Urban Transport
Mahdi Allahdadi; Ali Shamaei; Farzaneh sasanpour
Abstract
The issue of transportation is regarded as one of the most important human needs. Two general solutions are applied today to urban traffic problems: demand management and supply management. Demand management is adopted to eliminate or reduce travel, and supply management is aimed at optimal use of the ...
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The issue of transportation is regarded as one of the most important human needs. Two general solutions are applied today to urban traffic problems: demand management and supply management. Demand management is adopted to eliminate or reduce travel, and supply management is aimed at optimal use of the available transportation facilities. Establishment and employment of public transportation is another major strategy adopted in supply management. The bus is considered as the main means of public transportation in the city of Esfahan, Iran, where it has been found to meet twenty percent of people’s transportation needs in recent years. In order for the bus services to appeal to more citizens, measures should be taken to resolve its problems and enhance its favorability. It has been found that the major problems from passengers’ point of view include long waiting times at stations, delayed and imprecise arrival times, crowdedness, and inappropriate air conditioning and cooling and heating systems in the ordinary bus services. From the perspective of urban management, there are again obvious problems, such as the worn-out fleet, noise and environment pollution, and low performance of the ordinary bus services, utilized less than allowed by the capacity. All this calls for modification and optimization in the current services. The most important problems with the fleet include uncertainty in and violation of the service schedule, long travel times due to low speed, limited activity and service duration, crowdedness, and long time headways. Many of these problems can be resolved via special routes, i.e. conversion of ordinary bus services into express ones. It will then be important to evaluate the bus rapid transit (BRT) services, so that the quality can be upgraded to a high level. The main purpose of this research was to specify the status of the BRT services in Esfahan in accordance with ITDP’s 2016 BRT Standard, the scores of different bus lines, and surveyed passengers’ satisfaction and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the services from the above two aspects. The results demonstrated that the average score of the BRT services in Esfahan was below the bronze level of quality. The separate examinations of the scores obtained on the individual criteria demonstrated that the criteria pertaining to the stations achieved 80% their maximum values, and those concerning the communication equipment achieved only 20%, indicating a lack of communication equipment in Esfahan BRT services. Moreover, points were deduced on the access and integration criterion due to the lack of integration between the BRT services and the network of cycle facilities, and all the bus lines lost five more points as the horizontal distance between the bus floor and the station platform was more than twenty centimeters, without which the services would achieve the bronze level. According to the survey results, in fact specifying the status of the services from the passengers’ perspective, the average score obtained on the different criteria was 74%, indicating a high level of satisfaction, on which basis it could be stated that Esfahan BRT services were of the silver level of quality. Furthermore, all the bus lines had attracted 21% and 13% of car and taxi passengers, respectively, amounting to 16 and 11for Line 1 alone, according to similar studies. The most important reasons stated by passengers for using BRT services included high speed, discipline, and convenience, in that order. The evaluation and survey results were highly correlated, suggesting a failure to employ smart equipment widely and fully in Esfahan BRT services.
Urban Economy
Sana mostafazadeh; Fateh Habibi; ahmad Mohammadi
Abstract
At micro level, valuation studies provide access to information concerning the structures and functions of ecosystems and their diverse, complex role in support of human convenience. At macro level, ecosystem valuation can contribute to development and modification of human convenience factors and sustainable ...
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At micro level, valuation studies provide access to information concerning the structures and functions of ecosystems and their diverse, complex role in support of human convenience. At macro level, ecosystem valuation can contribute to development and modification of human convenience factors and sustainable development. Expressing the quantitative values of the functions, products, and services of an ecosystem, economic valuation, helps executive, social, and economic planners and administrators to plan the protection and sustainable exploitation of natural resources. The main purpose of economic environment valuation is to enable comparison of environmental protection and socio-economic development for optimal utilization of exceptional resources. Since environmental resources belong to all generations, long-term interests should be preferred to short-term ones. The economic approach to evaluation of environmental changes is based on people’s preference for modifications in their environmental conditions. The term value has a precise definition in economics: the price that individuals are willing to pay for goods or services. The basic economic notions of supply and demand are employed to estimate willingness to pay. In environmental economics, different methods are used to measure environmental values. There are two groups of methods for monetary evaluation of goods: methods that lead to estimation of the demand curve, used to obtain the values of non-market goods and natural resources and those leading to goods prices without estimating the demand curve. Zrebar Lake is a unique tourist attraction of the type, situated three kilometers to the west of Mariwan in Iran’s Kurdistan Province. The purpose of this study was to investigate the visitors’ willingness to pay for the entrance fee to Zrebar Lake. Simple random sampling was used in the research, along with a questionnaire for data collection. The size of a sample needs to be large enough to make it statistically representative. A total of 350 respondents participated in the study, only 307 of whom answered the questionnaire completely. A Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.86 was obtained for the questionnaire, which indicated its proper reliability. The results concerning the probability of willingness to pay indicated that 217 participants (70.68%) would not accept the first offer, being unwilling to pay 5000 Rials of their monthly income to visit Zrebar Lake, while 90 respondents (29.32%) would accept the offer. When a lower fee (1000 Rials) was offered, 36 participants (11.72%) would not accept it, while 181 respondents (58.96%) would. Those who would accept the first offer (5000 Rials) were offered a higher fee of 15000 Rials, 37 of whom (12.06%) would not accept it, while 53 (17.26%) would. A total of 88% of the respondents were willing to pay for a visit. The results obtained from the estimation of the model using logistic regression demonstrated that the variables age, travel expenses, academic degree, family size, income, and level of satisfaction had significant effects on the willingness to pay, whereas the variable payment experience exhibited no significant effect. Another finding of the study was that the entertainment value of Zrebar Lake, represented by the average expected value (WTP), was 5712 Rials per visitor.
Urban Transport
masoud kadkhodaei; rouzbeh shad
Abstract
With the ever-increasing production of private cars, there has been far heavier traffic flowing through the streets of large cities, causing problems such as increased air pollution and increased travel time and latency in urban trips. Congestion pricing provides a way of managing traffic congestion ...
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With the ever-increasing production of private cars, there has been far heavier traffic flowing through the streets of large cities, causing problems such as increased air pollution and increased travel time and latency in urban trips. Congestion pricing provides a way of managing traffic congestion and the consequent problems in large cities. In the implementation of the congestion pricing policy in large cities, it is of great significance how toll rate varies by time, affecting the efficiency of the plan and citizens’ tendency to use private cars. Therefore, adoption of the most appropriate method of scheduling in congestion pricing plans requires a precise analysis of different scheduling methods and their evaluation given the traffic and social characteristics of the city. Due to the presence of tourists in large tourist destinations, there are larger numbers of trips taken for entertainment and shopping purposes than in other cities. Furthermore, many drivers are not familiar with the directions, which makes urban travel patterns different in such cities, making it more important to adopt the appropriate congestion pricing plan scheduling. In this research, three methods, including fixed tolls, scheduled tolls, and smart tolls, were adopted for scheduling congestion pricing plans in large tourist destinations and ranked using the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method, where decision elements, including evaluation criteria and options, are weighted using pairwise comparison as well as their interdependence In the pairwise comparisons, the importance of or preference for each decision element is determined by experts opinions. Each option is scored with respect to each criterion through multiplication of the option weight by the criterion value, and the final score of the option is obtained through calculation of the sum of the above scores, on which basis the evaluation options are ranked. Since the final weights thus obtained by the ANP method are not normal, more accurate comparison could be made after their normalization. Based on the results, the method of scheduled tolls for congestion pricing plans were ranked first with a normalized weight of 0.49, and the methods of fixed tolls and smart tolls were ranked second and third with normalized weights of 0.26 and 0.25, respectively. The most effective indicators in the assessment included reduction of travel time, increase in the use of public transportation, reduction of the number of drivers traveling alone, increase in operating speed, and reduction of accidents with pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists, in that order. Use of the results of this research in urban management policy-making will optimize congestion pricing policies adopted in large tourist destinations such as the city of Mashhad, Iran and increase their effectiveness in reduction of traffic congestion and the consequent problems.
Passive Defense
Ahmad Danaeinia; Morteza Majidi
Abstract
One of the most important challenges in historic areas and perhaps the most important concern in urban management involves the design of an appropriate transportation system for provision of better facilities with minimal intervention. It is therefore an inevitable necessity to provide access to a convenient, ...
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One of the most important challenges in historic areas and perhaps the most important concern in urban management involves the design of an appropriate transportation system for provision of better facilities with minimal intervention. It is therefore an inevitable necessity to provide access to a convenient, safe transportation system such as the subway in the historic, distressed area of Tehran, Iran given the high population density and accumulation of administrative, political, and other services in the area as well as natural and unnatural hazards, so that safety can be maintained, and service can be provided in case of a crisis. Important urban community centers throughout Tehran’s historic area, subway stations can be regarded as dual-purpose, used for temporary accommodation and emergency services in case of an unexpected event. Activities that can be carried out at a subway station include accommodation of citizens, storage of food, provision of emergency service, and transportation of the injured. Application of passive defense requirements to the design of subway station components is one of the most important ways of providing subway security in critical conditions. A subway station is composed of different components, with the entrance element intervening the inner and outer spaces as the first component. Location and design of the subway station entrance is an important task involving particular complexity as well as intricacy and requiring precise predictions. Therefore, this research needed to address two significant questions. Firstly, what indicators are involved in subway station entrance design in Tehran’s historic area given the architectural requirements and passive defense considerations? Secondly, to what extent have these indicators been utilized in the design of the subway station entrances in Tehran’s historic core, and which is the best station in terms of observation of the indicators? The aim of this qualitative applied study was to evaluate the subway station entrances at Tehran’s historic core in accordance with the standards and to determine the indicators for design of subway station entrances based on passive defense considerations. First, the intended indicators were extracted through a review of the domestic and international regulations, the most important being Article 21 of the Iranian Building Code and FEMA’s regulations. For a better understanding of the extracted indicators and acquaintance with the regulations in other countries as well as in Iran in subway station design, four subway station entrances in China, Brazil, England, and Canada and three in Esfahan, Mashhad, and Tabriz in Iran were analyzed as samples, where the above indicators were investigated. The extracted indicators were evaluated in Tehran’s District Twelve using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and the degree of importance (weight) for each of the criteria and options was calculated based on the above regulations using the Expert Choice software and a prioritization of the indicators based on the method of sensitivity analysis. The results indicated that the criteria distance from the entrance building to the main arteries and method of access to the entrances had the greatest and least impacts on subway station entrance design with relative weights of 0.205 and 0.027, respectively. On that basis, the Darvazeh Dowlat subway station entrance was identified as the best with five out of the nine standard indicators and a relative weight of 0.147, followed by the Baharestan, Khayam, Imam Khomeini, Panzdah-e-Khordad, Saadi, and Mellat subway station entrances.
Urban Design
Mehrdad Karimimoshaver; hasan sajjadzadeh; hossein troosheh
Abstract
This study addressed the relationship between high-rise buildings (as part of the urban environment) and mental health (one of the three major aspects of health: physical, psychological, and social), investigating citizens’ points of view on the high-rise Saeedieh Condominium in Hamadan, Iran. ...
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This study addressed the relationship between high-rise buildings (as part of the urban environment) and mental health (one of the three major aspects of health: physical, psychological, and social), investigating citizens’ points of view on the high-rise Saeedieh Condominium in Hamadan, Iran. The research sought to capture the influence mechanism and to help reinforce the insight of designers of such buildings into and their concern for features of the built environment from citizens’ perspective that can inadvertently affect their mental health. In recent decades, construction of high-rise buildings has been appealed to widely as a method of construction, replacing the horizontal growth of cities. However, it seems that vertical urbanism has paid little attention to citizens’ psychological aspects in urban spaces. Height is an intrinsic part of high-rise buildings and their most important formal feature, with a significant impact on citizens and their eventual perceptions and emotions, which makes it significant to scrutinize its influence. One of the most important issues is the impact of high-rise buildings on citizens’ mental health. Mental stresses constantly threaten human mental health, in part due to inappropriate urban environments and residences. This increases the significance of examining the urban environment to reduce the existing stresses. The purpose of this paper was to present better ways of designing high-rise buildings considering their impact on citizens’ mental health as well as to identify how the influence works. Therefore, the main questions of the study are as follows. What relationship is there between high-rise buildings and citizens’ mental health? How can height affect citizens’ mental health? In the present study, a qualitative approach was taken using the method of Grounded Theory. After in-depth interviews made in person with citizens, the transcripts were summarized and encoded in the three open, axial, and selective stages, and the grounded model was finally extracted by the MAXQDA data analysis software. The participants in the interviews included 24 citizens, 13 men and 11 women aged 17-65 years. Theoretical consecutive purposive sampling was used, where sampling would continue until adequacy (saturation) was achieved for theorization. It should be noted that saturation was achieved as felt by the researcher with comments from 8 men and 8 women—a total of 16 participants—, but the interviews continued, amounting to 24 with 8 additional ones, which served to ensure the achievement of saturation (although no changes were made in the eventual data). The findings demonstrated that high-rise buildings cause mental pressure in citizens due to issues such as improper enclosure, physical-visual consequences, sub-climate generation, landscape restrictions, social difficulties, overlook, urban area heterogeneity, and negative environmental effects and citizens’ long-term involvement in emotional reactions resulting from the mental pressure affects their mental health. With a frequency of 73, the issue of improper enclosure was found to be the most popular among citizens in the set of situational issues, playing a major role in the emergence of the interactive issues and the consequential ones as a result. It was followed by the issues sub-climate generation (with a frequency of 57), physical-visual consequences (with a frequency of 55), landscape restrictions (with a frequency of 30), urban area heterogeneity (with a frequency of 25), overlook (with a frequency of 22), and social difficulties (with a frequency of 12), in that order.
Urban Architecture
maryam kiaee
Abstract
In addition to their objective, overt aspects, different spaces have subjective, covert dimensions, which cannot be inferred simply through analysis of their physical structures. These features, which are classified as cognitive features of space, are largely influenced by the space users’ types ...
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In addition to their objective, overt aspects, different spaces have subjective, covert dimensions, which cannot be inferred simply through analysis of their physical structures. These features, which are classified as cognitive features of space, are largely influenced by the space users’ types and methods of perception of space. You receive part of the environment information via presence in the space and with the help of your sensory abilities. Depending on your needs and motivations, some of the information is perceived by your mental system, and recognition is ultimately achieved through analysis of the perceived information and their registration in mind. Thus, mental or cognitive maps are formed for you, which in turn result from transformation of an objective entity into a subjective one, on which basis your mental image of an environment takes shape. These cognitive maps are largely dependent on the values, beliefs, memories, aspirations, etc. of people who use an environment. Therefore, it can be argued that people have different types of perception of the environment. Therefore, the quality of the objective and subjective features is effective in space users’ cognition and perception of the environment, and they utilize one or both of these perceptions to evaluate the environment. Moreover, the physical quality of the space is effective on its recognition, which turns recognition of the structural features effective in identification of space into another aspect of the significance of this research. Therefore, the present research sought to investigate the cognitive and perceptual aspects of a traditional market as a case study by evaluating the perceptual quality of the environment using Gestalt psychology and analyzing the system of spatial configuration using space syntax and to analyze the space users’ spatial-cognitive behavior in the relatively complex environment. After the factors required by both theories were introduced, the process of analysis began. On the syntactic analysis side, the market map was loaded in the software environment, and the market was analyzed using the values of factors such as the cone of vision, spatial depth and integrity, and spatial accessibility and quality. On the cognitive analysis side, the method of drawing cognitive maps was used for extraction of the Gestalt factors. Therefore, the research population was asked to enter the market through a specific entrance and draw their mental images of its structure in the croquis format after traveling around the market for thirty minutes. After data were collected using both methods, the obtained findings were analyzed and compared. The results of the research indicated that several objective and subjective factors are effective, either at the same time or with some prioritization with respect to each other, in proper wayfinding in spaces, particularly unfamiliar and less familiar ones. Moreover, the results obtained from the syntactic analysis of an environment are in some cases consistent with those of its cognitive analysis, and they contrast in other cases, depending to a great extent on the spatial features of the environment and the elements used in it. Accordingly, a traditional market in Iran was selected for a case study, and people’s spatial behavior in the urban space with a relatively complex structure and their perception thereof was analyzed. Therefore, the questions of the research are as follows. Which configuration features of a market are perceived and considered more closely by users? How do different people—particularly those who are unfamiliar or less familiar with the space—find or, in other words, choose the ways to their destinations in the market?
Urban Planning
Arastoo Yari hesar; mohammadhasan yazdani; Asghar pashazadeh
Abstract
Introduction Robbery is a behavioral and social deviation that has been regarded as a crime and negative, abnormal behavior almost regardless of when and where it has been committed. It is one of the oldest human crimes, observed in various forms in different societies. It is a phenomenon of great importance ...
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Introduction Robbery is a behavioral and social deviation that has been regarded as a crime and negative, abnormal behavior almost regardless of when and where it has been committed. It is one of the oldest human crimes, observed in various forms in different societies. It is a phenomenon of great importance that disturbs the individual’s and society’s security in both financial and physical terms. Since robbery can take place in particular time and location ranges, the main aim of the current research was to identify factors effective on the time and location of committing the crime in the city of Ardabil, Iran, and the researcher sought to provide an answer to the basic question of when and where robbery is committed in Ardabil. Methodology This was an applied descriptive-analytical study in terms of aim and data collection methodology. The research population included all the robbers serving their sentences at Ardabil jail in Spring and Summer 2017, all 233 of whom filled out questionnaires based on the complete enumeration method. Data collection was carried out through documentary analysis and field elicitation (using a questionnaire). SPSS was used for description and analysis of the data and examination of the hypotheses in accordance with the scales of measurement of the research variables. Thus, the chi-square test was used for investigation of the frequency distributions of the temporal and spatial variables, and Kramers’ test for the relationship between robber’s place of residence and crime scene. The ArcGIS software was also used for analysis of the dispersion of robber’s place of residence and crime scene. Results Place of residence and crime scene were found to be dispersed for most robbers serving their sentences at Ardabil jail. However, the highest frequency of place of residence was observed for the northwestern part, including the suburban area (northwest) and the semi-organic area (central part). As for crime scene, the highest frequency concerned the central part and the newly-constructed area (newly-constructed neighborhoods located in the central part). Given the great similarity between robber’s place of residence and crime scene based on Kramers’ test results, it could be stated that there was a significant relationship between the two variables. Moreover, the chi-square test results demonstrated that most of the robberies had been committed in summer (September), during the night, on the weekend, and by the drug addict with criminal records and financial problems. Conclusion Statistical tests and dispersion maps were used in this research for investigation of the times and locations of committing robbery. It could be concluded based on the findings that the crime was committed at particular times; that is, temporal conditions were effective on the occurrence of robbery. Most of the robberies had taken place in newly-constructed, wealthy areas. In fact, the commitment of robbery followed a particular dispersion pattern in spatial terms, and there was similarity and accordance between robber’s place of residence and crime scene, as evidenced by the observations, hence the significant relationship between the two variables.
Urban Planning
esmaiil zarghami; abdolhamid ghanbaran; pooria saadati vaghar
Abstract
Lean construction has attracted plenty of attention during the past decade for provision of housing to the lower class. An important issue that has always appealed to large numbers of architecture and urban construction and planning researchers as post-planning assessments is to what extent and in what ...
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Lean construction has attracted plenty of attention during the past decade for provision of housing to the lower class. An important issue that has always appealed to large numbers of architecture and urban construction and planning researchers as post-planning assessments is to what extent and in what aspects the constructed condominiums satisfy their inhabitants once completed and utilized. Thus, useful suggestions can be made to decision-makers and planners of such projects for enhancement of the quality of life in the condominiums through identification of their strengths and weaknesses. An example of these lean construction projects is Mehr Housing, designed and implemented to meet the need for housing among the middle and lower classes of the Iranian society. It needs to be investigated, however, how successful the project has been, and to what extent it has satisfied the residents. Given the great diversity in the design of these condominiums in the city of Hamadan (in that some are enclosed, and others are connected to urban areas), Iran, little research has been focused on Mehr Housing. Therefore, the present research investigated three enclosed and unenclosed Mehr condominiums in Hamadan by focusing on the physical and spatial components governing such condominiums. These included the Ghadir, Farhangiyan, and Andishe (Kuy Reza) condominiums. Most global experiences suggest that the more favorable housing conditions that are expected in enclosed condominiums are not observed. This formed the basis of the research, a descriptive-analytical study in terms of the methodology adopted in the literature review and theoretical framework. ANOVA (with the Bonferroni method), independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and linear regression were used for data analysis. The results demonstrated that there were significant differences in average satisfaction between the three neighborhoods, with the Madani neighborhood exhibiting the highest average satisfaction, followed by the Beheshti and Andishe neighborhoods, in that order. A prioritization of the physical and spatial components effective on residential satisfaction in the three condominiums also suggested that environmental health was highly effective in enclosed condominiums, accompanied by amenities, additional facilities, and flexibility. Furthermore, the results obtained from the investigation of the relationships between satisfaction with architectural components and individual, demographic, and residential components demonstrated that there were no significant relationships in any of the three neighborhoods between satisfaction on the one hand and age, gender, or academic degree on the other. However, the neighborhood factor (which distinguished enclosed and unenclosed neighborhoods) exhibited significance, where total satisfaction was generally higher in enclosed condominium residents, confirming the main hypothesis of the research.
Urban Ecology
SEPIDEH MOVAHED; Manouchehr Tabibian
Abstract
Man’s most complex products, cities are confronted with great risks due to both the wide range of risks and changes involved in them and their multiple vulnerabilities. These changes include numerous disorders, some of which are known and predictable, while most are unpredictable and beyond expectation. ...
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Man’s most complex products, cities are confronted with great risks due to both the wide range of risks and changes involved in them and their multiple vulnerabilities. These changes include numerous disorders, some of which are known and predictable, while most are unpredictable and beyond expectation. It therefore seems necessary to address the modern approaches to encountering disorders and disasters. The prevailing perspective has shifted from a mere focus on vulnerability and reinforcement to an increase in resilience against disorder. Therefore, the current research was focused on the idea of resilience as a newly-emerging concept in urbanism issues, and sought to enhance the capability of cities of confronting disorders, particularly environmental crises, as dynamic, self-organizing systems by introducing the notion of resilience to the domain of urbanization through formulation of an integrated model. The significance of the present paper lay in the appreciation of urban resilience thinking as a tool for recognition of the capabilities of urban systems of adapting to changes or absorbing disorders by helping to understand the dynamicity, complexity, processes, and patterns in these systems. Through knowledge of this thinking and the factors affecting its different aspects, the capability of socio-ecological systems such as cities could be increased for adaptation to changes and self-organization. The purpose of this paper was to analyze ecological resilience and determine the factors effective on it based on urban ecology thinking, to identify the criteria, and to generate a model for enhancement of the ecological resilience of cities. It was a qualitative study, where the data were collected from multiple sources using various library methods to be validated through triangulation. Thematic analysis and the thematic network tool were used for data analysis. Through identification of around 45 themes, obtained through examination of more than 50 theoretical and applied studies, and analysis of the relationships between them, the thematic network resulting from their clustering was formulated, consisting of basic, organizing, and comprehensive themes. Based on the qualitative analysis, a series of factors most effective on urban resilience were categorized into six major groups that formed the proposed urban ecological resilience scheme, including natural structure, ecosystem functions and processes, socio-economic functions and processes, urban shape, institutions, and knowledge. Each of the above categories affected urban resilience differently, where the first and the second had direct effects, while the other four influenced it indirectly, by affecting natural elements and biological species as urban assets and affecting ecosystem functions and processes through disorder or reinforcement of ecosystem services. The research results demonstrated that the ecological resilience of cities based on knowledge of urban resilience was affected by dynamic interactions between socio-economic and biophysical processes, where the formulated model and the criteria set as subcategories in the proposed model made it possible to enhance urban resilience. The formulated model serves as a general guide for urban planners, designers, and managers for achievement of ecological resilience in socio-ecological systems such as cities. Furthermore, it covers the gap identified as resulting from absence of an integrated framework in the ecological dimension of urban resilience is covered thanks to the integration of the factors affecting resilience.
Urban Design
Behzad Rahmani; Hooman Sobouti
Abstract
The major responsibility of urban planning is to plan for all the classes of citizens, resulting in a city filled with health, comfort, and beauty, a city convenient for all the social classes. The disabled face a large number of problems living a social life in cities. It always confronts people with ...
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The major responsibility of urban planning is to plan for all the classes of citizens, resulting in a city filled with health, comfort, and beauty, a city convenient for all the social classes. The disabled face a large number of problems living a social life in cities. It always confronts people with spinal cord injury with problems to interact with the environment outside home and enter the society. Therefore, it is of great significance to resolve the constraints in the urban environment conditions in order to prevent their seclusion. The most common form of disability is motor impairment. The capacities of the environment are reduced in various ways for people with such impairment. Wheelchair users are faced with more restrictions. Some are amputated or paralyzed, others have difficulty maintaining the upper body balance, and most have problems stretching the body. Unfortunately, municipalities have hardly attempted to design urban environments in accordance with the needs of the disabled. Based on Article 2 of the Comprehensive Law for Protection of the Rights of the Disabled, however, all the ministries, organizations, institutions, state corporations, and public and post-revolution entities are required to design and construct/produce buildings, public places, passages, and service instruments so as to make them convenient for everyone with a disability. Sports spaces and venues are considered as one of the most important urban land uses appropriate design of which can play an important role in improvement of the social interaction of the disabled. People with physical disability or motor impairment are currently faced with problems making it to sports venues due to the failure to observe primary standards. Thus, the lack of standard facilities and infrastructures in regard to sports venue and complexes has dramatically reduced their use by the disabled, based on the conducted research. For example, use of public transportation by the disabled and their active, lively presence at sports venues, recreation centers, etc. has been restricted by the inappropriate, non-standard sidewalks, intersections, bridges, furniture, etc. around the city. In other words, the lack of urban facilities and infrastructures to be used by the disabled is quite obvious, and evidence from sample sports centers and interviews with the disabled in Tehran demonstrate that sports buildings and centers associated with the disabled are inappropriate. This research sought to investigate the role of appropriate design of sports complexes in the levels of social interaction of people with physical disability and motor impairment and their social function in the society. It was a hybrid qualitative-quantitative study, combining documentary-library and field research. For a closer examination of the issue, 186 questionnaires were filled out by people with physical disability or motor impairment, and analyzed in SPSS, so that the social conditions of the disabled could be improved, and their levels of interaction could be raised through standardization of sports facilities and infrastructures in Tehran and other Iranian cities. Based on the obtained results, it could be stated that the disabled could not use the equipment at sports venues and complexes conveniently without assistance from others. They encountered problems from the moment they would leave home to the moment they would be back from sports venues, and would therefore prefer to stay home, causing them to suffer psychological crises. The results obtained from the questionnaires demonstrated that design and standardization of sports venues and complexes had direct effects on the social interactions of people in Tehran with physical disability or motor impairment (with a coefficient of determination of 0.85). For improvement of their social status, therefore, projects should be implemented for adaptation of sports venues, public spaces, etc. under full management and supervision of Tehran Municipality.
