Urban Planning
Fatemeh Shams; Mohammad Reza Pourjafar; Seyed Mahdi Khatami; ali soltani
Abstract
Highlights- The prevailing understanding of neighborhoods has lacked a dialectical perspective and has been devoid of social and semantic layers.- Over time, the concept of a neighborhood has evolved from a purely physical entity to a more complex semantic, perceptual, and mental construct.- The traditional ...
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Highlights- The prevailing understanding of neighborhoods has lacked a dialectical perspective and has been devoid of social and semantic layers.- Over time, the concept of a neighborhood has evolved from a purely physical entity to a more complex semantic, perceptual, and mental construct.- The traditional neighborhood, as an identifiable civic entity, comprises four key elements: space, time, citizen, and activity.- Revisiting the core themes of the social ontology of traditional neighborhoods can contribute to the revitalization of contemporary urban neighborhoods.- The social capacities and sociability of a neighborhood form the fundamental themes of the social ontology of traditional neighborhoods.IntroductionOver the past decades, numerous discussions have attempted to define the concept of a neighborhood. Initially, the definition of a neighborhood was rooted in the principle of separation, emphasizing the presence of social boundaries. However, as urban development advanced, the transformation of neighborhoods in the modern era signaled the emergence of new conceptualizations, where planning and design often preceded social structures.Despite extensive academic discourse, a universally accepted definition of a neighborhood remains elusive. Examining the spatial aspects of neighborhoods requires a well-defined theoretical framework that captures the lived experiences of residents and the interrelationship between people, activities, and spaces. The ambiguity in defining neighborhoods stems from the absence of a standardized conceptual framework, resulting in varied interpretations and applications across disciplines. This challenge has hindered the ability of urban scholars to fully grasp the implications of neighborhood effects on social interactions and urban cohesion.Theoretical FrameworkNeighborhoods have long been a focal point of social science research. Sociologists have regarded neighborhoods as "genuine phenomena" with intrinsic social significance. The scientific study of neighborhoods as independent subjects gained traction in the late 19th century. By the 1960s, the concept of the neighborhood had gained prominence within professional communities, yet definitions increasingly overlooked its locational aspects.In the 21st century, social theorists revisited early neighborhood conceptualizations, such as those formulated by the Chicago School, which emphasized demographic characteristics as defining factors. This approach viewed neighborhoods primarily through socio-economic, moral, and racial transformations. However, the perception of neighborhoods gradually shifted from being purely physical constructs to more perceptual and mental entities, characterized by four key dimensions: space, time (history), citizens (individuals, groups, and institutions), and activities or functions.Historical research suggests that the concept of a neighborhood is best understood as a dynamic and evolving process. The "accumulation of similar behavioral patterns" and a "valued perception of a fixed territory" contribute to the neighborhood's identity. Modernity has introduced additional complexities, reinforcing the importance of reevaluating traditional neighborhood frameworks.MethodologyThis study is classified as fundamental research with a qualitative approach. Utilizing a descriptive-analytical method, it employs a systematic review and thematic analysis technique to analyze 36 primary sources. The research follows a six-step process:Immersion in the dataGeneration of primary codesIdentification of themesExamination and refinement of themesDefinition and naming of themesReport preparationResults and DiscussionThe research findings indicate that the social ontology of traditional neighborhoods revolves around two main themes:Capacities of Local Communities, encompassing:Social attachment, which includes attitudinal and behavioral attachment, neighborhood satisfaction, emotional investment, preservation of neighborhood assets, social belonging, pride, and the willingness to defend neighborhood boundaries.Social cohesion, which involves fostering deep interpersonal bonds, shared traditions, community participation, and a collective sense of kinship.Community Neighborhood Acceptance, comprising:Social obligations, which include collective goals, participatory social practices, neighborhood honor, tolerance, mutual trust, crisis unity, and resident engagement in shaping the neighborhood’s future.Public good and empowerment, which pertains to the enhancement of interpersonal resources, skill development, neighborhood loyalty, social support systems, local entrepreneurship, and the sustainability of cultural and economic self-sufficiency.These thematic elements highlight the critical role of neighborhood sociability in fostering cohesive, resilient, and sustainable urban communities. The study underscores that social attachment and cohesion serve as foundational elements for the vitality of traditional neighborhoods.ConclusionThis study aimed to reinterpret the concept of the traditional neighborhood and examine its transformation across different historical periods. By exploring the social aspects of traditional neighborhoods, it identified four primary components that shape their ontology: space, time, citizen, and activity. These elements interact dynamically, influencing both urban structure and citizenship practices.Over time, the understanding of neighborhoods has transitioned from being purely physical constructs to more semantic, perceptual, and mental entities. However, despite this conceptual evolution, neighborhoods remain tangible manifestations of social and spatial dynamics. The increasing divergence between social and physical structures, coupled with enhanced mobility and technological advancements, has complicated the definition and lived experience of neighborhoods in contemporary urban contexts.The findings suggest that revitalizing urban neighborhoods requires a return to the foundational principles of traditional neighborhood design. By integrating social ontology into modern urban planning, policymakers and designers can cultivate more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban environments.
Urban Design
Esmat Paikan; Mohammad Reza Pourjafar; Ehsan Ranjbar
Abstract
Highlights
- The curvature in the street makes it more exciting, and greater variety in curvature causes more arousal and pleasure.
- Streets with medium enclosure (1:2 and 1:1) exhibit the most desirable values of size and enclosure.
- The presence of a square or a prominent building, the permeability ...
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Highlights
- The curvature in the street makes it more exciting, and greater variety in curvature causes more arousal and pleasure.
- Streets with medium enclosure (1:2 and 1:1) exhibit the most desirable values of size and enclosure.
- The presence of a square or a prominent building, the permeability of the street, and the variation in its landscape increase the pleasantness and arousal.
- The three-dimensional rhythms of the street walls exhibit greater pleasure and arousal than the two-dimensional rhythms.
- The portable EEG devices (MindWave MW001 headset) are suitable for evaluation of environmental design interventions in the field of architecture and urban development.
Introduction
The environment can cause positive and negative emotions in citizens. Emotions are important due to their impacts on people’s behaviors, because emotions make up a main component of social behavior, and extraction of emotional responses is one of the best ways to understand different fields of experience and perception. Nowadays, mental health problems and the emphasis on increasing social interactions have led to more and more concern for the subject of emotions, but the impact of physical-spatial factors has received less attention from the conducted studies. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the physical-spatial measures of urban streets on pedestrians’ emotional responses by placing the individual in a pseudo-real environment. Moreover, this study makes possible the use of a new neural measurement tool in urban studies and evaluates its accuracy.
Theoretical Framework
The review of previous studies demonstrated that the environmental parameters that can affect emotion include non-physical human factors on the one hand and physical ones on the other. The physical factors that make up the subject of this research can be divided into two categories: 1- non-artificial factors, i.e. green space, and 2- artificial factors, which include the size and enclosure of the space, the shape and form of the space, the characteristics of the surfaces including architectural style, the color and texture of materials, and the variation in spatial sequences. Given the number of studies conducted on the effect of natural factors and certain characteristics of surfaces in the field of architecture, the present research examined four physical parameters.
Methodology
Ten of the most important physical-spatial variables that make up different states and types of the spatial structure of an urban street, which can affect the individual emotions of pedestrians, were selected for investigation and used to design 18 tests. The research was conducted with a combined method consisting of: 1- a self-report method of Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) images and 2- a neurological method using electroencephalography. In the EEG method, the single-channel MindWave MW001 headset, produced by Neurosky, was used as the instrument. The research population included 50 students of Tarbiat Modares University. The research was conducted with the help of controlled experiments using the mobile digital 3D modeling technique, which makes it possible for people to navigate the virtual street in the city. After the data extracted by the health and Stroop tests were confirmed, the data analysis was made using a quantitative-statistical method.
Results and Discussion
The findings regarding the shape and form of the space demonstrated that people feel more pleased in curved streets than in straight streets, and there is greater arousal in streets of the former than the latter shape. However, the level of control in a straight street is higher than that in a curved or spiral street. As for the size and enclosure of the urban space, the results indicated that there is greater pleasure in a street with medium enclosure (1:2 and 1:1) than in one with low or high enclosure (1:4 and 1:1.2), but streets with medium enclosure exhibit less arousal. Spaces with less enclosure cause people to have more control over the space. The results also demonstrated that the pleasure and arousal experienced by people is increased by the existence of the square as a spatial element and a landmark building as a physical element, permeability in the spatial structure of the street and brokenness in the path, and variation in the landscape of the street. It was only in the street with physical retraction and protrusion that no effect on arousal was observed, although the level of pleasure should increase. Moreover, the results indicated that the pleasure in the street with the curved corner was greater than that with the other forms. However, the shape of the street corner exhibits no effect on the arousal. Furthermore, the walls that are completely three-dimensional exhibit greater pleasure and arousal than those featuring walls with two-dimensional and three-dimensional rhythms. Finally, the walls that are completely two-dimensional have the least pleasantness and arousal. There is a higher level of control in the street with 2D rhythms than in that with 3D rhythms. The results also showed that visual permeability in the physical structure of the street increases the arousal and control of the space, but it has no effect on the pleasure. Another result of this research is that there is 75% conformity in the results obtained from the two methods of SAM and EEG, which demonstrates that the data (EEG) extracted from the device can extract people’s emotions well.
Conclusion
In general, the current research confirms the results of previous studies, but it precisely demonstrated by measuring the extracted neural data that the levels of emotional pleasure, arousal, and control are affected by the shape and form of the street, the size and enclosure of the street space, the presence of a spatial and physical element that creates attention and emphasis in the street, permeability in the spatial structure of the street, rotation along the street and perspective change along the path, two and three-dimensional wall street rhythms, and the shape and form of the corners of the street intersection. However, physical indentations and protrusions exhibit no effect on arousal, and visual permeability has no effect on pleasure. In addition, the results showed that the EEG data extracted from the headset (MindWave MW001) used in this study could well capture the emotions of individuals, thus making up a proper potential tool for evaluation of environmental design interventions in the field of architecture and urban planning. The results of the present study, which indicate the psychological effects of urban design of a street, help to select and design the appropriate elements and physical characteristics of the space, increase positive emotions and reduce negative emotions, and ultimately improve the mental health of citizens.
Acknowledgment
This article is taken from the doctoral thesis of urban planning with the title "Explaining the effects of the physical-spatial components of an urban street on the emotional stimulation of pedestrians with an emphasis on the use of neuroscience" which was defended by the first author with the guidance of the second author and the advice of the third author in the Tarbiat Modares University.
