Urban Planning
Bahare Bahra; Mojtaba Rafieian
Abstract
Background: The subject of the nature and management of conflicts in the literature of urban planning has a history almost as old as this discipline, and in recent decades, various schools of urban planning have reacted to this issue. The serious discussion about this issue started in the 70s and with ...
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Background: The subject of the nature and management of conflicts in the literature of urban planning has a history almost as old as this discipline, and in recent decades, various schools of urban planning have reacted to this issue. The serious discussion about this issue started in the 70s and with the popularization of participatory planning in the 80s, it has grown significantly and has been discussed in the world literature. The positions presented so far regarding the understanding of conflicts in planning are an incoherent and sometimes opposite set based on various theoretical-philosophical bases. In order to obtain a criterion for understanding conflict and conflict management in urban planning, according to the historical development of the engagement of planning theory with conflicts, this study has classified the viewpoints based on the prevailing theoretical-philosophical and contextual approaches. Filling this gap requires an answer to the question that each of the presented views of conflicts in planning is based on what theoretical or contextual approach?
Objectives: Description and understanding of conflict and conflict management in the context of urban planning and classification of this issue based on the evolution of planning theories over time.
Method: The methodology is based on meta-analysis and qualitative content analysis, and a systematic review in the Scopus and Google Scholar database and in the PRISMA framework was used to collect data. According to this framework, the content analysis of 183 English sources was done.
Result: The positions surrounding conflicts in urban planning can be considered as "managerial", "theoretical" and "situational" approaches. The situated approach includes conflicts in the fields of "spatial-locational patterns of the city", "land use and ownership", "urban development and regeneration", "Urban spaces" and "large-scale projects". The managerial approach includes "decision-making process", "conflict management techniques", "impact assessment" and "institutional analysis and design" and the theoretical approach includes "the role of planning theory", "the role of power institutions" and "the role of the planner" in understanding the problem of conflict. Management and theoretical approaches based on the historical course of understanding conflicts in the field of urban planning theories can be recognized in three paradigms: "positivist" with the belief in guided consensus, "post-positivist" with the belief in the end of conflicts through consensus based on discourse ethics and "critical" By emphasizing the hegemony resulting from consensus building and the constant reproduction of conflicts in planning.
Conclusion: Despite the ideological backgrounds and different approaches to the conflict, a political turn in this field is understood in the theory and practice of urban planning. Therefore, in this field, planners should go beyond the traditional relegation of their actions to a regulatory dimension and help to reconceptualize urban policy and transform the physical and symbolic dimensions of space.
Urban Planning
Nikoo Medghalchi; Hossein Bahrainy; Mojtaba Rafieian
Abstract
Highlights
- The development of information and communication technology is an important change that causes paradigm shift in urbanism.
- The COVID pandemic emphasizes the importance of information and communication technology.
- This study seeks to trace urban studies on information and communication ...
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Highlights
- The development of information and communication technology is an important change that causes paradigm shift in urbanism.
- The COVID pandemic emphasizes the importance of information and communication technology.
- This study seeks to trace urban studies on information and communication technology and the COVID pandemic and provide appropriate data and knowledge for urban policy-making and future studies.
Introduction
The advent of the information age in the 20th century due to the great changes in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) has led to the prevailing approach to maximizing the solution of urban problems for advancing urban planners, designers, and policy-makers. The rate of growth and extensive development of urban studies has provided a wide range of interactions between its different sections. Coinciding with its growing trend, the corona virus has been spreading around the world since December 2019, re-examining the role of ICT.
Theoretical Framework
There is a lack of domestic research on ICT and the city. Given the existence of the gap and the importance of considering the area in urban studies, the purpose of this article is to identify, extract, and provide an interactive research space between the development of ICT and the subfields of urban studies in order to introduce and classify topics, approaches, methods, and results.
Methodology
Using the method of systematic review, the content of published foreign scientific research was reviewed and analyzed. This was carried out with a search for valid articles, a study of the abstracts and research results of more than 150 articles and their review, and a final selection of 93 articles after entering them into the Excel software environment.
Results and Discussion
The selected articles have been published in English in the period of 30 years between 1990 and 2020. Monitoring, examining, and extracting the key themes of the articles led us to 8 categories, including 1) urban policy, 2) electronic participation, 3) smart city, 4) city structure and spatial organization, 5) travel behavior, 6) digital gap, 7) public space, 8) and competitiveness, and 30 sub-themes. About 90% of the articles have been published in reputable scientific journals, and the rest appear in books and conference proceedings. An examination of the frequency of articles shows the growing worldwide trend in concern for this field in urban studies in recent years. According to the analysis made in the research, the use of ICT is applicable to planning theories at all levels, including the two levels of access and data processing and communication independent of time and place. These technologies enhance and promote the development of networks, social cohesion, and smart development of the city. The digital gap is intrinsically related to digital and urban inequalities. In network-oriented cities and societies, the issue of communication poverty is as important as traditional poverty. Many discussions have been raised by researchers on the impact of ICT on the structure and spatial organization of the city. Despite the initial premise of using the technology, which was to reduce concentration and increase urban dispersion, two more approaches, the centralization approach and the dual approach, have also been proposed in the field. The development of ICT has profound consequences on urban economic competitiveness. ICT is the basic driver for smartness in cities. A provider of access to the transfer of information and planning tools, granting the opportunity to share modes of transportation and work from a distance, the technology is of considerable importance for transportation systems. The relationship between the urban public space and technological developments and the development of ICT with the spread of the corona virus has been taken into consideration. Recent studies show that the spread of the corona virus has multiplied the use of ICT, which will definitely change the severity of its impact on the city and urban planning and design more rapidly. Therefore, this article is presented in order to explain the various dimensions of this issue.
Conclusion
Given the application of ICT in the field of urban planning, it is comprehensible that the creation of links with urban planning and design has proceeded slowly despite the increasing development of telecommunication technologies. It is necessary to consider the complex relationship between the city and ICT. On the one hand, the relationship has raised the challenge of polarization, inaccessibility, and urban injustice, and on the other hand, it has involved benefits such as increased participation and social networking, urban innovation and creativity, and urban sustainability and intelligence. In fact, it is necessary to fill the gap between ICT and urban planning. The central solution framework of the smart city is based on the city rather than intelligence. One of the most important challenges discussed in the previous studies is the issue of accessibility among different social classes. In spite of the initial hypothesis that the importance of place is reduced as that of distance decreases due to the development of ICT, place still matters. The point to be considered in regard to the relationship between the density and spread of the corona virus is the absence of a direct relationship between its population density and death. In fact, the ever-increasing development of ICT and the persistence of policies of closure and maintenance of social distancing during the pandemic are themselves factors effective in the development of digital facilities and technologies in the city. Urban spaces are changing and transforming due to the development of new technologies. In fact, the urban space paradigm established in 2020 promises the emergence of virtual open spaces. Future studies will be focused especially on an understanding of the shift towards the digital space and the emergence of a combination of the real space and the virtual space in developed countries. Moreover, it is necessary to know the social dimensions of urban spaces according to the conditions imposed by the corona virus in order to understand the type and method of changing the shape of the public space of the city and social interactions. Finally, the study and review of the valuable articles published in the area of the interface between the city and ICT has raised wide, diverse issues that require familiarity, mastery, and theoretical specialization besides their practical applications for policy-makers, planners, and urban designers and managers.
Acknowledgment
The Article has been derived from the Ph.D thesis entitled “The Impact of Information and Communication Technology and the covid Pandemic on Urban Studies: A Systematic Review”, which has been defended by first author under the second author`s supervision and the third author`s advisory at the Qazvin Branch Islamic Azad University.
Urban Planning
Mojtaba Rafieian; golkou giahhchi
Abstract
Highlights: Prioritization of Environmental quality indicators were done by structural equation modelling (SEM) method. Smart PLS software was used in order to analyzing data. Environmental quality indicators of coastal areas were investigated based on users’ opinions. Permeability is the most ...
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Highlights: Prioritization of Environmental quality indicators were done by structural equation modelling (SEM) method. Smart PLS software was used in order to analyzing data. Environmental quality indicators of coastal areas were investigated based on users’ opinions. Permeability is the most efficient factor in desirability of coastal areas. Introduction Human societies have always been interested in beaches and their surrounding areas. This can be attributed to the existence of two territories of land and water in these areas, which lead to the creation of competitive advantages in social, economic, physical, and other aspects. The considerable demand of the population for exploitation of coastal areas has caused systematic problems and disruptions in these areas. As explained by Iran’s Vice President for Strategic Planning and Supervision, these problems have a variety of dimensions, such as environmental, land use, political and security, and regulatory and legal aspects. Therefore, these areas require the adoption of an integrated planning and management approach. Hence, the comprehensive integrated coastal zone management plan has begun to link planning at the national, regional, and local levels since the early 90’s around the world and after less than a decade later in Iran (in the late 90’s). Theoretical Framework Since 1976, the concept of environmental quality has been examined in the field of urban studies (urban planning and design), which addresses all the aspects of urban environments and spaces (Rafieian et al., 2013). It has been discussed and developed by many theorists over the past few decades. In terms of content, the previous decade can be regarded as the period of maturity of this notion, but there are still a large number of challenges involved in the implementation and operation. [N1] The need for a comprehensive, integrated approach to coastal areas at the micro and macro scales, as well as the multidimensional concept of environmental quality, has provided an opportunity to view coastal areas from the perspective of this notion, to identify its indicators, and to prioritize them. Based on a review of the literature on coastal areas and environmental quality, the authors found that coastal users can provide one of the most important links between them. Fig. 1. Theoretical framework Methodology Most of the dimensions that affect citizen satisfaction are determined by the concept of environmental quality. This study sought to prioritize the components of environmental quality based on user opinions. According to the literature, national and international documents, and authors’ views, a questionnaire was made to collect different indicators of the nine components. Moreover, coastal areas have some aspects that have been identified by other studies. Fig. 1 shows the theoretical framework of this study, which involved different aspects of coastal areas and environmental quality. The method of analysis used in this study is based on Structural Equation Model (SEM). The data were analyzed using the SmartPLS 3 software. For testing the model, data were collected from 160 questionnaires based on the Likert spectrum distributed in the coastal area of Bandar Anzali. According to the SmartPLS outputs, space users had an indirect impact on the nine indicators of environmental quality derived from the theoretical framework. Results and Discussion Desirable environmental quality zones have nine features, of which permeability is the most powerful. According to this model, changes in environmental quality affect those in the permeability of the coastal zone by up to 87%. In this study, permeability is defined through four indicators, including absence of space confusion, quality of bike paths and sidewalks, visibility of natural and significant sights, and walkability and cyclability. According to coastal users, therefore, these four features are the most significant in this type of area. In addition to permeability, the flexibility variable is more influential than the others. In this research, flexibility was defined by four indicators: flexibility of outdoor spaces, services for individuals with disabilities, flexibility of buildings, and individuals’ unblocked access to spaces. If environmental quality is there in a coastal zone, therefore, the above four indicators are expected to be in desirable conditions. According to earlier experts’ and researchers’ findings on the indicators of environmental quality and a comparison to the results of the present study, we found that the proportionality indicator has been neglected in the definitions of environmental quality, as well as efficiency. Moreover, the comparison demonstrated that the present study examined a larger number of indicators over Iran, and considered issues such as meaningfulness, proportionality, flexibility, and functional compatibility for the first time. Conclusion Coastal areas are one of the most important zones around the world as they have a variety of advantages. Since there are different aspects to be considered in regard to coastal areas, it requires a comprehensive approach to plan and manage this kind of area. Theoretically, environmental quality can be addressed given a range of indicators corresponding to different dimensions of coastal areas. This research considered coastal users as the link between environmental quality and coastal areas, using structural equation modeling to examine the theoretical model. According to the PLS outputs, the indicators of environmental quality in coastal areas are prioritized as follows: permeability, flexibility, functional compatibility, efficiency, meaningfulness, proportionality, variety, presence of different groups of individuals, and sustainability. Thus, permeability is the most significant factor affecting the desirability of this kind of space.
Urban Planning
Elham Ghasemi; Mojtaba Rafieian
Abstract
Urban development is aimed at meeting public interest, but it sometimes leads to conflicts between the goals and accepted results of different groups and contributors. The significance of managing these conflicts as a methodological, practical approach is highlighted by the background of its impacts. ...
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Urban development is aimed at meeting public interest, but it sometimes leads to conflicts between the goals and accepted results of different groups and contributors. The significance of managing these conflicts as a methodological, practical approach is highlighted by the background of its impacts. Recent models of conflict management include public-private partnership in urban development (3P) and public-private-people partnership (partnership model) (4P). Public-private-people partnership is a new concept in urban planning, establishing new ways to improve the inclusion of various public-sector actors, private actors, residents, NGOs, and other civil-society actors in planning processes. The notion of 4P has arisen partly to respond to the criticism of public-private partnerships for insufficient inclusion of citizens, NGOs, and other actors in the civil society, and is used to refer to a variety of processes involving public actors, private actors, citizens, and NGOs in urban planning. For an understanding of 4Ps, it is useful to have a basic understanding of the background of public-private partnerships. In general, partnerships are urban development tools involving changes where strategic planning arises alongside more traditional land-use planning, and the roles of public- and private-sector actors, residents, and associations are reassessed and changed in a process that is perceived as a shift from government to governance. The concept of governance focuses on the interplay between the public sector and other actors in a situation where the public sector is no longer delivering all public goods and instead has the role of coordinating public actors at different levels and private actors and other partners. Central in the shift from government to governance is also the blending of public and private resources for delivery of public goods. In high-standard urban development projects, therefore, where common visions are created, and conflicting goals are managed, the strengths of each type of actor are utilized. The government provides the resources and a long-term development framework, and citizen initiatives organize and activate citizens to act, while companies provide the kinds of service that are demanded, and produce tax revenues for the government.This applied, perceptual research uses a qualitative method involving interpretation, and provides descriptions of the 3P and 4P aspects, addressing conflict management in the new 4P model using library documentation and a simple overview. For data collection in a case study of Jahan-Nama Citadel in the city of Isfahan, Iran, a semi-structured interview method was used to identify the problems with the project and to specify the conflicts between actors, including beneficiaries and stakeholders. Finally, the intergroup conflicts in the project were analyzed using the achievement matrix. The inter-organizational conflicts between the public and private sectors and the groups of people in the project were considered in three areas: land ownership (the land owners in the caravanserai), the type of land use proposed for the area (switching from green space to cultural and, ultimately, commercial uses), and the physical type of construction of the citadel, (regardless of the Naghshe Jahan Square skyline altitude). It was concluded that both the public and private sectors and different groups of people involved in the design and planning process have caused conflicts through their failure to recognize the actors in the Jahan-Nama Citadel project and to consider partnership in a wider sense (sharing the profits and losses and innovations of the plan), which has hindered achievement of the plan objectives.
Urban Design
Volume 6, Issue 23 , August 2017, , Pages 29-38
Abstract
Privacy is conceived of as an interpersonal boundary process by which a person or group regulates interaction with others. The desire for privacy is a public deed, but it is related to variables such as culture, age, gender, personality, and physical environment. It appears that some cultures have a ...
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Privacy is conceived of as an interpersonal boundary process by which a person or group regulates interaction with others. The desire for privacy is a public deed, but it is related to variables such as culture, age, gender, personality, and physical environment. It appears that some cultures have a stronger preference for privacy and have more privacy needs than others. The differences in desire for privacy are not limited only to cultures, they actually exists in sub-cultures too. Iran has many sub-cultures which respond to privacy differently, but there have not been any research on the effect of culture on privacy. The present paper focuses on how Iranian women in different sub-cultures look at surveillance in their privacy. The primary purpose of this study is to examine whether women in Iranian sub-cultures (Gilaki, Kurdish, Turkish and Yazdi women) differ in their desired and achieved levels of privacy in parks. Another purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the desired and achieved levels of privacy and the experience of crowding in parks. The final purpose is to describe the cultural differences in the experience of crowding between Gilaki, Kurdish, Turkish and Yazdi women. This research uses a designed questionnaire to collect data. A number of 1173 women were randomly selected in Shahr (Rasht), Mellat (Sanandaj), Baghmisheh (Tabriz), and Azadegan (Yazd) parks. Chi-square test, Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that women in Iranian sub-cultures significantly differ in their desired privacy levels. Yazdi and Turkish women have higher needs for privacy (desired privacy) in the public spaces than other women. However, Gilaki women’s achieved privacy level is higher than that in other sub-cultures. On the other hand, the results indicate that Yazdi women perceive urban parks as more crowded than others. The crowded women (for all groups) have a higher mean of crowding score than the isolated and the optimum women. Regardless of culture, women’s desired and achieved privacy levels are related to the level of perceived crowding in public spaces. According to Hall, contact cultures are often found in tropical countries (Arabic countries, Mediterranean area, Middle-East countries, and Eastern Europe) while non-contact cultures are usually found in cold weather countries (north of Europe, north of America). Accordingly, Iran is regarded as having a contact culture. The results of this study, however, indicate that in different Iranian sub-cultures there are also differences in people’s tendency for privacy and social interaction in public places. There is no correlation between the results of this study and Hall’s taxonomy. Yazdi (dry and warm) and Turkish (cold, mountainous) people have contact cultures while Gilaki (Caspian mild) and Kurdish (very cold mountainous) people live in non-contact cultures. The main reason for this difference stems from the investigation of perceived crowdedness and tendency for privacy in public sphere. The behavior of Iranian women and their social interactions with others in public places are strongly affected by tradition and religion.
Urban Ecology
h d; m r; a z
Volume 3, Issue 9 , February 2014, , Pages 31-44
Abstract
Land use planning and determination of developmental priorities based on regional conditions and characteristics are considered as one of the major aspects of planning on a regional scale. One approach in this field is the determination of land use types. The common point in all applied methods of ecological ...
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Land use planning and determination of developmental priorities based on regional conditions and characteristics are considered as one of the major aspects of planning on a regional scale. One approach in this field is the determination of land use types. The common point in all applied methods of ecological potential assessment is to consider development as the assessment goal in the research process. This occurs when in the allocation of types of uses under equal condition, different types of development can be studied and the most appropriate one selected according to conditions. Therefore, this study tries to apply a model which enables the assessment of land use with different types of development. Since taking into account all types of development simultaneously causes prioritization conflicts (one or more types of development might have the same priority level at one point when different developmental priorities overlap), the major challenge would be to resolve the inter-developmental conflicts. Therefore, the proposed model must be able to resolve such spatial conflict. This study, based on conducted research on assessment of ecological potential and using multi-objective assessment methods, evaluates the ecological potential of Noushahr County in four types of urban, agricultural, industrial, and natural development using a new concept known as “verbal logic”. It tends to offer an integral model for simultaneous analysis of different types of development. On this basis, the method employed in this study has two main sections: the first section deals with ecological assessment based on multi- objective assessment model. In this section, a model of appropriate locations for all the four developments is distinctively identified which results in the recommendation of location priorities for each type of land use development. In the second section, the verbal logic is used to present the integral prioritization areas which cover all the priorities simultaneously. The logic combines the priorities of all types of development employing quantitative approaches and ultimately resolves the conflicts arising from overlapping of priorities of different development types using the conditional rules obtained from the major goal of assessment. On this basis, this model offers priority zoning of integral land capacity in regards to developmental priorities; the major goal of assessment is" zoning the land for optimum allocation of agricultural, urban, and industrial development while protecting environmental values". The model results demonstrate that in integral assessment of a variety of development, only 1% of the region is not suffering inter-developmental conflict while a large part of the region is suffering conflict between assessment priorities of two or more types of development. Only 1 % of all conflict types in the region is dedicated to top priority conflicts in all development types. Nearly 73% of conflicts are devoted to the conflict amongst the three lower priorities. Taking into consideration that the decision-making process of the model is based on the major goal of assessment, the model allocates the desired land to natural development and prevents the expansion of other developments in these areas to resolve the conflict among all priorities. Meanwhile, the study of spatial distribution of various developments in the city and its comparison with land use show that much of the central and southern parts are dedicated to natural development as a first priority while the industrial, urban and agricultural developments are largely linked to each other and are located in the central and northern parts of the city mostly near lowlands at low altitudes.
Urban Planning
m r; j m; a m; a r; k i
Volume 3, Issue 9 , February 2014, , Pages 45-58
Abstract
There is a lot of evidence that political boundaries have lost a large part of its function as a barrier, and cross-border interactions and cooperation will increasingly become more important over time. In this case, the border operates as a contact area which is a functional space for exchange and socio-economic ...
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There is a lot of evidence that political boundaries have lost a large part of its function as a barrier, and cross-border interactions and cooperation will increasingly become more important over time. In this case, the border operates as a contact area which is a functional space for exchange and socio-economic interactions; the border spreads its positive effects in its vicinity. The impact of borders is the key agent in the development of cities on or near them. Borders can either block or bridge the development and integration of different border areas. Understanding this barrier or opportunity affects how we conceptualize borders and their functions. This research studies the correlation between transforming border function and improving peripheral status of the border cities of Baneh and Saghez. Quantitative-survey methods were used to achieve the above aim. Using questionnaires data was collected from cross-border traders and prominent local figures and experts. To test the hypothesis, the result of 131 questionnaires of the cross-border traders and 49 questionnaires of the prominent local figures and experts were analyzed through Comparison of averages, One sample T-Test, Regression analysis, and Nonparametric Friedman's Test. In addition, the sample size of the research was selected using snowball sampling and targeted methods. The results show that border function has changed from the perspective of the cross-border traders and prominent local figures and experts. According to the descriptive results, score for the changing role of border variability is higher than the theoretical median and the scores for constituent indicator of transforming border function that include reinforcement of legal-institutional capacity, development of transport infrastructures, facilitating the flow of cross-border exchange and decreasing socio-cultural distance are 3.06, 3.30, 2.56, and 3.07 respectively. The results also indicated that the peripheral status of the border cities has improved. According to the results, employment and income status, economic well-being, social security, political and social collaboration amongst people have improved. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between transforming border function and peripheral status based on the Regression’s Test. This correlation is at medium level (0.50 and o.51 for cross-border trader and local elites and experts respectively). In addition, the results indicate that the constituent indicator of transforming border function have a different proportion in transforming border function. The results of the Nonparametric Friedman's Test show that the development of transport infrastructures and the lessening socio-cultural distance has had a greater effect on transforming border function. Thus, as noted in the theoretical principles, improvement of the peripheral status of border cities and development of the border city area need border function (or border role) to be redefined and governments to alter their viewpoints – people in border regions adapt to local conditions. Elimination of long bureaucratic process in cross-border trade and traffic, stability and transparency of business rules, development of information and communication infrastructure will have positive ramifications in adjacent regions. Finally, based on the results, lower inhibitory effects at borders is a key factor in the development of border cities and regions.
