Urban Planning
esmaiil zarghami; abdolhamid ghanbaran; pooria saadati vaghar
Abstract
Lean construction has attracted plenty of attention during the past decade for provision of housing to the lower class. An important issue that has always appealed to large numbers of architecture and urban construction and planning researchers as post-planning assessments is to what extent and in what ...
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Lean construction has attracted plenty of attention during the past decade for provision of housing to the lower class. An important issue that has always appealed to large numbers of architecture and urban construction and planning researchers as post-planning assessments is to what extent and in what aspects the constructed condominiums satisfy their inhabitants once completed and utilized. Thus, useful suggestions can be made to decision-makers and planners of such projects for enhancement of the quality of life in the condominiums through identification of their strengths and weaknesses. An example of these lean construction projects is Mehr Housing, designed and implemented to meet the need for housing among the middle and lower classes of the Iranian society. It needs to be investigated, however, how successful the project has been, and to what extent it has satisfied the residents. Given the great diversity in the design of these condominiums in the city of Hamadan (in that some are enclosed, and others are connected to urban areas), Iran, little research has been focused on Mehr Housing. Therefore, the present research investigated three enclosed and unenclosed Mehr condominiums in Hamadan by focusing on the physical and spatial components governing such condominiums. These included the Ghadir, Farhangiyan, and Andishe (Kuy Reza) condominiums. Most global experiences suggest that the more favorable housing conditions that are expected in enclosed condominiums are not observed. This formed the basis of the research, a descriptive-analytical study in terms of the methodology adopted in the literature review and theoretical framework. ANOVA (with the Bonferroni method), independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and linear regression were used for data analysis. The results demonstrated that there were significant differences in average satisfaction between the three neighborhoods, with the Madani neighborhood exhibiting the highest average satisfaction, followed by the Beheshti and Andishe neighborhoods, in that order. A prioritization of the physical and spatial components effective on residential satisfaction in the three condominiums also suggested that environmental health was highly effective in enclosed condominiums, accompanied by amenities, additional facilities, and flexibility. Furthermore, the results obtained from the investigation of the relationships between satisfaction with architectural components and individual, demographic, and residential components demonstrated that there were no significant relationships in any of the three neighborhoods between satisfaction on the one hand and age, gender, or academic degree on the other. However, the neighborhood factor (which distinguished enclosed and unenclosed neighborhoods) exhibited significance, where total satisfaction was generally higher in enclosed condominium residents, confirming the main hypothesis of the research.
Urban Planning
gholamreza malekshahi; Amer Nikpour; Sanaz Habibi
Abstract
IntroductionSatisfaction with the residential environment is an important factor for attaining life satisfaction. One of the most important measures of the Iranian state is the provision of housing for low and middle income classes in cities through the Mehr Housing Project. It seems that the policy ...
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IntroductionSatisfaction with the residential environment is an important factor for attaining life satisfaction. One of the most important measures of the Iranian state is the provision of housing for low and middle income classes in cities through the Mehr Housing Project. It seems that the policy behind this project paid particular attention to quantitative aspects of housing rather than its social and economic characteristics. The Mehr Housing Project is the biggest national housing plan which needs to be studied in terms of its outcomes due to its broad and new character in Iran. The present research aims to investigate and compare the satisfaction level of the residents of the state-initiated andself-owned Mehr houses in Amol. Methodology The research methodology was based on descriptive and analytical approaches and the required data was collected via field survey and secondary documents. The number of samples was determined using Cochran formula to be 253. Due to data abnormality, nonparametric tests were applied to analyze the residents’ satisfaction. Also, the binomial test was used to investigate and identify the satisfaction level with both state-initiated and self-owned Mehr houses. The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to compare the satisfaction level between state-initiated and self-owned Mehr housing project. Finally, Friedman’s test was used to rank the satisfaction level of residents. Amol state Mehr housing, with 546 households, is located in Hezarsangar Avenue, Amol, Iran.These complexes were constructed by 4 different cooperative companies. In addition, there are 3 other self-owned Mehr housing complexes, includeing the Paniz complex with 64 units and Pahlevanzadeh complex with 64 units, both located on the Taaleb-e Amoli avenue, and Royal-Roz complex with 182 units located on the Mirzahashem-e Amoli boulevard. The socio-economic condition, landscape and access in the self-owned Mehr housing is better than that in the state Mehr hosing.Cochran’s method was used to determine the sample size. Eventually, 253 households(153 households from the state Mehr hosing and 100 households from self-owned Mehr housing)were interviewed. Due to data abnormality, nonparametric tests were used to analyze the residents’ satisfaction. The applied methods include the binomial, Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests. Results and discussionIn this article, we tried to evaluate the objective and subjective factors that affect residents’ satisfaction with the state and self-owned Mehr hosing. The results show that the satisfaction level is low in all the housing components, the minimum satisfaction level being associated with the facilities, visibility and landscape. In Mehrself-owned housing, a dissatisfaction is observed with the components of facilities, visibility and landscape. As for the other components, given that the significance level was 0.05, the satisfaction or dissatisfaction level with any of the components was not significant. However, the degree of satisfaction with Mehr self-owned housing is relatively higher than that of the state.According to the results, Mehr housing complexes do not meet the expectations of residents. It can thus be argued that certain quantitative aspects along with the apperance of the houses have been prioritized in planning the construction and implementation of the Mehr housing project. The results are consistent with previous research results for mostcomponents. As a result, neglecting the quality, needs and satisfaction of residents has led to dissatisfaction with Mehr housing project. Therefore, managers and planners need to review the objectives and receive feedback from residents. Conclusion In providing housing for low-income groups, quality improvement, particularly in the area of the quality of physical space, the provision of educational, health and commercial services, the provision of sports equipment, playgrounds and greenery, the reinforcement of public transport and landscaping are necessary and effective on the satisfaction of residents. It is thus suggested to develop some strategies to achieve the above objectives for the Mehr housing complexes in Amol.The culture-led urban regeneration and cultural tourism are two sides of a coin in the renovation of valuable urban areas. The first is a comprehensive process for saving the deteriorated urban areas of the city from the destruction of physic and activity, and the latter is the most effective way of promoting people’s participation, culture and art and mobilizing social and cultural forces for old urban areas. Culture-led urban regeneration is one of the most recent approaches to sustainable urban regeneration, which, after many years of experience, has proved its legitimacy not only as a theoretical approach, but also as a practical strategy for the modernization and improvement of the old neighborhoods. The contribution of the cultural and human heritage of valuable neighbors to the process of regeneration can be realized because the local economy and related businesses would be supported through tourism development and tourists’ interest in such neighborhoods. Therefore, the culture-led urban regeneration through tourism development can be considered as one of the most promising solutions for the sustainable regeneration of old towns.When tourism is considered as way of rehabilitation of the underlying culture, culture-based tourism is clearly intended. Cultural tourism is defined as a type of tourism whose main purpose is to spread the horizons of knowledge through the discovery of artistic heritage or architecture of a land. This article investigates the interaction of the two in the framework of strategic planning of cultural tourism development in the old fabric of Rasht, which covers the Zahedan and Sagharisazan neighborhoods. The research method is descriptive-analytic, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative tools, including a questionnaire, for data collection. The internal and external factors are evaluated through a panel of 30 local experts, including experts from the Municipality and Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department. The sampling method was snowball sampling due to the uncertainty of the population.The results show that, despite having its own cultural resources, the old fabric of Rasht has not been able to use local resources due to the weakness of the cultural tourism infrastructure and the lack of creativity in the use of art and culture in the process of culture-led urban regeneration.Prioritized strategies, executive policies and action plans were developed for mobilizing cultural and artistic sources in developing cultural tourism while actively protecting cultural heritage and identity simultaneously. Creating new and different tourist attractions through reviving ritual traditions, improving historic buildings by planning attractive activities for tourists and pedestrinization of Bazar-Khahar-e- Imam –Zarjub are among the most prioritized strategies designed for cultural-led urban regeneration through urban tourism in the old fabric of Rasht. Besides, the results of this article show that the plan for tourism development in the Iranian historical neighborhoods should be a long-term plan that prioritizes the provision of infrastructure and changes in short-term views towards urban management.
Urban Planning
Mojtaba Rafieian; shiva Ajilian; Aref Ahgasafari
Volume 5, Issue 19 , August 2016, , Pages 27-36
Abstract
Objectives: Housing has always been considered a need in different societies.This need more than its individual aspects, is considered a collective need. With the advent of the industrial revolution which was accmanied by unprecedented population growth and increasing urbanization , the issue of providing ...
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Objectives: Housing has always been considered a need in different societies.This need more than its individual aspects, is considered a collective need. With the advent of the industrial revolution which was accmanied by unprecedented population growth and increasing urbanization , the issue of providing housing for people in need who were sent to cities in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution was introduced and by the expansion of its dimensions became more important to include in government intervention programmes. . Thus, the housing problem, as a common issue in most of the world’s cities, is how to connect the creation and planning of cities with different economic, political, social and cultural contexts. Nowadays, the limited resources of the government and rapid increase in demand for housing do not provide housing for all members of society. Hence, the framework of national development goals, especially the prioritized economic and social goals specify the housing share of low-income groups. In Iran, different policies have been planned and executed. One of these policies is the “Mehr Housing Plan”. Despite being the greatest and most highly discussed national plan proposed for solving the housing problems of low-income groups, it has caused social problems and residents’ dissatisfaction. “Mehr Housing” project focuses attention on determining role of the land price in housing prices and the action to eliminate this variable, controlling the price of housing in this way, and facilitating access of vulnerable people to suitable housing, but it has ignored a set of key issues. Therefore, the main question is how to improve residents’ satisfaction and/or what principles to employ in the policies for satisfying housing of low-income groups in order to improve residents’ satisfaction and to prevent problems in these districts. Therefore, this research aims at analyzing the policies for planning low-income group housing (Mehr Housing Plan) by measuring residential satisfaction in the Mehregan Town, Mashhad and identifying its principles, sizes and variables.Therefore, surveyswere conducted according to fundamental research method and inductive and deductive analysis. Questionnaires were then used for conducting an opinion poll on the variables to achieve residential satisfaction in the Mehr Housing Plan. The questionnaire data was analyzed using factor analysis methods, regression analysis, and structural equations modeling. LISREL 8.5, PSS, and Smart PLS softwares were used.
Findings :a “holistic view” was introduced as one of the major principles in the residential satisfaction in the Mehr Housing Plan which prevented concentration on only some parts of the problems using an integrated view to problems. On the other hand, “community-driven development” allows taking advantage of local community assets and social capitals through the presence of residents in all Mehr Housing processes. This way, the measures of Mehr Housing become close to the residents’ views and finally their satisfaction is gained. In other words, the “holistic view” and community-driven development” principles are among the major policies of Mehr Housing policies; if they are considered as a basis for the measures of Mehr Housing along with “process-orientation” principle, residents will be satisfied with its outcome.
Results: Finally, the model for communication method of the principles are depicted and proposed. Finally, the influence of “community-driven development” based on the principle of a “holistic view” is discussed.
