Urban Design
Kimia Haghnegahdar; mahsa sholeh; Sahand Lotfi; Alireza Sadeghi
Abstract
Highlights- The historical design of the Sang-e Siah neighborhood passively harmonized with climatic conditions, ensuring high spatial quality and thermal comfort.- Physical modifications in Shiraz's historical urban fabric have weakened the ability of urban geometry to regulate microclimatic conditions ...
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Highlights- The historical design of the Sang-e Siah neighborhood passively harmonized with climatic conditions, ensuring high spatial quality and thermal comfort.- Physical modifications in Shiraz's historical urban fabric have weakened the ability of urban geometry to regulate microclimatic conditions effectively.- Neglecting the microclimatic effects of urban geometry leads to a decline in both thermal comfort and environmental quality in urban open spaces.- The principles embedded in Shiraz's historical urban design provide valuable insights for sustainable and climate-responsive urban development.IntroductionThe rapid pace of urbanization and its associated environmental challenges, coupled with the rising demand for energy to regulate thermal conditions, have underscored the necessity of addressing the microclimatic consequences of urban development. Given the increasing global temperatures and the urgency of climate adaptation, it is essential to examine the impact of urban form on microclimatic conditions and thermal comfort.The historical urban fabric of Shiraz, particularly in the Sang-e Siah neighborhood, represents an exemplary case of passive adaptation to climatic conditions. Through careful spatial planning, traditional urban layouts optimized thermal comfort by minimizing solar exposure and enhancing ventilation. However, recent modifications to the city's historical districts have undermined these adaptive strategies, leading to increased urban heat stress and a reduction in outdoor comfort levels.Meteorological records from Shiraz indicate a persistent rise in average temperatures, aligning with global climate change trends. These data highlight the importance of incorporating climate-sensitive urban design strategies to improve thermal comfort. The traditional design of Shiraz’s historic districts, characterized by narrow alleys, shaded pathways, and strategically oriented streets, exemplifies an effective response to the city's climatic challenges. This study aims to quantitatively assess the impact of geometric transformations in the Sang-e Siah neighborhood on microclimatic conditions and thermal comfort.Theoretical FrameworkUrban geometry consists of key parameters such as the sky view factor (SVF), height-to-width (H/W) ratio, and street orientation, all of which play a critical role in influencing climatic factors such as solar radiation exposure, wind flow, temperature distribution, and humidity retention. These elements collectively determine the thermal comfort of outdoor urban spaces.A reciprocal relationship exists between urban microclimates and broader climatic systems, with urban geometry serving as a crucial intermediary. By adopting climate-responsive urban design principles, planners and designers can mitigate unfavorable microclimatic effects, ensuring more livable and thermally comfortable urban environments. This study examines the extent to which changes in urban form influence these parameters and provides recommendations for sustainable urban planning practices.MethodologyThis research employs a descriptive-analytical approach and falls within the category of applied studies. Data collection was carried out through a combination of historical document analysis, field surveys, and meteorological data evaluation. The ENVI-met software, a highly reliable microclimate simulation tool, was utilized to model the impact of physical alterations on thermal comfort in the Sang-e Siah neighborhood.To ensure the accuracy of the findings, simulated results were compared against on-site temperature, humidity, and wind speed measurements. The study focused on the hottest day of the year—July 1, 2022—to capture extreme temperature conditions and their effects on urban microclimates. This methodological approach provides a robust basis for assessing the thermal performance of the historical urban geometry and its contemporary modifications.Discussion and FindingsThe findings of this study underscore the significant impact of geometric transformations in the neighborhood on microclimatic conditions. Specifically, the increase in SVF and the reduction in H/W ratios have resulted in the following effects:Elevated ambient temperatures due to increased exposure to solar radiation.Enhanced radiant heat effects, leading to a measurable decline in thermal comfort.Increased wind speeds in specific areas, contributing to dust dispersion while simultaneously reducing humidity levels.Decreased humidity, which intensifies heat stress and exacerbates outdoor discomfort.These combined effects have significantly reduced outdoor thermal comfort in the study area. The results emphasize the importance of maintaining traditional urban design principles to ensure microclimatic stability in historic districts.ConclusionThis study confirms that urban geometry variables such as SVF, H/W ratio, and street orientation play a fundamental role in shaping microclimatic conditions. The historical structures in Shiraz were designed in harmony with local climatic conditions, employing passive cooling strategies that enhanced thermal comfort in outdoor spaces. However, modern transformations—particularly the widening of streets and reductions in building heights—have disrupted this balance, exacerbating urban heat stress.To promote sustainable urban development, urban planners and designers should integrate lessons from Shiraz’s historical urban fabric. Strategies such as limiting SVF through shaded pathways, maintaining optimal H/W ratios for improved thermal regulation, and orienting streets to maximize natural ventilation can serve as effective guidelines for improving urban thermal comfort in Shiraz and other arid cities experiencing similar climatic challenges.
Urban Design
Maryam Roosta; mahsa sholeh; Negin Amiri
Abstract
Highlights- Sense walking and in-depth interviews were used to analyze the richness of smell and taste senses in urban space.- The experience of the senses of smell and taste and the dimension of time and place mutually affect each other.- The richness of the senses of smell and taste affects the enhancement ...
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Highlights- Sense walking and in-depth interviews were used to analyze the richness of smell and taste senses in urban space.- The experience of the senses of smell and taste and the dimension of time and place mutually affect each other.- The richness of the senses of smell and taste affects the enhancement of the memorability and identity of the urban space.IntroductionEveryday urban experience is achieved through the process of perception and sense experience through sensory organs. Living in a multi-sensory environment is inevitable, and the experience of encountering sights, smells, and sounds makes it possible to know the environment. It seems that in different urban spaces of Iran, taking into account the native conditions of the environment and current traditions among the people, the role of sensory landscapes and its effect on the quality of the urban space requires more investigations. The main problem of the current research is the need to pay more attention to the issue of "sensory richness" and analyze its indicators and examples as one of the important qualities of the urban space, with an emphasis on the two senses of smell and taste. Based on this, the present article aims to explain the process of recognizing and analyzing an urban space with an emphasis on improving the quality of sensory richness in the two areas of smell and taste senses.Theoretical FrameworkRegarding the sense of smell, the variety of smells, the presence of sources of smells in the environment, smells dependent and related to time, consistent smells, smells of passers-by, and smelling comfort are among the indicators that, according to sources, affect the richness of the space. There are also researches about the effect of the sense of smell in the urban space, in the context of racial, ethnic, native, historical and cultural contexts, and it shows the effect of different cultural contexts on the transmission of social meanings and values and the display of historical heritage through the sense of smell in an urban space.Regarding the sense of taste, while emphasizing the dependence and direct connection of this sense with the sense of smell, the presence of fruitful plants, local memories related to the experience of taste in space, and the presence of land uses that stimulate taste have an effect on the richness of the sense of taste.MethodologyIn order to conduct this research, the "qualitative" strategy has been used to collect and analyze data. In the first step, the review of library resources was carried out with the aim of compiling the theoretical framework of the research and extracting effective indicators in the thematic area of sensory richness. After that, the indicators obtained from this part were analytically recognized and field studied in two steps in the studied sample; In the first step, the sensory perception of the environment was carried out by "sensory walking" with the help of field survey by one of the researchers as an urban studies expert. After that, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 space users. These numbers were selected as available samples and the interviews were continued until reaching a kind of "theoretical saturation" and repeated answers. The data obtained from the interviews were coded in "Atlas" software and subjected to content analysis.Results and DiscussionThe findings of the interviews revealed the deep dimensions of the smell experience along the way for users. In these interviews, special users with a keen sense of smell were mentioned many times along the way. In some of these comments, the use of smell to remember the length of the route and even addressability was clearly evident. This issue, while clarifying the process of tracking odor sources by space users, shows the effect of place and the inseparable dependence of sensory experiences with place.In a deeper layer, the analysis of the interviews shows that remembering and recalling smell experiences, especially in urban spaces with historical qualities, is very tied to nostalgia and memory and has an effect on deepening the sense of belonging to a place. This issue is very important from the analytical point of view of urban space. Context—which can be a set of antecedent conditions or facts about a place or a particular event in it—plays a decisive role in the quality of the smellscapes in a place.The findings show that in the sensory experience of Hafez Street, in particular, the presence of "orange trees" as an example of the "fruitful plants" index, in addition to the possibility of simultaneously deepening the senses of smell and taste, to the perception of the "sense of time" as well as the "memorability of space" and Also, "identifying the sensory experience of the path" has also been effective. In the experience of the sense of taste along this path, as expected, the findings indicate the effect of the use of taste stimuli on the deepening of the sensory experience of space and its perception.ConclusionAmong the indicators of the quality of the senses of smell and taste, "smell comfort", "presence of fruitful plants" and "memorable uses with taste stimulation", have a greater role in the experience process of citizens' environmental perception. Also, in the analysis of the findings from the qualitative survey, it is possible to emphasize the two-way relationship between the deepening of the "sense of smell" and the memorability and identity of the place, as well as the reciprocal relationship of "perception of time" with the depth of the smell sensory experience.It seems that, especially in urban spaces with historical value, paying attention to the identity aspects of odors from natural resources or users with an identity smell or taste experience, both in the layer of future research and in the layer of executive plans, can have a multifaceted effect on improving the quality of the space and help deepen the sense of belonging to the place among the users.
Urban Design
mahsa sholeh; Alireza Sadeghi; Peyman Najafi; Zahra Khaksar
Abstract
This paper intends to evaluate individual’s activity patterns in urban public realms. The nature of the public realm reflects our everyday life, civic culture and social discourses. In order to have a more popular and vibrant public realm, an attractive and safe environment, which meets the needs ...
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This paper intends to evaluate individual’s activity patterns in urban public realms. The nature of the public realm reflects our everyday life, civic culture and social discourses. In order to have a more popular and vibrant public realm, an attractive and safe environment, which meets the needs of its users, should be provided. In recent years, this issue has been an attractive topic not only for psychologists and sociologists but also for urban planners and all those involved in designing urban environments. In this regard, this study tries to analyze behavioural patterns and social activities in an urban public realm (Ahmadi Pedestrian Walkway) using Behavioral Observation method. This method leads to a systematic study of the behavioural patterns of individuals in the surrounding environment. In other words, the Behaviour Observation method is a novel way of recording and understanding the importance of public life in an urban environment. The aim of behaviour observation method is to determine how and by whom these public realms would be used and what facilities should be provided for the space users. Therefore, in this study, the physical-environmental qualities, activity patterns, and behavioural components are investigated through a field survey as well as natural and participatory observation. The tools of this methodology are recording the location of stationary activities, recording the stopping places, activity counting and tracking technique. To validate the findings of the study, a survey strategy was utilized to adapt the findings of the study to the viewpoints of 50 space users. The results revealed that Ahmadi Pedestrian Walkway in the middle hours of the day (14:00 to 17:00) encountered a fracture of stationary activity level and reduction of activity patterns. The highest pedestrian trace volume (76%) and stopping point (78%) were recorded in the shaded parts of the sidewalk. Also, evaluating the shadow maps, stationary activity maps, and pedestrian trace volumes, it seemed that the shading and climatic comfort had a correlation with behavioural patterns and social activities in Ahmadi Pedestrian Walkway.In conclusion, it can be argued that climatic comfort plays a crucial role in the vitality of urban public realms in Shiraz. Also, Behavioural Observation method is an effective way for measuring and analyzing behavioural patterns and social activities. Therefore, it can be considered in future ecological interventions of urban public realms.
