Urban Design
Farshad Nourian; Behnaz Aminzadeh; Mazyar Abaee
Abstract
Highlights
The urban design process has a vital role in the implemented result of urban design projects.
Bridging the theory-practice in urban design needs a combination of the implementation phase in the design process.
The gradual approach to the urban design process deals with a step-by-step ...
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Highlights
The urban design process has a vital role in the implemented result of urban design projects.
Bridging the theory-practice in urban design needs a combination of the implementation phase in the design process.
The gradual approach to the urban design process deals with a step-by-step process combined with real-world implementation and feedbacks.
Introduction
Although more than half a century has passed since the academic birth of urban design, it still suffers from ambiguities in theory and practice. Questions emerge such as the following. Can urban design be a definite discipline? Is urban design independent of urban planning, architecture, and landscape architecture? What is the role of urban design in the real world, and what is the final product? What is the appropriate process and the main toolboxes? Answers to these questions must be part of the common discourse of the field, definite answers to clarify all the ambiguities.
Theoretical Frameworks
Despite these ambiguities, urban design continues to be considered as an intellectual tradition. It plays a significant role in everyday human life, and remains a subject matter in many studies. In recent years, many urban projects have sought to create noble environments for people while providing economic benefits for the private sector and local governments. Some research has attempted to evaluate such projects. The results point to the fact that many such projects have failed to accomplish their stated goals. Theoretically, this appears to be the result of a theory-practice dichotomy.
However, there has been a gap in comprehensive research since the 1990s on the urban design process. Although several different parameters affect the implementation of designed projects, the urban design process may play a significant role in the end product. Hence, the question is what could be the relationship between the urban design process and on-the-ground project realization? A complementary question is whether we can manipulate the urban design process to achieve the stated design goals and realize the projects as intended. To answer these questions, we first present a literature review on the urban design process and then discuss the results of our examination of some implemented projects to find clues about how to handle the urban design process and solve the theory-practice dichotomy of urban design itself.
Urban design ambiguities can influence the urban design process as its central procedural dimension, which has implemented projects as its results. Although different parameters cooperate to make it troublesome to utilize a project, all designs are affected by the urban design process. Thus, the question concerns the relationship between the urban design process and project realization. It is also unknown whether we can manipulate the urban design process to ensure the realization of projects. In addition, based on the theory-practice dichotomy, we need to know whether the evaluation of urban design projects and their realization can give us a clue as to how to handle the urban design process. Therefore, we attempt to resolve theoretical ambiguity in urban design by examining some real-world projects. Here, we assume that the urban design process can also transfer theoretical ambiguities to real-world practice as a medium that canalizes theoretical knowledge to practice.
Methodology
The research addresses many unknown topics and undefined parameters. Thus, it may not be possible to develop a specific theoretical framework with a clear list of measurable criteria to meet the research goals through a classified research method. Our literature review leads to a framework that points to a relationship between the subject matters. This framework is not exhaustive because our research does not rely on quantitative measurements and focuses on experience with the subject.
Therefore, the study is restricted to qualitative research. Due to the uncertainties about the topics, a theoretical interpretation is made of the literature based on qualitative research to develop a framework for an experimental approach to the issue. Content analysis and action research lead us to calibration of the framework. The result provides an ultimate configuration for a practical framework which can be an a priori model which can be calibrated to an ultimate model by experience. Such an experience clarifies the parameters and their relationships through direct contact with the research domain. Therefore, a model is created for the urban design process after the literature review, applicable to examination of operational experience. Finally, we observe that the process is not an ultimate one but can help us find an ultimate one based on the iteration of the a priori model.
Here, the case study addresses the master plan for the Abbasabad region in Tehran. We use this project as the subject of our content analysis. The project is examined through the documents, i.e., reports, administrative correspondences, and proceedings, based on the meetings of cultural and technical committees.
The documents are analysed in MaxQda. The keywords used in the software include project, realization, process, ratification, Article 5 Commission, master plan, specific plan, implementation, and construction. After the first search in the documents, the useless words are eliminated, and the search is carried out again for their classification. The results are analyzed interpretively. Next, another project–i.e., design of the southern Kan area–is used as a case study implemented on the ground.
Results and discussion
The generalization of the incremental process can be explained theoretically, but the experimental proof requires more cases and several, repeated experimental applications of the process. Practical application of the process can calibrate the framework to a more realistic one. The result of the theoretical explanation is that the general format of the process can change over time to turn to a complete model, other models, or derivations of the present model.
In fact, a model is generated after the literature review calibration of which through experimental research leads to a design process.
Conclusion
The incremental process, as proposed in this paper, needs to be tested over time. The relationship between practice and implementation can be recognized through direct experimentation with the incremental process. However, the relationship between implementation and theory (following that between theory and practice) can be recognized through research methods such as design studies. This can demonstrate how theoretical knowledge can be converted to the practical material of projects.
Acknowledgment: The article has been derived from the Ph.D. thesis entitled Revisiting the Urban Design Process with a Focus on Implementation of Projects, which has been defended by the third author under the first author’s supervision and the second author’s advisory at the University of Tehran.
We should thank Naghshe Jahan-Pars Consulting Co. And Gozineh Consulting Co. for providing us with the materials for the two case study projects of Abbas Abad Region Master Plan and Southern Kan Area Design, respectively.
Urban Sustainability
Farshad Noorian; reza ghazi; seyed sajad abdullahpur
Abstract
Concern for happiness and its strategic dimensions plays a key role in provision of desirable environment quality in urban neighborhoods, ignorance of which is an issue with which cities, metropolises such as Mashhad, Iran in particular, are faced as a requirement for man to achieve sustainable urban ...
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Concern for happiness and its strategic dimensions plays a key role in provision of desirable environment quality in urban neighborhoods, ignorance of which is an issue with which cities, metropolises such as Mashhad, Iran in particular, are faced as a requirement for man to achieve sustainable urban life. In recent decades, new and old developments have been made in Mashhad, and neighborhoods have been created that do not meet the desired level of quality, and suffer many problems such as lack of public areas, insecurity, lack of visual beauty, lack of local facilities, poor sense of belonging, environmental pollution, and inappropriate conditions for neighborhood relations. This has actually lowered the level of happiness and vitality as a missing, neglected factor in the citizens’ lives, highlighting the need for proper, happy environmental design. Among the newly-developed neighborhoods is the Fareghottahsilan neighborhood, and Tabarsi is one that has been developed long ago. The purpose of this study was to assess the dimensions and indicators of happiness in old and new areas of Mashhad with different characteristics, to identify the dimensions and indicators of a happy city to solve the problems in urban neighborhoods fundamentally and efficiently towards achievement of greater sustainability in local communities. The present applied-developmental, quantitative, descriptive-analytical research was based on library studies. 320 citizens were randomly selected from among the residents of the Tabarsi and Fareghottahsilan neighborhoods to fill out the questionnaires. Data analysis was made in SPSS using statistical tests including Friedman, Mann-Whitney, Spearman, Chi-square and Cramér’s coefficient. According to the results of the analysis, it was only the physical dimension among those of happiness that exhibited relatively favorable conditions only in the Fareghottahsilan neighborhood (3.22), and both neighborhoods had unfavorable conditions in the other dimensions. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the indicators of happiness in the old and new neighborhoods. Another finding was that the average rate of happiness in the Fareghottahsilan neighborhood (167.90) was higher than that in Tabarsi (135.45), which demonstrated that the residents of the new neighborhood were happier than those of the old neighborhood, but the difference between the two in terms of happiness was not big. Happiness was positively related to income, residence ownership, ethnicity, employment, marital status, and family size, and it was negatively related to age. Finally, the greatest correlations with happiness and vitality were observed for job security in both neighborhoods from an economic perspective, level of safety and quality of lighting in the old neighborhood and access to green spaces and quality of water spaces in the new neighborhood from a physical perspective, level of security in the old neighborhood and participation in local celebrations and participation in solving the problems in the new neighborhood from a social perspective.
Regional Planning
Farshad Noorian; Hamidreza Bahmanpour Khalesi
Abstract
An investigation of the documents on regional development in Fars Province, Iran shows that there is such a wide gap between the ideals mentioned in the plans and their potentials for realization that it has turned into a big challenge how to realize the spatial prospects of the development plans in ...
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An investigation of the documents on regional development in Fars Province, Iran shows that there is such a wide gap between the ideals mentioned in the plans and their potentials for realization that it has turned into a big challenge how to realize the spatial prospects of the development plans in the province. By reviewing the development documents from 1997 to 2013, the authors found that the province suffered from a range of uncertainties in all the regional scenarios. Therefore, the prospects and objectives of the plan have not been realized throughout the period. In this research, futurology was adopted as a method for foresight and specification of the uncertainties based on the available information. Employment of this method along with scenario-based strategic planning enables the local administrators to imagine the various images of future development and prepare themselves for different conditions to take place. On that basis, the driving forces and uncertainties were first defined using the Delphi method and structural analysis. The results of the models demonstrated that the key uncertainties for the province included freeway and highway network access, information technology speed, air freight terminals, access to the sea, and railway technology and network. Although not included on the list, water resources and regional administration were both added as suggested by the expert experience. Furthermore, the prospects of the province were divided into nine driving forces, including high-tech industries (electronics, aerospace, information technology, and pharmacy), agricultural industries (agriculture, animal husbandry, and the food industry), other industries (oil, gas, the petrochemical industry, mining, energy-intensives industries, and the automotive industry), healthcare service (medicine, ophthalmology, and organ transplantation), tourism (tourism and handicrafts), transportation (airport services, railways, and road transport), other services (higher education, financial services, technical and engineering services, and trade), knowledge economy (knowledge-based activities, bio- and nanotechnology), and defense. 21 strong scenarios were then found using the cross-impact balance method, classified into three major scenarios: Scenario 1, strong local performance and weak national performance, Scenario 2, strong national performance and weak international performance, and Scenario 3, strong international performance and a single national performance. In the first scenario, the spatial framework of the province moves toward the monocentric pattern, with the national functions administered by the government, due to the severe shortage of water resources, fragmented management, and undeveloped infrastructure. In the second scenario, the province can play a substantial role at the national level and a weak role at the international level, with cluster networks functioning as the spatial pattern, due to the integrated management, particularly with respect to the water resources, . In the last scenario, the province exhibits great international performance in all its prospects, functioning at the national level only in the defense sector, thanks to the regional governance, developed infrastructure, and influence on international processes. Furthermore, weighted strategies along with control indicators were presented for all the above scenarios.
Urban Planning
Farshad Noorian; seyed sajad abdullahpur Razkenari; reza ghazi
Abstract
Mashhad megalopolis has experienced a rapid and dispersed physical development over the past decades. It has also witnessed problems such as environmental degradation, lack of attention to traditional patterns of the main urban fabric, ignorance of urban identity, etc. Meanwhile, there are abundant internal ...
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Mashhad megalopolis has experienced a rapid and dispersed physical development over the past decades. It has also witnessed problems such as environmental degradation, lack of attention to traditional patterns of the main urban fabric, ignorance of urban identity, etc. Meanwhile, there are abundant internal capacities and potentials in the city such as worn-out, less developed and undeveloped lands (including empty, abandoned, desolate ones, etc.) in the form of single lot and extensive zones, which could serve as appropriate opportunities for development and growth within the borders of the city of Mashhad. Among the districts with a high potential for development from within is District 6 of Mashhad, which about 20% of its total area is gross urban lands (such as agricultural, barren and ruinous lands). According to the Mashhad Master Plan, most of the neighborhoods in District 6 are considered to be worn-out. However, in most cases, there is room for development within the city boundaries. One of the most appropriate options for development is utilizing the infill development approach. Infill development, i.e. development from within, or endogenous development is a sort of urban development which forms on desolate, abandoned and unused lands within the limits of existing urban fabric. One of the main factors supporting infill development is urban zoning. Zoning should support infill development programs. Among the methods used in urban zoning is transect zoning which is generally one of the tools for implementing smart codes of development. In the meantime, it is important to consider the factors which support infill development strategies and policies. Due to its nature, transect zoning is considered as one of the zoning methods which can support the infill development approach. Therefore, the following article aims to provide a discussion on transect zones and to prioritize infill development strategies in these zones in District 6 of Mashhad. The study method is analytical. Documentation, field observation and survey (which includes completing questionnaires by the experts) are used for collecting data. The final weight of each criterion was calculated using the AHP method in the Expert Choice. The transect zoning of the scope was proposed after overlapping thematic maps and adding weights related to the criteria to the maps using the WOI method. SWOT analysis was been used to provide strategies. Subsequently, based on experts’ opinions, the strategies were weighed and prioritized using the Friedman test in SPSS. According to the analysis carried out in the form of AHP method in the Expert Choice, the criteria of density (0.482), texture feature (0.219), accessibility (0.114), and distance from the land use (0.064) gained the most weight among the transect zoning criteria. The case study was classified into four T-zones (T1, T2, T3, T4) and two special zones (agricultural and power station zones). Also, the most important infill development strategies for T-zones of the city core were respectively identified to be restoring unused lands to the cycle of city activity (S4O3: 0.107), reduction of activity incompatibility (W3T3: 0.103) and strengthening public participation (W2T3: 0.1).
Urban Planning
Farshad Nourian; Parsa Arbab
Volume 6, Issue 22 , May 2017, , Pages 43-58
Abstract
This research aims to explore the outlook of global cities in developing countries through the critical analysis. Global or globalizing cities have emerged in the developing countries during the past two decades. Some of the latest cases include Bangkok, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, ...
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This research aims to explore the outlook of global cities in developing countries through the critical analysis. Global or globalizing cities have emerged in the developing countries during the past two decades. Some of the latest cases include Bangkok, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Shanghai, and Taipei. Other older cases involve Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Mexico City.Questions about the concepts and meanings of the global functions for development of these cities are raised when considering their role as part of the global cities network. The main body of literature on the patterns of the global city attempts to use the framework of the prime examples and paradigmatic cases of the global or globalizing cities such as London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo for evaluating the evidence of the globalization of cities in developing countries. Moreover, the success and the status of these cities are considered and measured mainly based on western criteria. This issue is due to the domination of western (Anglo-American) framework in the field of the globalization and the city.
In contrast, an increasing number of academic researchersbelieve that the relationship between the global city concept and the issues of power, actors and institutions - that operate globally - is exaggerated. In their view, this challenge has led to the underestimation of the local context and probabilities. Hence, the application of the current dominant paradigm of the globalization for the outlook of the global cities in the developing countries has been criticized by them. They argue that achieving a general set of comprehensive and universal results is a barren probability. Meanwhile, a type of ethnocentrism dominates the literature of globalization and global cities. Moreover, it is problematic to focus the research on the limited and specific factors and criteria of globalization, especially when such research attempts to explain the results and outcomes of the global cities in the developing countries. Therefore, alternative approaches, differentiated with the current dominant ones, have been proposed in this regard. Other models based on the complexity and diversity of the effects and consequences must be adopted. Serious consideration for the valuation of the local and native capacities, priorities and differences is essential for any theoretical and empirical study on the process of the globalization in the developing countries. It is necessary to operationalize distinct types of measures instead of the current global city label in reference to them. Accordingly, it is very important to use innovative models or patterns through the adoption of new frameworks based on the various roles, positions, capacities, dimensions, effects and consequences. Instead of absolute acceptance of the dominant Anglo-American approaches, it is more useful to conduct further studies on the interaction between the global and local actors. Such approach, presented as an alternative conceptual framework in this paper, could act as a basis for further studies on new cases in the developing countries.
Urban Planning
Volume 4, Issue 15 , August 2015, , Pages 93-105
Abstract
Redeveloping a brownfield land as an urban project, needs some qualitative considerations due to their complex and multidimensional identity. Hitherto, experts of brownfield redevelopment sector have introduced many quantitative and qualitative considerations in their research and actions. The ...
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Redeveloping a brownfield land as an urban project, needs some qualitative considerations due to their complex and multidimensional identity. Hitherto, experts of brownfield redevelopment sector have introduced many quantitative and qualitative considerations in their research and actions. The subject of this study considers the qualitative aspects that have been introduced by different experts. Some important considerations that have been appointed include integrated planning, innovation, selection and composition of appropriate final land use, survey of socio-economic and service conditions of adjacent regions, attention to historical and environmental conditions of land, maintenance and expansion of existing infrastructure and buildings, establishment of conditional, temporary and short-time land uses. The problem that this study investigated was how to organize and prioritize these considerations for assessing the quality of brownfield redevelopment projects in Iran. Based on this question, providing a framework for introducing a series of qualitative considerations in brownfield redevelopment projects for internal experts was determined as a study goal. This framework can facilitate the assessment of Iran brownfield redevelopment projects. This research was an applicable research and used descriptive-analytical method and AHP technique. The required data for the first part of constructing a “quality assessment framework” was gathered through library survey of identified research related to brownfield redevelopment (52 cases were considered). In addition, the data for the second part of the research (namely the application of the proposed framework on Dooshan Tappeh airbase as a case study) was extracted from the Tehran Master Plan and detailed map of region 13. Organization and prioritization of identified considerations was identified in three sectors (substantive, procedural and executive) and on three scales (land, surrounding area and city) and ultimately a framework was created. This framework includes 25 types of qualitative considerations that can be used in assessment of Iran brownfield redevelopment projects. These considerations were introduced from 14 different sources. It is understood from this qualitative assessment framework that the quality of a redevelopment plan requires at least three separate actions. First, preparing a redevelopment plan that leads to sustainable development of brownfield land and its surrounding regions. This consideration should be based on the preparation and implementation of redevelopment project processes. This consideration can prevent the failure of a project and decrease the risk of reproducing of brownfield land or accelerate the deterioration cycle. Second, the integration of the redevelopment plan with other related plans of brownfield land and its peripheral boundary. This consideration can reduce the risk of future conflicts and waste of human, financial or time capital. Thirdly, the preparation of a redevelopment plan according to the condition and development priority of brownfield land amongst other brownfield lands in on a regional and urban scale. This consideration should be taken into consideration by urban authorities or project designers in particular. Advantages of this consideration are the prevention of capabilities waste and debarment of excessive pressure on a site. Applying the proposed framework in redevelopment programs in Dooshan Tapped airbase revealed that although there has been sufficient attention paid tosubstantive considerations in enacted programs, qualitative considerations regarding procedural and executive sectors have been weak because of ignorance or lack of relevance.
