Slum Settlements
Maryam Soleimani; minoo gharehbaglou
Abstract
Highlights
The residence of informal settlements in the northern part of Tabriz is affected by the legitimate structures and signification of the region.
In their social life, marginalized residents do not pay much attention to the rules set by the upstream planners.
Marginalized residents reproduce ...
Read More
Highlights
The residence of informal settlements in the northern part of Tabriz is affected by the legitimate structures and signification of the region.
In their social life, marginalized residents do not pay much attention to the rules set by the upstream planners.
Marginalized residents reproduce the structures of domination in line with their legitimate and implicit structures so that their residence is in line with local values and implications.
Introduction
A particular factor effective in the spontaneous settlements in suburban areas is the behavioral patterns in the residents’ lives and relevant daily activities that could affect the shape of housing. Consideration of the life structure and its effect on the formation of the architecture are topics that have been addressed by various thinkers in fields such as culture and environmental psychology. It is essential to attend to the set of values and meanings of human behavior, viewed as local culture, and the realization of traditions. This process provides a criterion in the construction of spontaneous settlements in marginalized areas. This study investigated and identified the physical patterns of spontaneous settlements and their construction strategies with respect to the lifestyles adopted by the inhabitants of the suburban areas in the northern parts of the city of Tabriz, Iran. In these areas, the residents seem to form the features of the residences according to their local culture rather than the regulations and urban plans.
Theoretical Framework
Many policies proposed to improve the conditions of informal settlements have ignored the structure of life, which has led them to neglect residents’ lifestyles and attempt to impose renovation plans with top-down approaches. Despite the abundance of research, there are more fundamental questions about the residents’ hidden layers faced during their lives. Most of the reviews of research on marginal housing have disregarded the residents’ life structure. This study investigates how the physical patterns of spontaneous settlements take shape with respect to the inhabitants’ lifestyle in suburban areas of the northern parts of Tabriz. Some of the most sophisticated studies conducted in the field include the research by Abrams (1964) and Turner (1967), focused on the participation of residents and their autonomy in the process of improvement and empowerment besides critical views of the destruction and displacement of the suburbs. To proceed with these studies, various conferences and meetings were held between 1996 and 1999 to discuss the empowerment of the poor in the suburbs in order to increase the efficiency of urban development. In addition, different dimensions of informal settlement were addressed in the adopted approaches, in which issues such as economic development, culture, social capital, and security were examined (Hashas 2005, Paul 2017, Petter et al. 2007, Tsenkova 2009, Fernandes 2001, Pugh 2000). Along with the expansion of studies on the culture of marginalization and validation of the structures of local communities, field research needed to be conducted, exemplified by Young and Wilmot (1957), Ganz (1962), and Suttles (1974). Focused on the distinction of the culture of marginalization from the urban culture, these studies have demonstrated that marginalized people define a lifestyle framework with self-assessment criteria, and always strive for social cohesion and protection of internal security.
Methodology
The approach adopted in this research is a qualitative one developed by grounded theory. For selection of the sample, the purposeful sampling method was used with the greatest variety, and semi-structured interviews, observations, and planned samplings were utilized for data collection. In the research sample, forty residents of the examined areas participated, and thirty sample houses were studied.
Results and Discussion
The results demonstrate that the organization of spaces and the physical pattern of spontaneous settlements have been more dependent on legitimate and semantic structures than on signification or domination. In this process, the characteristics of residents’ lives and the physical shape system of the environment in regard to these structures have affected the environmental components, such as neighborhood presence, physical flexibility and adaptability, physical scalability, integration of living space and work, outdoor viability, and widespread housing.
Conclusion
The analysis of the findings demonstrates that the sense of dwelling is more dependent in informal settlements on autonomous patterns to maintain significant legitimate structures than on practical ones (pertaining to extrinsic biological aspects), and the residents always try to protect their existential security as social agents. They can validate structures that respond to all kinds of real perception (concerning intrinsic value aspects). These categories are essential items that should be taken into account in the design and improvement of suburban areas to align the body with the residents’ lifestyle. This factor can indirectly lead to a sense of belonging and sustainable settlement in these areas. Therefore, the planners must improve the physical-biological aspect as a priority to promote these areas according to the local value structures, so that the residents can improve their residential structures under legitimate and significant structures in their social lives in a self-organizing process, in which reference is made to consideration of changeable, adaptable, and flexible housing.
Acknowledgement
This paper has been extracted from the corresponding author’s PhD dissertation on Islamic Architecture, which is in progress under the supervision of the second author at Tabriz Islamic Art University, Iran and with the spiritual and financial support of Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).
Urban Ecology
Hassan Mahmoudzadeh; Mousa Vaezi; Maedeh bakooyi; Rahimeh Rostami
Abstract
Objectives The evolution in industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries led to greater human domination of the planet and the environment. In the field of clean environment, urban parks are regarded as an important element in creation of a sustainable city. They provide opportunities in various ...
Read More
Objectives The evolution in industry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries led to greater human domination of the planet and the environment. In the field of clean environment, urban parks are regarded as an important element in creation of a sustainable city. They provide opportunities in various areas for instance by improving the environment quality, enabling active and passive entertainment, and creating a beautiful environment. Accordingly, thinkers have considered the strengthening of the relationship between the urban man and the nature as a major way of dealing with the problems of urbanization. Therefore, cities need particular attention today in terms of revival of the urban nature, as presence of the nature in the city, to the necessary extent, and its composition and distribution is a requirement of sustainable development. Evidence from Iran and the area under study in regard to current urban green space planning and design indicates that the idea of ecological design and planning is very weakly treated. Due to the dissatisfaction with the current conditions in the design of urban green spaces as an important part of the city, development of green spaces with high ecological efficiency, significant bioclimatic features in particular, should be considered. Findings In the ranking provided by the TOPSIS method, Elogli Park exhibits the lowest positive ideal (5.41) and the highest negative ideal (13.45), followed by the Shams, Baghmishe, and Eram parks, in that order. This is because the cli coefficient, the negative ideal divided by the sum of the positive and negative ideals, for Elogli Park (15.93) is higher than those for the other parks, assigning it the highest priority in ecological terms among the parks under investigation. The four studied forest parks were classified by ecological indicators using the electric model. According to the results obtained by this method, Elogli Park was ranked first in ecological terms, and the Shams, Baghmishe, and Eram parks were ranked next. A point to be noted concerned the improper conditions of the Baghmishe and Eram parks, the latter in particular, in terms of the indicators, calling for greater attention to these parks. Based on the data on vegetation density, Shams Park exhibited denser coverage than the other parks, followed by Elogli, Baghmishe, and Eram, in that order. The denser the vegetation, the higher the priority of the park, and the better its ecological conditions. According to the three indicators studied in the GIS environment, Shams Park was in better conditions in ecological terms than the other parks. Results The results demonstrated that today’s cities need multi-purpose ecological balancing spaces rather than gardens and lawn. The prioritization of the parks based on cultural criteria indicated that the Eram and Shams parks were in better conditions than Shahgoli and Baghmishe. Physically, Elgoli Park was found to hold the highest priority, followed by Shams, Baghmishe, and Eram, in that order. In environmental terms, the Elgoli, Shams, Baghmishe, and Eram parks were ranked in that order. In terms of access features, Baghmishe and Shams were ranked first, followed by Elgoli and Eram. Finally, Elgoli and Shams were both identified through combination of the maps for all the criteria according to their weights as the best parks in terms of accessibility and cultural, environmental, and physical features. They were followed by Baghmishe Park, and Eram exhibited the lowest score among the parks in terms of the above features.
Urban Design
Leila Rahimi; Islam Karami
Abstract
Existing experience suggests that the perceptual environment of citizens plays an essential role in the perception of the quality of urban environments. Given the wide variations in urban life, in particular urban life in Tabriz as a metropolis, it is particularly important to recognize the quality of ...
Read More
Existing experience suggests that the perceptual environment of citizens plays an essential role in the perception of the quality of urban environments. Given the wide variations in urban life, in particular urban life in Tabriz as a metropolis, it is particularly important to recognize the quality of urban and neighborhood environment. Therefore, Golshahr and Parvaz neighborhoods are considered as newly designed neighborhoods (less than 30 years old) with appropriate architectural and urban spaces and a high level of facilities and services. This paper presents an instrument for measuring perceived residential environment quality in urban environments. This instrument consists of 11 scales categorized into four criteria including spatial aspects, human aspects, functional aspects, and contextual aspects. The spatial aspects include three scales: architectural-planning space, organization and accessibility of roads, and green space. The human aspects involve one scale: people and social relations. Functional aspects include four scales: welfare, recreational, commercial, and transport services. Contextual aspects cover three scales: pace of life, environmental health, and upkeep. The paper aims to identify and measure perceived residential environment quality and improve the related psychometric qualities. Cognitive psychology is the conceptual framework of this research that focuses on environmental perception. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: 1- What level is the residents’ perceived quality of Tabriz neighborhoods (Golshahr and Parvaz regions)? 2- What factors affact residents’ perceived quality of Tabriz neighborhoods? The research method is descriptive-experimental and the data collection instrument is a questionnaire including 11 scales based on different dimensions of the research variables. The questionnaire comprised of 62 questions in the form of a five-point Likert scale. It was clustery distributed among 250 residents of Golshahr and Parvaz regions in Tabriz. The data was analyzed using the one-sample t-test, paired comparison, multiple regression analysis and path model analysis in SPSS software. Results confirm the factorial structure of the scale and indicate that, among the individual factors, sex and ownership affect the residents’ perceived quality of the neighborhood. Among the four main components, the social and then contextual components have a greater impact on the perceived quality of the neighborhood, while these two dimensions have the lowest score among the inhabitants of the neighborhoods. Among the scales, the green space scale from spatial aspect, discretion and civility from the human aspect, transportation services from the functional aspect, and upkeep and maintenance from the contextual aspect have the highest impact on the residents’ perceived quality of the neighborhood. Thus, the impact on the perceived quality of neighborhood increases when moving from the physical to the social-psychological-mental space, but the emphasis of the decisions of urban planners are more on the spatial and functional dimensions. Another interesting result is that, in addition to the social dimension, attention should be paid to the contextual dimension of the neighborhoods in order to promote inhabitants’ perceived quality of the neighborhood.
