was analyzed by SPSS software which not only analysed statistics related to the satisfaction of visitors regarding the entrance symbol of the city but also analysed identified characteristics in theoretical foundation about the symbol.
Beauty, readability, and the introduction of the city are three main criteria in the design of an entrance symbol in a city which included several indicators. According to the survey, by evaluating indicators by observers in this study, 55% of the people accepted this monument as an entrance symbol of Qazvin in contrast to 67% of the experts who did not.. Some factors such as lack of understanding of the symbol by the people and its relationship with observers, lack of connection with Qazvin’s history and identity and from an aesthetics perspective, they found the monument unacceptable. However, the main reason for people to accept the symbol was its beauty.
