Urban Architecture
Ali Akbar Heidari; maliheh taghipour; maryam bagheri
Abstract
Highlights
People’s attendance of bazaars is one of the most important factors increasing the efficiency and prosperity of these places.
The permeability of the edges, especially in the entrance sections, is one of the most important factors affecting attendance in bazaars.
The quality of permeability ...
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Highlights
People’s attendance of bazaars is one of the most important factors increasing the efficiency and prosperity of these places.
The permeability of the edges, especially in the entrance sections, is one of the most important factors affecting attendance in bazaars.
The quality of permeability in the entrance section of the bazaar is affected by the three factors of accessibility, the quality of neighborhoods, and the spatial connectivity of the entrance and the lines leading thereto.
Introduction
The quality of permeability is a physical indicator that is significant in the formation of a successful place, especially in the field of public spaces. On the other hand, given that this research considers the issue of attendance of a traditional bazaar, the quality of permeability at the edges, especially the entrances and the rows leading to them, can play a significant role here. The entrance of a space is the first place where many of its features are discovered. Accordingly, the issue of quality of permeability is considered in this research as an independent variable, and its role in people’s presence in the space of a traditional bazaar is examined as a dependent variable. This concept of permeability has been proposed in the existing literature in three forms: neighborhood quality, spatial continuity, and accessibility.
Theoretical framework
According to the existing literature, the factors affecting permeability, especially in connection with urban contexts, can be examined in three areas, as follows.
- The quality of neighborhoods. The quality of neighborhoods in a spatial configuration means the functional compatibility of the uses that form that space so that the performance of one does not disturb or hinder that of another.
- Spatial continuity. Spatial continuity means the formal and functional connection of spaces with each other so that the environment is perceived by an external observer in a unified manner. This concept can be analyzed in an urban environment using indicators such as integration and connectivity.
- Accessibility. In the literature on architecture, the issue of accessibility can be examined in two areas: visual accessibility and physical accessibility. Visual accessibility means the ability to view a space from neighboring spaces. Physical access pertains to people’s ability to move within the space.
Methodology
The current research adopts a combination of the qualitative and quantitative methods in data analysis. In the data collection section, the methods of documentary study, direct field observation, and interview with businesses and bazaar users were used, and in the data analysis section, the content analysis method and the space syntax software were used.
In regard to the edges (independent variable), the three indicators of access quality (including physical access and visual access), spatial continuity, and the quality of neighborhoods were measured separately for each of the entrances. In the analysis of the quality of visual access, indicators were used such as the visibility of the entrances, the variety of uses in the bazaar that can be viewed from the entrance areas, and the amount of details on the space that can be viewed from the entrances. In the measurement of physical access, the degrees of enclosure and isolation of entrances in the bazaar were analyzed. In relation to the quality of neighborhoods, indicators such as the diversity and density of neighborhoods and the degree of their compatibility and interdependence were examined.
Results and discussion
No research has been conducted on the issue of attendance of the bazaar and the effect of the quality of permeability thereon, hence the attempt to answer the research questions about how the quality of permeability affects people’s attendance of the bazaar.
- How does visual access affect attendance in the bazaar?
The more visible the details from inside the bazaar to the user through its inputs, the more widely people choose those inputs to penetrate the bazaar and, therefore, the greater the attendance of the bazaar. The results of this research demonstrated that the difference in level between the passage and the space inside the market and the increase in the visible surface due to the presence of linear geometries along the lines leading to the entrances raises the range of visibility before entry into the bazaar space.
- How does physical access affect attendance in the bazaar?
The first feature for people to identify about the entrances is their visibility from the surrounding roads. If people can see inside the space before entering it, they can choose whether they want to enter the space or not.
The second factor effective on physical access to the bazaar is the users’ willingness to use different entrances. In some cases, this increases the attendance of the bazaar, and in others, it decreases people’s desire attend it.
- How does the quality of the neighborhood affect attendance in the bazaar?
The existence of diverse uses and their density in those respects provides the possibility of meeting a greater range of client needs, which ultimately increases their attendance. Moreover, because they complement each other, users increase related nearby users’ attendance. However, the necessary conditions concerning the quality of neighbors are compatible with one another. This means that when incompatible users are placed together, they prevent people from attending the space due to the nuisance that they cause, besides their negative effects on each other’s functions.
- How does spatial continuity at the entrances of the bazaar cause attendance thereof?
The degree of spatial continuity at the bazaar entrances can be evaluated using the two indices of integration and connectivity. The values of these two indicators are directly related to the geometric and spatial qualities of the inputs and the lines leading to them.
Conclusion
The most important results of the current research can be presented as follows.
- The quality of access to bazaar inputs is considered as the most important factor affecting permeability, thereby increasing bazaar attendance. This quality can be examined in the form of the two concepts of visual access and physical access.
- The quality of neighborhoods can increase attendance in the bazaar in the form of the compatibility of and dependence between the uses of different bazaar lines and their density and diversity.
- Spatial continuity at the entrances and the rows leading to them in the form of their geometric and spatial features (increasing the widths of the entrance and the rows leading thereto, connecting the entrance with public open spaces and main passages, using linear geometry, reducing the depths of the rows, and integrating and connecting the lines leading to the entrance with other spaces) can increase bazaar permeability and therefore its attendance.
