Urban livability
Aliakbar Shamsipour; Zeinab Kia; Ghasem Azizi
Abstract
Urban spaces with different characteristics from natural environments require revision of traditional climatic zoning so that climatic conditions can be used in city planning and management. The city of Tehran, with its topographical, structural, physical, and geometrical characteristics and different ...
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Urban spaces with different characteristics from natural environments require revision of traditional climatic zoning so that climatic conditions can be used in city planning and management. The city of Tehran, with its topographical, structural, physical, and geometrical characteristics and different urban development patterns, has different responses to different climatic conditions. Homogeneous climate response units (HCR) perform urban climate classification based on building density maps and the natural geomorphology of the earth, their purpose is to prepare a map with a set of homogenous areas with urban space, and its advantage is in providing climate guidelines for Planning is in comprehensive urban plans. To conduct the study, layers of spatial information of land use/cover, building density, green spaces, hydrographic network, air temperature, precipitation, road network, population density and city topography were used in the GIS environment. By integrating the layers of information, the urban climate map of Tehran was obtained in 17 climatic units, followed by 8 climatic guidelines for urban planning. The results obtained from the analysis of the findings showed that mountains, riverbeds, lakes and green spaces are among the most important homogenous climate response units of Tehran, which should be preserved. The central and southern areas of the city do not have favourable weather conditions and proper ventilation and have heat stress and high-intensity air pollution. One of the reasons is the high construction density, population, activity, traffic and lack of green infrastructure. The north of Tehran has a good climatic condition, one of the reasons for which is the proximity of this area to the mountains and rivers of the north of the city. The physical expansion of the city on the side of the heights, especially in the direction of the gorges often reduces the dynamic capacity of the atmosphere, ventilation and air circulation. It is one of the factors of increases the environmental heat load the formation of urban heat islands and intensifying air pollution.
Urban Economy
Bakhtiar Javaheri; Salah ebrahimi
Abstract
Highlights- Iran has been going through one of the fastest-growing urbanization processes in the world, where about 75% of the population lives in urban areas today.- The variation in urbanization rate in the provinces of Iran has fluctuated from about 48% to 95%.- Agriculture and industrialization are ...
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Highlights- Iran has been going through one of the fastest-growing urbanization processes in the world, where about 75% of the population lives in urban areas today.- The variation in urbanization rate in the provinces of Iran has fluctuated from about 48% to 95%.- Agriculture and industrialization are the most important variables explaining urbanization in Iran. IntroductionIn the recent decades, the proportion of the world’s urban population has increased. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the proportion of the world’s population residing in urban areas has risen from about 14 percent in 1901 to about 50 percent in 2000. The rapid growth of urbanization in the world began after the Industrial Revolution in European countries, and was then observed in developed and developing countries. In Iran, the process of urbanization and urban population growth was faster than in developing countries. During a period of about 50 years (1970-2020), the urban population in Iran grew by about 37%. There are a wide range of factors and reasons for explanation of the rapid urbanization in Iran. A reason for the growth of urbanization in Iran is the migration of rural population to urban areas, which has resulted from industrial policies, agricultural sector growth, wage gap between urban and rural areas, and employment opportunities in services and industry in urban areas.Theoretical FrameworkUrbanization began during the Industrial Revolution, and the term is used to refer to the growing number of people living in urban areas. It is not simply about an increase in the number of urban dwellers, but also about a change in the structure from rural to urban in terms of industry, employment, living conditions, and public social services. On the other hand, urbanization refers to the process of population expansion on urban scale, and includes economic, social, and geographic changes. Rapid urbanization is one of the most prominent features of global development today. In general, urbanization can be defined as a process of transition from a dominant world of rural and agricultural activities to a dominant urban world based on non-agricultural activities. Depending on their orientations, social scientists point out different explanations for the existence of cities. Developments in industry, agriculture, and services provide the main explanations for the rate of urbanization in the literature on urban economics. Moreover, wage differences between urban and rural areas, the general rate of prices in urban areas, and educational expenditures have been factors affecting the rate of urbanization in theoretical and experimental studies.MethodologyIn this study, the spatial econometric approach was used for analysis of the model. Spatial econometrics is a subfield of econometrics that deals with the interactions between geographic units. Units can include postal code, city, municipality, district, province, government, judiciary, country, etc., depending on the nature of the study. Spatial econometric models can also be used to explain the behavior of economic agents and other geographic entities, such as individuals, companies, and governments, if they are interconnected through a network. Given the advantages of the spatial econometric method, this study aimed to investigate the effects of factors affecting urbanization in thirty provinces of Iran during the 2006-2017 period using a spatial econometric panel data method.Results and DiscussionIn this study, the Eviews and Stata software was used for analysis of the data. The results of the stationary test indicated that the model variables were stationary. Based on the Moran test results, there was a positive spatial autocorrelation in the study data. Other results also confirmed the the spatial Durbin model compared with other models. The results of the Chow and Hausman test also confirmed the superiority of the panel data to the pool data and of the fixed effects to the random effects. Other results demonstrated that the added value of agriculture, industry, and service had significant positive effects on the rate of urbanization in each province and the neighboring provinces. These results indicated that the development of the agricultural sector and the use of new technologies, and thus the increase in the productivity of the agricultural sector, led to the release of part of the labor force working in the agricultural sector in rural areas and their transfer to urban areas and employment in the service sector. The higher wage rates in the service and industry sectors also functions as a recruitment factor, attracting the liberated labor force from the rural sector to the urban sector, which was also demonstrated in this study. In contrast, the increase in the price index of the urban sector, which increased the costs of migration from rural to urban areas, could function as a repellent factor with adverse effects on migration from urban to rural areas. This was similar to the increase in the area of agricultural land in rural areas, which could hinder or delay the transfer of rural population to urban areas. Another factor that played a key role in urban-to-rural migration was the rural unemployment rate, which could encourage the unemployed to migrate to urban areas.ConclusionThe results of this research demonstrated that the variation in urbanization rate cannot be analyzed in one dimension, and a set of factors effective in the process of urbanization development in Iran need to be considered in the analysis, including a range of economic and geographic factors. In recent years, the focus on cities and regions has been resumed, but this focus on the role of cities and regions does not necessarily resemble the prevailing belief in the early twentieth century that the benefits of aggregation are driving growth in large cities and rich countries. Today, the driving forces of urbanization are different in different countries and even different regions of a country. The results of this study demonstrate that the Iranian economy needs a planned urbanization with a powerful policy for development of the agricultural and industrial sectors for the overall development of urbanization in Iran. Another proposal is to set the government as the main policymaker. In the first place, the government, the most important player in the society, must adhere to the rules in which it plays an important role. Secondly, the government’s policy orientation must be clear to all economic actors.
Urban Design
Abstract
Urban design involves the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces, transport systems, services, and amenities. It is the process of giving form, shape, and character to groups of buildings, neighborhoods, and the city in whole. Urban design is about making connections between people and ...
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Urban design involves the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces, transport systems, services, and amenities. It is the process of giving form, shape, and character to groups of buildings, neighborhoods, and the city in whole. Urban design is about making connections between people and places, movement and urban form, nature and the built fabric. It draws together the many strands of place-making, environmental stewardship, social equity and economic viability to create places with distinct beauty and identity. On the other hand, implementation tools offer different mechanisms for the delivery of quality urban design outcomes, and are used by a range of professionals to manage, motivate and organize urban design projects. While being disparate, these tools focus on the means of building quality urban design projects. Implementation can therefore be considered throughout all stages of an urban design project. A number of these tools focus on discussing and resolving design issues before the execution of a project. They can help clear roadblocks in the design process, provide collaborative management structures, and develop creative design solutions. Also, project implementation (or project execution) is the phase where visions and plans become reality. This is the logical conclusion after evaluating, deciding, visioning, planning, applying for funds and finding the financial resources of a project. After careful planning of the project, one will be ready to start the project implementation phase, the third phase in the project management life cycle. The implementation phase involves putting the project plan into action. It is here that the project manager will coordinate and direct project resources to meet the objectives of the project plan. As the project unfolds, it is the project manager’s job to direct and manage each activity, every step of the way. That is what happens in the implementation phase of the project life cycle: you follow the plan you have put together and handle any problems that comes up. The implementation phase is where you and your project team actually do the project work to produce the deliverables. The word “deliverable” means anything your project delivers. The deliverables for your project include all the products or services that you and your team are producing/performing for the client, customer, or sponsor, including all the project management documents that you put together. Along with the rapid growth of urbanization and the formation of urban development plans, urban design experts try to improve the quality of the environment. However, the field of urban design is a young and emerging field in the world, especially in Iran where it is considered as a fledgling discipline. The findings show that, in the current situation of Iran, the power-related criteria (political, administrative, economic and knowledge) attract the highest attention and the criteria related to dialogue, participation and interaction (public participation, legal interaction) are with the lowest levels of attention. An interactive model based on a reasonable balance between top-down and bottom-up approaches, drawing from Foucault’s theory of power and Habermas’s theory of communicative action, is suggested to better realize urban design projects in Iran.
Urban Planning
Keramattolah ziari; mahsa haji; asad moradi
Volume 4, Issue 15 , August 2015, , Pages 37-52
Abstract
Although the rate of urbanization in developed countries remains in a suitable position and is under control, the continued rapid growth of urbanization in developing countries (such as Iran) is quite evident. This issue of providing shelter and adequate housing in the country has turned into a ...
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Although the rate of urbanization in developed countries remains in a suitable position and is under control, the continued rapid growth of urbanization in developing countries (such as Iran) is quite evident. This issue of providing shelter and adequate housing in the country has turned into a serious crisis and has global-scale problems. Housing has an important role in satisfaction of the the physical, emotional and social needs of people. In addition, housing can serve to promote social justice and reduce the relative gap between different social classes. Moreover, it has an important role in economic solidity and social constancy of community and national development. The qualitative and quantitative indicators of housing are one of the key measurement tools for development in of countries. Although worldwide the analysis of housing indicators and the their role are very important, they are not used in codification of housing policy in Iran. Therefor policy and decision-makers have no knowledge of housing indicators`in decision making and their impact on residents. The goal of this research is a comprehensive recognition of housing conditions in the urban areas of Iran and the transition process of quantitative and qualitative indicators of housing in Kurdistan Province and the city of Marivan will be assessed comparatively in the period 1966 – 2011. . The research method used was analytic – descriptive and based on analysis of secondary data. The results of this research show that quantitative indicators of housing desirably proceeded from 1966 to 2011. Although the scope of the study in terms of housing and household density of residential units have had relatively favorable conditions, there is a distance in reaching the desirable conditions in other quantitative indicators (household members per room and residential unit). Furthermore, qualitative indicators of housing have come a long way from 45 years ago, but some housing units in urban areas are made from semi-durable and non-durable materials. Most housing units in urban areas of the country have exhausted their habitability and are in need of modernization and improvement. In terms of occupation, the property in urban areas of the country had an upward trend until 1986(68/98 per cent). The main reason for this being law enforcement of urban land and land transfer. However, from then to 2011 a downward trend occurred in the country which reached 56/57 percent in urban areas. The rate for Marivan was 53/94 percent and 56/34 percent in urban areas of Kurdistan Province. In addition, renting from 1986 to 2011 followed an upward trend (33/18 percent).Although the rate of ownership of property is different in different societies and high property ownership rates is not an indicator of favorable housing conditions, according to our cultural norms a decline in household ownership must be a sign of increased gap between social classes and low-income groups (particularly the first and fourth deciles) This is a manifestation of the effects of inefficient policies of the past, especially for low-income housing groups. Thus, index and housing standards should be flexible enough to meet the needs of users in different parts of the country to link with their cultural preferences and be based on preferences of residents.
Urban Planning
m s; j t; m ch
Volume 3, Issue 12 , November 2014, , Pages 19-32
Abstract
Despite the fundamental economic, social, political and technological transformations, urban planning process has not undergone any sensible change since 1968 to the present time and the role and position of planners and its prominent actor, i.e. the government, have remained invariant. A major part ...
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Despite the fundamental economic, social, political and technological transformations, urban planning process has not undergone any sensible change since 1968 to the present time and the role and position of planners and its prominent actor, i.e. the government, have remained invariant. A major part of this change has resulted from the viewpoint held by planners who see the planning process as a technical, physical and intellectual process. In the present study, using concepts such as “knowledge”, “reality”, “rationality”, “value”, and “policy” an attempt has been made to criticize the traditional planning process, which is the dominant process in Iran. This study, by introducing other alternatives of scientific knowledge and instrumental rationality and exhibiting some gaps in the robust framework of the reality emphasized in traditional planning, addresses the role of values, experience, and mentality of planners as well as policy and policy implementation employed by social activists in the planning process. Furthermore, it reviews the unbiased and value-free perceptions of traditional values. For this purpose, through interviewing the managing directors of the country’s largest consulting engineering companies, which are in charge of preparing designs in Iran, we have investigated their various mentalities, perceptions, and experiences about the forces and approaches influencing the planning process. The reason why we have chosen company directors instead of project managers or design experts is that directors are more involved in the interactions with different actors in the planning process. After conducting the interviews with 15 managing directors, the contents of the interviews were scripted and the results were applied to review the framework of traditional planning process. Since government, in contrast to society, holds all the powers and fulfills all the duties and is involved in almost all urban planning processes, by drawing five abstract states of planners’ positions (governmental planners, government-serving planners, independent planners, public-serving planners, and public planners) we have assumed that there is a distance between the two main sides of society (government and community) where planners find an angled position with these two elements of society. By defining this position, planners in the planning process determine their relations with each of the primary forces where the smaller the angle, the closer the relationships.
Urban Management
m k; m b
Volume 3, Issue 11 , August 2014, , Pages 37-48
Abstract
Increasing urbanization has created many problems and the administration and management of cities are faced with new challenges. These problems in third world countries are higher. Most of these problems are related to the political structure of the country. Therefore, citizen participation in urban ...
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Increasing urbanization has created many problems and the administration and management of cities are faced with new challenges. These problems in third world countries are higher. Most of these problems are related to the political structure of the country. Therefore, citizen participation in urban governance in these countries is more necessary. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme of Action has strategies for achieving shelter for all, and has also proposed a move for the proper management and sustainable development of cities. These guidelines, approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations at the end of the twentieth century, have been set and implemented. Political systems can be centralized or decentralized. Generally, a non-centralized political and spatial system has more credibility amongst people. For this reason, local governments are one of the most important indicators of political and spatial distribution of power. Good governance also emphasizes decentralized political and spatial structure. In contemporary Iran, the concept of good governance and urban literature is abundant, but less attention is given to implementation of the legal field. Good governance is defined as the participative process in public affairs and where there is participation of the public sector, the private sector, and the government. It is argued that good governance is very essential for the management of urban development. However, little attention is being paid to the principles and potentials of the relevant laws in this area. This study aims to emphasize the role of good governance in the formulation of Iran’s and Tehran’s urban development laws and regulations. The major objective of this study is to identify and explain the degree of conformity between Tehran’s and Iran’s urban development laws and regulations with the principles of good urban governance. This study is explorative, descriptive and applicative in nature. The main sources that were used to collect the data required for this research include: 1. Organizational Law and Islamic Council's Mayoral Elections 2. Municipalities Law 3. Municipal Finance Law 4. Strategic-Structural Plan (Master Plan) of Tehran 5. Tehran landscape blueprints 6. Strategic plan of Tehran's Council 7. Medium-term action plans of Tehran Municipality 8. Long-term action plan of Tehran Municipality 9. Framework and approaches of Medium-term Action Plan of Tehran Municipality 10. Strategies for the implementation of the mandate Tehran Municipality 11. Budget of Tehran Municipality This study employed the Delphi method in order to conform the content of Tehran’s and Iran’s urban development laws and regulations to urban good governance principles. This study suggests that there is a relative orientation between those two issues. The rules of urban development of Tehran city conform and relate with the principles of good governance in 250 cases. The principles of ‘accountability’, municipal development laws, guidelines, and Tehran’s Municipality budget are the most accommodating. In addition, all of the contents of this research are the principles of good governance for cities. The regulations adopted by the City Council of Tehran Municipality have greater compliance with the principles of good governance. However, this direction has been developed with the aim of achieving access to good governance and urban planning. Thus, if these rules are implemented correctly, they can have an important role in promoting good governance in the city. This issue requires further research in order to expand this field.
Urban Economy
Volume 1, Issue 3 , August 2012, , Pages 34-43
Abstract
Supply of suitable housing depends on market conditions, demand rate for it and government policies for allocation of space and facilities. In the worldwide, housing is an important determinant of quality of life. This paper has studied different ways of housing supply by governments in the world such ...
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Supply of suitable housing depends on market conditions, demand rate for it and government policies for allocation of space and facilities. In the worldwide, housing is an important determinant of quality of life. This paper has studied different ways of housing supply by governments in the world such as rent control, selective and subsidy housing, public housing, site and services approach, demolition and renovation, and enabling. This article is an applied research and its methodology is descriptive – analytical. We used the national socioeconomic and cultural development plans and the statistical data of the related organizations and analyzed housing sector of Iran considering the quantitative and qualitative goals and macro strategies. Based on our results and findings, First Plan has considered density of household in housing unit but has not cared about the organizing of informal settlements, worn tissues and increasing of building density. The Second Plan was concerned with worn tissues, increase of density and its main problem was increasing the individual housing. The Third plan has given special attention to low-income groups and its main challenge was paying not enough attention to the relationship between public and private purposes. The Fourth Plan has considered organizing of worn tissues and low-income housing (Mehr housing) that was an effective step towards social justice and supply of housing for low-income households. Finally, the Fifth Plan was prepared with emphasis on the goals of the Fourth Plan, patterns of Iranian- Islamic, Mehr housing, organizing of worn tissues and informal settlements and sustainable development.
Urban Sustainability
Naser Barakpur; Farnaz Mosannenzadeh
Volume 1, Issue 1 , March 2012, , Pages 41-60
Abstract
Nowadays, one of the governmental challenges throughout the world is energy efficiency in creating cities. In this context, land use planning and its tool (density, uses distribution, etc.) plays a vital role in reducing energy consumption in cities. Serving as one of the key players in the field of ...
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Nowadays, one of the governmental challenges throughout the world is energy efficiency in creating cities. In this context, land use planning and its tool (density, uses distribution, etc.) plays a vital role in reducing energy consumption in cities. Serving as one of the key players in the field of energy in the world, Iran has to apply this tool in order to establish energy efficiency in its cities. The main objective of this paper is to study and to compare the method of integrating energy consideration in land use planning regulations and urban development plans in Iran and U.K. It is a comparative study in which, first, the land use planning alternatives for energy consumption reduction in cities were explored through literature review. Thereafter, an analytical comparing between Iran and U.K. with reference to the legal framework of land use planning for reducing energy consumption in cities and the way of implementing these regulations in the development plans was carried out. Our results revealed that the land use planning role in reducing energy consumption in cities has been ignored, whereas, integrating energy consideration in land use planning can enhance the sustainability development of the Iran cities. Since there is no data on considering energy in land use planning in Iran cities, our findings can be used by the national planning public and governmental authorities in order to integrate the energy consideration in land use planning and urban development plans.