Urban Design
Azin Hajiahmadi Hamedani; h m; l j
Abstract
Evaluation of every environment’s image is not just the result of impressions made by its external attributes on the mind of the observer. It is, however, created by the imagination of the observer. A city is lodged by a wide variety of people whose evaluation of the images they form in their mind ...
Read More
Evaluation of every environment’s image is not just the result of impressions made by its external attributes on the mind of the observer. It is, however, created by the imagination of the observer. A city is lodged by a wide variety of people whose evaluation of the images they form in their mind is critical. The desirability of urban environments for various social strata, especially for women, depends on the relationship between human beings and the environment as well as their priorities and preferences. The distinctive characteristics of women in terms of feelings, sensation and evaluation of the environment should not be preferred over one anonther. To achieve a realistic and true viewpoint, it is impossible to ignore the interests and preferences of the citizens in relation to their living place. Since the relationship between an individual and their surrounding environment is formed in various levels such as the individual (e.g. feeling, perception, values, mental experiences, etc.) and social level (e.g. various social groups or the ones which are similar in terms of age and sex), it is better to examine the characteristics of various groups and social strata on the same level. The interpretations and mental images and meanings formed by women are unique depending on their values, priorities and experiences. There are some factors affecting the recognition of pleasantness attributes in urban space in women’s view, inducing what attracts women’s attention in the environments, how they are memorized, their mental image and their evaluation of the percieved space and the environmental preferences in selecting a desirable location. This article examines the factors affecting women mental image in order to allow the creation of a favorable environment from the perspective of this social group. It evaluates the preferences of their space. What is important is to identify and assess the main criteria for women in determining the optimum location with respect to the meaning derived from evaluated images. The aim of this research was to improve desirability of the environment from the perspective of women as well as their right to choose and evaluate the image of public spaces of Tehran. The research method is based on the techniques developed by Jack L. Nasar. In Nasar’s study, a phenomenological hermeneutic approach is used to describe the connotations and emotions image representation of women in the experience of urban spaces desirable / undesirable and nature of development of the city of Tehran. For this purpose, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted through purposive sampling. Interviews were recorded and the obtained data was written in the form of tables. Repeatability analysis was performed on the data. The results indicate that the optimal site selected through women’s mental image of highly desirable locations is associated with the concepts of freedom, justice, place dignity, socio-cultural prestige, historical identity, beauty, being stylish and full of details, quiet and cozy, vast but with privacy, green, happy mood and health.
Urban Design
Esmaeil Shieh; Mostafa Behzadfar; ahmad ali namdarian
Abstract
The concept of urbanscape has many complexities and ambiguities. These ambiguities lead to misunderstandings among the academic sources and professional circles. “Scape” and “landscape” have also deviated from their original meaning and nowadays are used for different purposes. ...
Read More
The concept of urbanscape has many complexities and ambiguities. These ambiguities lead to misunderstandings among the academic sources and professional circles. “Scape” and “landscape” have also deviated from their original meaning and nowadays are used for different purposes. The concept of “image” and readability makes them more complex. Specially, the scape of cities has some common meanings with mystic literature in Iran leading to further misunderstanding. There are some disciplines referring to the concept of urbanscape, such as urban design, architecture and landscape architecture, and landscape urbanism. Each of these disciplines deems itself as the originator of the term “urbanscape”.This article tries to review various literature on these two concepts and their complexities. Reviewing these concepts shows that urbanscape has been affected by different paradigms of the philosophy of science and, nowadays, there is a paradigm shift in this field.This article shows that previous definitions have been based upon “positivist” and “critical rationality” paradigms. In these two approaches, urbanscape has been studied separate from the society. In line with this, urbanscape was considered as a physical dimension of the urban form or as perceptions of users. The development of a new theoretical framework for urbanscape needs fundamental reviewing in these paradigms. It needs a paradigm which justifies the “why” and “how” of urbanscape rather than just describing it. In other words, the new definition should pay attention to the mechanisms and basic structure of urbanscape.This article uses the qualitative method. Reviewing Henri Lefebvre’s notions, it uses the paradigm of “scientific realism” to develop the theory of urbanscape. Urbanscape is then considered as the “output of society’s reality”, an intrinsic reality which is always reproduced. Urbanscape could not be divided into subjective and objective scape before, for the relation of these two is not just a phenomenological one. Lefebvre’s “production of space” theory is based on a new definition of dialectic leading to the concept of spatial trialectics.From this point of view, a comprehensive framework is achieved by using phenomenology and semeiotic approach. According to these two approaches, urbanscape is not “subject or object” alone, it is also the output of a social fact conceived by users in a phenomenological and semiotic dynamic relation. Urbanscape is then divided into three categories which are produced and reproduced by influential forces on urbanscape. Perceived scape, conceived scape and lived scape are the three types of scape produced in a trialectic relation of influential forces.These three scapes are phenomenological aspects of urbanscape. However, these three are produced by the semeiotic dimension. This dimension is the factors that can create the phenomenological aspect of scape and are called forces. Each force is trying to produce its own scape. There is a sort of complexity, competition and dialogue between the forces.Therefore, urbanscape is neither a physical dimension nor a practical one; it has also social aspects produced by various forces.
