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 Planning
M B
Abstract
ObjectivesTourism, on the one hand, is important from the point of view of economic values and, on the other hand, from cultural, political and social viewpoints. It is important to geographically analyze the power and sufficiency of tourism because it provides an active and dynamic field for development ...
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ObjectivesTourism, on the one hand, is important from the point of view of economic values and, on the other hand, from cultural, political and social viewpoints. It is important to geographically analyze the power and sufficiency of tourism because it provides an active and dynamic field for development in every region. Accurate scientific studies are needed to recognize the high potential of tourism in different regions of Iran and its effect on social and economic life of residents these regions, and to realize the link between tourism growth and its role in economic and environmental development of host areas. One of the touristic regions of Iran which attracts large numbers of internal and foreign tourists is the historical city of Kashan. Kashan’s historical, cultural and social attractions, its sport attraction in the Maranjab desert, rose-water festival, waterfalls, etc. have attracted native and non-native tourists and developed the city. Hence, the present study seeks to answer the following questions: how much does tourism development influence urban development? In addition to the modeling, what are the effective factors on tourism development? What are the effects of tourism development on urban development? FindingsIn line with effective factors on tourism development and its role in urban development, a list of variables was identified and arranged according to theoretical basis of the study. Then, the variables’ validity was checked and confirmed. Afterwards, the variables were evaluated in the form of a structural model. The results of analyses indicate that tourism has been effective on environmental, framework, economic, and social factors of the region. The economic factor plays the most important role in specifying the effects of Kashan tourism development. Income growth is the most tangible indicator affected by tourism development in the region. Capital increase and job diversification are other important indices which are influenced by tourism development in Kashan. Social factor is another crucial factor affected by tourism in Kashan. Four indices are loaded in this factor, including decrease in residents’ peace, increase in local and family income, realization of value of the local culture and efforts for protecting it and increased quality of life. Environmental factor is another factor which is affected by tourism development. The factor has dedicated maximum number of variables to itself which shows that it is largely influenced by tourism development of the region. The last affected factor is framework. Unfortunately, tourism development of the region has been accompanied by many framework destructions.ResultsThe results demonstrate that tourism development has an important role in urban development. This effectiveness was 0.29 at the significance level of 0.000. Therefore, with a confidence of 99%, tourism development influences urban development. Tourism development in Kashan accounts for 0.67% development in cultural services (library, mosque, etc.), 0.66% development in facilities and infrastructure services (water and sewage network, transmission, etc.), 0.65% improvement in residents’ living and 0.52% increase in common services (hygienic service, accumulation of garbage, etc.).
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 Planning
asghar abedini
Abstract
The growing population and increasing urbanization have caused a phenomenon known as urban sprawl in major cities of the world. This issue has imposed much economic and environmental consequences on cities. According to this review, it is necessary to recognize and assess this phenomenon. This study ...
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The growing population and increasing urbanization have caused a phenomenon known as urban sprawl in major cities of the world. This issue has imposed much economic and environmental consequences on cities. According to this review, it is necessary to recognize and assess this phenomenon. This study is a theoretical-practical research in terms of objectives and a descriptive-analytical one in nature. Today, landscape metrics and spatial data are used widely throughout the world to measure and evaluate urban sprawl. In the present study, to measure urban sprawl in Urmia, the spatial-temporal data and landscape metrics are used for the first time to measure urban sprawl in Iran. In this regard, satellite images related to the years 1991, 2001, 2011, and 2015 were collected. Then, the data was classified into two categories of constructed and unconstructed lands using artificial neural network. Afterwards, changes were detected by ENVI4.8 software program and the urban sprawl in Urmia was assessed applying landscape metrics (shape index, fractal dimension index, contiguity index, number of patch index, largest patch index) using the Fragstats4.2 software program.Investigation of shape index indicates the sprawl trend in Urmia. During 1991-2011, this index continuously declined, indicating the reduction of sprawl trend in the Urmia during this period. From 2011 onward, the trend has taken an uptrend that shows the increase of sprawl trend in the city. This points to the irregularly made patches that lead to random growth and unplanned development of urban areas.Fractal dimension describes the complexity and fragmentation of each patch by perimeter to area ratio. Increased complexity and fragmentation causes increased perimeter and thus increased fractal dimension. Therefore, increased fractal dimension shows an increase in the urban sprawl intensity. During 1991-2011 in Urmia, the intensity of sprawl was declining partially. However, during 2011-2015, the phenomenon of sprawl and developments in suburb areas intensified in the city.The high value of Contiguity Index means more compaction. This index had a balanced trend during 1991-2011 and maintained its existing compaction. However, during 2011-2015, this index transformed and went through a significant downtrend, showing the tendency for sprawl in the city.Number of Patches Index intensifies when the extent of sprawl increases. The investigation of this index in the study area indicates the reduction of sprawl area during 1991-2011, so the intensity of sprawl reduced to some extent. But, after this interval, i.e. from 2011-2015, sprawl intensified in Urmia.The investigation of this index in the study area shows an oscillating trend in a way that the trend reduced during 1991-2001 and, thus, the sprawl intensity in the region reduced. During 2011-2011, the value of this index increased and the studied area tended more intensely toward urban sprawl. Finally, sprawl intensity in Urmia increased significantly during 2011-2015.The results of the present study show that urban sprawl in Urmia has followed a descending trend during 1991-2011 and an ascending trend ever since.
Urban Planning
ahmad shahivandi
Abstract
The creative city perspective is based on the use of all city potentials to improve public spaces, culture, security, safety and communications. One of the most important tools to do so is new technologies including communication and electronic networks. Technologies, including ICT, are instrumrnts that ...
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The creative city perspective is based on the use of all city potentials to improve public spaces, culture, security, safety and communications. One of the most important tools to do so is new technologies including communication and electronic networks. Technologies, including ICT, are instrumrnts that can act as a mechanism for the establishment of creative cities using the global experiences. The dissemination of information through Internet, communication through e-mail and municipalities’ websites, and the use of virtual reality communication to highlight the results of a planning process serve as a new tool to achieve transparency, accountability and efficiency in urban systems. With the passage of time and rapid evolution of technologies in Isfahan , as one of the cultural and historical cities of Iran, there is a need for changes in the attitude and style of architecture and urban design that fit people’ everyday needs and problems. Electronic tools seek to create a virtual world. In the field of urban planning, they seek to create shopping places, offices, banks, etc., such that there would be little need for physical construction and creative people would use their technical knowledge and intelligence to provide high quality services, and physical buildings would be replaced with communications and network infrastructure. At the same time, a large part of urban spaces would be changed into recreation and leisure time places.Therefore, this research investigates the impact of new technologies on creative city with an emphasis on Isfahan. In this research, some features such as “variety, universality and being up-to-date”, as ICT’s criteria, have been studied in order to fulfil the indexes of creative city including “creativity and domestic potential, physical-spatial structure of the city and socio-economic properties”. This research is practical in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytic in terms of methodology. Library studies and inquiry method are used to gather information. The field study data is obtained by distributing questionnaires among 210 urban experts and 30 IT experts in Isfahan. After entering the variables and editing them in SPSS, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling in Amos Graphic was used to classify variables and demonstrate the relationship between new communication technologies and creative city. Likert scale was used to measure the variables. The obtained results show that the factor of being up-to-date has an impact on all aspects of creative city such as creativity and domestic potential, physical structure of city and socio-economic properties; the effect of this factor is more significant than other factors (such as universality and variety of new technologies). The universality factor only affects creativity and improving domestic potential and variety of new technologies factor only influences the socio-economic function of the city.In other words, we can say that being up-to-date in different sites and providing online information can increase creativity and improve the domestic potential, change physical and spatial structure of the city, improve social science and reduce personal referrals. Based on the results, the impact of being up-to-date on the factors of creative city is more significant than that of other factors, but the ideal situation for realization of creative city will occur when the new technologies in different aspects are able to have positive effects on the social and physical structure of the city.
Regional Planning
Hamid Mohammadi; Vahid Moshfeghi
Abstract
It is necessary to consider external interactions of cities, their importance and the role of each type of communication to analyze urban systems. Thus, an accurate understanding of the nature of space and the forces shaping it as well as identification of the form of space organization in the regional ...
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It is necessary to consider external interactions of cities, their importance and the role of each type of communication to analyze urban systems. Thus, an accurate understanding of the nature of space and the forces shaping it as well as identification of the form of space organization in the regional level requires identification of several types of interactions among cities. Besides, the importance of nodes at the regional level, such as an urban network, presents forms of space organization in correspondence with the levels of the urban hierarchy.On the one hand, cities are categorized in proportion to their connectivity and power based on different flows of people, goods, capital and information. On the other hand, practical projects focus mostly on ranking settlements based on population, capacity and level of services.The authors believe there are two main reasons why researchers have paid less attention to the urban network analysis in Iran. First, lack of inter-city and intra-city flow data and, second, absence of a comprehensive model to consider different types of linkages among cities.This article aims to present an optimum pattern of urban network analysis according to available data in Iran including economic, political and physical data, as well as the data related to services including tourism and recreation, transportation, health, education, etc.This paper examined the hierarchy of functional communications among cities in Fars province located in south of Iran. It aims to answer the following questions:1. How is the hierarchical pattern of functional communications in Fars province?2. Which centers and what types of communications are more important to achieve a balanced regional development model?In terms of methodology, this study is a positivist research. The research method is applied and developmental and the quantitative methods are used to assess the hierarchy of urban communications in Fars province. The data is collected through documentary and library studies.Assessment of the urban communication pattern of Fars province shows a partially mono-central clustered structure in the province. Shiraz is the dominant central place of the examined network. This is due to the concentration of population, economic, social and cultural potentials and powerful physical relationships with other cities. Marvdasht, Firoozabad, Fasa, Jahrom and Lar are the most powerful and multi-functional cities to modify the spatial structure of the province. These cities were ranked as secondary centers in the system of the city to play their roles. It should be noted that Marvdasht is the second most populated city in Fras province. In the light of its vacinity to Shiraz, Marvdasht has less superior services. Thus, Marvdasht is described as a low potential city to become a secondary center. Jahrom and Lar are located in the southern half of the province. These cities are considered to be at the second level of the hierarchy of cities in Fars. On the other hand, results show that lack of important functional centers is the most important problem in Fars spatial organization, especially in western and eastern areas of the province. Finally, in an overall view, the results show that distribution of services plays an important role in the hierarchy of urban system and that the demographic dependence is mainly affected by communication and service structures.
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.
