Urban Architecture
sara Mohebinejad; Khosro Movahed; malihe taghipour
Abstract
Different factors affect the sociability of the environment, such as social, financial and objective factors.The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of spatial organization on increasing the number of open spaces sociability of residential complexes.In this regard, open spaces between residential ...
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Different factors affect the sociability of the environment, such as social, financial and objective factors.The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of spatial organization on increasing the number of open spaces sociability of residential complexes.In this regard, open spaces between residential complexes were selected as research beds and based on those, four open spaces patterns including linear patterns, complex pattern, mixed and single element central pattern in four residential complexes were selected as case examples . The tools of analysis in this research are the theory of space syntax. In this case, logical analyzes were performed by using mathematical relations and software analyzes derived from “Depthmap” software.In this research, the effective elements in increasing the sociability were studied, then the indices of each component were introduced and finally will be analyzed by means of proper tools. In order to achieve the purpose of this research, the theoretical framework of the research choose and case samples were analyzed based on that. The results showed that spatial organization plays a significant role on increasing or decreasing the sociability of open spaces in residential complexes. Analyzes using this software showed that, unfortunately, designed spaces in open areas of residential complexes were not placed properly and should be reconsidered in their design process. Furthermore, creating a semi-public-semi-private space in an integrated complex, can lead to a more global sociability of the space. In the results of this research, the effect of the arrangement of the blocks is completely obvious. In addition, space depth rate, proper arrangement of different functions in open outdoor and being useful for all age groups are considered as effective factors in increasing the sociability in open spaces of residential complexes.
Urban Architecture
maliheh taghipour; maryam bagheri
Abstract
The attendance of people in a public space overshadows many issues, including issues that have multilateral links with economic, cultural, social and other areas. The first spark needed to be in the place comes from the entrances of that place to the mind. So one of the most basic expectations that can ...
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The attendance of people in a public space overshadows many issues, including issues that have multilateral links with economic, cultural, social and other areas. The first spark needed to be in the place comes from the entrances of that place to the mind. So one of the most basic expectations that can be expected from any input is the affordance to that space. In this context, the bazaar, as a public space, has a significant role in the economic, social, cultural, political and other prosperity of cities and the issue of its presence is of particular importance. Accordingly, the present study investigates the role of inputs' permeability qualities on the degree of attendance of people in traditional bazaar as a research issue and analyzes the factors affecting this issue in the traditional bazaar of Shiraz. The research method in this paper is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods that analyze the physical structure of space in quantitative part using field studies as well as computer tools such as Depthmap software and in the qualitative part based on field observations and interviews with users. From the bazaar, it analyzes the results of the quantitative segment as well as the factors influencing this issue. The results indicate that the three components of accessibility, spatial connectivity and neighborhood quality are the most important factors in enhancing bazaar attendance. In this regard, the possibility of visualizing the input channels from the surrounding tissue, the degree of adaptation and dependence between the uses in the rows leading to the inputs, the density and variety of these applications and finally the geometrical and spatial characteristics of bazaar entrances as the most important factors related to the quality of the permeability of the inputs. That affect the bazaar attendance of people.
Urban Architecture
aliakbar heidari; malihe taghipour
Abstract
Highlights
- The physical health of people in residential complexes is directly related to the environmental quality of those complexes;
- The mental health of the residents in the residential complexes is directly related to the structural quality of the complexes;
- The social health of the residents ...
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Highlights
- The physical health of people in residential complexes is directly related to the environmental quality of those complexes;
- The mental health of the residents in the residential complexes is directly related to the structural quality of the complexes;
- The social health of the residents in the residential complexes is directly related to the functional quality of the complexes;
- Providing health dimensions in residential complexes is directly related to the quality of life of residents.
Introduction
Due to the inattention of designers and architectures to the quality of biological collections during the rapid growth of urbanization, the residents of these collections have faced many problems, the most important being the sharp decline in their quality of life. On the other hand, since home is the most important space in human life, and people spend most of their lives in residential environments, the quality of housing and its role in improvement of the quality of life is a significant issue. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate how the environmental quality of housing is related to the residents’ quality of life to analyze the mechanism of this relationship. Accordingly, the environmental quality of housing was considered as an independent variable and the quality of life as a dependent variable. In addition, given that the quality of housing is an objective issue, and the quality of life is a subjective issue, a mediating variable was needed with both objective and subjective aspects for analysis of the relationship between the two concepts. Therefore, the notion of health was considered as the mediating variable in this study, and an attempt was made to explain the relationship between the main variables through examination of the relationship between health and the dimensions of environmental quality, on the one hand, and its relationship with the quality of life, on the other.
Theoretical Framework
Based on the objectives and hypotheses of the research, architectural quality was considered as an independent variable, quality of life as a dependent variable, and health dimensions as a mediating variable. According to the research literature, the quality of architecture was evaluated in the form of three indicators: environmental quality, structural quality, and functional quality. The quality of life was evaluated in the form of a psychological-semantic concept including satisfaction with residents’ various aspects of individual and social life. Finally, the dimensions of health were analyzed in the form of three aspects: physical, mental, and social health.
Methodology
After a review of the literature and extraction of the indicators concerning each of the research variables, the theoretical framework of the research was presented. These indicators were examined as a case study using tools including observation, interview, and researcher-made questionnaires at three residential complexes in the city of Shiraz, Iran. A standard questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life. The quality of architecture was assessed using the above tools based on the indicators provided for that purpose. Finally, the residents’ health conditions were assessed using a researcher-made closed questionnaire. To specify the validity and reliability of the questionnaires, the items concerning each variable were first designed and provided to the experts. After a number of the items were corrected and deleted, the final questionnaire was designed in the form of a set of 26 items, and the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for each group was obtained.
Results and Discussion
The eventual research results follow.
- The physical health of the people in the residential complexes was directly related to the environmental quality of the complexes.
- The mental health of the residents of the residential complexes was directly related to the structural quality of the complexes.
- The social health of the residents of the residential complexes was directly related to the functional quality of the complexes.
- Provision of health dimensions in the residential complexes was directly related to the residents’ quality of life.
Conclusion
1- The quality of architecture in residential spaces is directly related to improvement of the residents’ health conditions. In this regard, the following are significant:
-Improvement of the level of environmental quality promotes all aspects of health in housing, especially the residents’ physical health. This means that the most important factors ensuring the residents’ physical health include the provision of health, creation of environmental comfort in housing, and assurance of the residents’ safety, which lie in the field of environmental quality.
- Improvement of the level of structural quality in housing promotes mental health. Psychological peace is provided in the house through attention to the structural features of housing with respect to the method of spatial configuration, proper spatial zoning, provision of the residents with psychological security, creation of an appropriate visual space in the home environment, and the like. As a result, the residents’ mental health is improved at home.
- Improvement of the level of functional quality improves the residents’ social health in residential environments. We can refer to the capabilities of housing in provision of individual and social functions in the housing environment. are These capabilities include the establishment of collective spaces in the residential environment, creation of a space with functional diversity to perform a variety of activities in public spaces, generation of a spatial hierarchy, and individual and social privacy in space. Such solutions raise the possibility of increasing the interaction between neighbors, which leads to greater recognition among them, formation of the residents’ collective identity, and increase in the desire for social participation among them, which can ultimately contribute to social health.
2- The residents’ quality of health in residential complexes is directly related to the improvement of their quality of life.
This means that provision of all the three dimensions of health in residential environments increases the residents’ quality of life from all aspects. Therefore, if any of the dimensions of health is not provided in a residential environment, it can reduce the residents’ quality of life.
3- The quality of architecture in a residential space is directly related to the residents’ quality of life.
This issue, which is one of the main purposes of the present study, is quite obvious and understandable in light of the above. Thus, on the one hand, there is a two-way relationship between the quality of architecture and health dimensions; on the other hand, the residents’ quality of health in a residential complex is directly related to their quality of life there. Therefore, it can be stated that there is a direct relationship between the quality of architecture in a residential complex and the residents’ quality of life. Hence, improvement of the quality of architecture in a residential space increases different dimensions of the residents’ health, leading to an improvement in their quality of life.
Urban Management
Malihe Taghipour; aliakbar heidari; maryam haghayegh
Abstract
The rapid population growth and transformation of apartments into the dominant form of urban residence have created new health issues in human life. The consequences, threatening residents’ health, include increase in vitamin D deficiency, overweight, decrease in physical health, social isolation ...
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The rapid population growth and transformation of apartments into the dominant form of urban residence have created new health issues in human life. The consequences, threatening residents’ health, include increase in vitamin D deficiency, overweight, decrease in physical health, social isolation and a variety of social injuries, decrease in personal space, and decrease in mental health. From the World Health Organization’s point of view, health involves provision of three dimensions thereof at the same time: physical, mental, and social. In addition to the above, however, it seems that the economic index has a direct, immediate impact on individuals’ quality of life and health. Therefore, the present study sought to investigate the three aspects of health in terms of the achievement of cooperation with the fields of architecture, medical science, psychology, and social sciences in the preferences of people with different economic conditions upon selection of apartments as housing and the priorities of the components from the three areas that influenced their selections. In this descriptive survey, SPSS 22 and AMOS 23 were used for data analysis, and Friedman test and ANOVA were employed to examine the hypotheses. The results indicated that individuals’ economic and livelihood conditions affected their preferences and concern for the three dimensions (physical, mental, and social) of health in the area of housing. It is noteworthy that economic conditions are considered today as a health-threatening factor, hence their great significance in health policies and disease prevention and intervention measures. Furthermore, the results obtained from the paper emphasized the need to consider the effects of the physical components of buildings on residents’ health, where a building could prevent the occurrence of disease in the residents and prevent an excessive amount of money from being spent for treatment. These findings can provide useful guidelines for policy-makers in the field of construction and social institutions influencing the promotion of modern urban living patterns. What is clear is that the current pattern of modern urban living and housing common in Iran is an obsolete model imported from other countries regardless of the psychological, physical, and social aspects of individuals’ lives. It therefore fails to meet the current requirements of the society, and can have harmful physical, psychological, and social effects in the long run. Modification of this model requires cooperation from medical and social scientists, psychologists, and architects and designers, development of regulations and construction standards, and cooperation from the relevant bodies (the municipality and engineering system) and medical, humanities, and social scientists. Based on the results of studies that have critically scrutinized the details of living in apartments, the organizations in charge of construction can also take important steps in establishment of laws and regulations that affect residents’ health to improve their quality of life. Based on the comprehensive dimensions of health, further achievements will hopefully be made in the construction industry and the design of residential units, so that people’s health will not be threatened by buildings, which can even have therapeutic properties.
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 Architecture
Volume 7, Issue 26 , May 2018, , Pages 3-16
Abstract
Place attachment is a type of emotional connection developed between an individual and a specific location which could happen in different times and places. People could feel different levels of attachment to their homes, neighborhoods or cities. This feeling could have different levels of intensity ...
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Place attachment is a type of emotional connection developed between an individual and a specific location which could happen in different times and places. People could feel different levels of attachment to their homes, neighborhoods or cities. This feeling could have different levels of intensity based on environmental features, social atmosphere and the memories made by individuals in that specific place. Several studies have been conducted on the subject of place attachment. Researches done by Daneshpour et al. (2009), Sarmast & Motavaseli (2010), Amir Kafi & Fathi (2011), Sajadzadeh (2014), Heidari et al. (2014), Cuba & Hummon (1993), Hidalgo & Hernandez (2001), Brown et al. (2003), Shamai & Liatov (2005), Gifford et al. (2009), and Lewicka (2010) are among studies that have addressed the issue from different approaches. However, these studies have not addressed place attachment in terms of the three factors of home, neighborhood, and city as well as age and sex variables. Also, they have not compared two different cities with different physical and social features. The present study will focus on the three factors of home, neighborhood and the city and delve into the reasons for the increase and decrease in the intensity of place attachment. It will also take sex and age variables into account. To compare the resulted data, residents of the two cities of Tehran and Sari were chosen. Conducting a study on the two cities of Tehran, a metropolis, and Sari, a small city with stronger social ties, can improve generalizability. The number of participants as subjects of the study in Tehran and Sari is assessed to be 427 and 306, respectively. Within the prescribed framework, factors that affect place attachment are divided into the three physical, social and emotional categories. Accordingly, three separate questionnaires were provided to assess the intensity of place attachment regarding the aforementioned categories. In each questionnaire, there were questions about physical, social and emotional factors, which are the main factors in determining the reasons behind place attachment. The resulted data from within subjects ANOVA, repeated measures ANOVA and split-plot ANOVA were analyzed using SPSS. The results showed that the intensity of attachment in residents of Tehran and Sari regarding the three categories was different. Accordingly, the subjects’ attachment to their homes held the highest rank, attachment to cities was at the second place and attachment to neighborhood was at the lowest level. Also the factor of sex had no impact on the intensity of attachment regarding the aforementioned categories. However, the results of descriptive statistics showed that the intensity level related to attachment to home for both men and women held the highest level, attachment to city was at the second place and attachment to neighborhood was at the lowest level. Although not having a meaningful impact on the results of the study, in the case of female residents of Sari, attachment to city held a lower place than attachment to neighborhood.
However, the age of subjects played an important role in their place attachment. For instance, Tehran residents of all age groups said that they had a stronger attachment to their homes, their city and neighborhoods (in the same order), but in the case of Sari, teenagers showed stronger attachment to their city while older people showed roughly the same level of attachment to all the three categories.
The results showed that social attachment to home held the highest priority and physical attachment held the second place followed by emotional attachment to home. With regard to the neighborhood and city categories, for all age groups, emotional attachment to the city held the highest rank, followed by attachment to the physical dimensions and social attachment.
Urban Architecture
y p; A H
Volume 6, Issue 22 , May 2017, , Pages 15-26
Abstract
Functional quality of cumulative spaces is special to environmental and urban design. In line with improvement of functional quality of these urban places, it is important to take security elements into account. These elements include both objective and subjective indicators. The absence of these components ...
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Functional quality of cumulative spaces is special to environmental and urban design. In line with improvement of functional quality of these urban places, it is important to take security elements into account. These elements include both objective and subjective indicators. The absence of these components in such spaces with unlimited users affects their overall performance. The aim of this study is to examine some visual or skeletal components in one of these communal spaces, i.e. parks. To validate research findings and user preferences, subjective factors (users’ perception of space) will also be evaluated. In this research, the objective quality of space will be assessed through space syntax indices following the characteristics of the space syntax theory which investigates the physical parameters of space. Other research tools include field research (environmental and field data), questionnaires, interviews and researchers’ observations. The subjective and perceptual characteristics of users in terms of “security” are hereby placed under investigation. After stating the problem and introducing Space Syntax theory in the environment analysis, this paper tries to analyze the issue of crime hotspots (security or lack of security) in the environment regardless of the effective factors on the users’ perceptions (first step). After analyzing the issue by this method, the survey strategy was used to validate the obtained results and to adapt them to the views of space users (second step). To achieve the objectives of the research, after the introduction of research tools, the total area of the park was determined by syntax factors and then open questionnaires, field observations and cognitive maps were used. The results showed that the population of the research avoided some parts of the park due to different subjective reasons. In some cases, environmental quality and, in some other cases, subjective characteristics of the environment were effective on creating a sense of insecurity with the space. Ultimately, it seems that subjective factors have priority over environmental indicators in selecting a space. Other important results of the research are as follows: - The central area of the park seems to be desirable. This is because of its shallow depth and lack of permeability as well as the low level of monitoring due to the structural and skeletal features of the environment. - A favorable environment in urban parks in terms of security is a place which has relatively large terraces with few wide passageways without any deadlock. - Safe spaces in parks have proper lighting. Accordingly, there should be no tall and broadleaf trees in the main communication areas, especially on the passageways, so that they would not block lighting in the night. - When these spaces have innovative design features and create the subjective sense of belonging to the place in people, even in the absence of some objective characteristics of a safe environment, they will lead to increased usability of the environment, socialization of the space and thereby maintaining a desired level of security in the environment.
