Regeneration and revival of historical context
Reza Alishahi; Najma Esmailpoor
Abstract
Urban regeneration, despite the past decade’s consideration in Iran, has rarely been investigated comprehensively. Accordingly, this study examines the synthesis of the dimensions and components of urban regeneration in scientific research publications on urban planning during the 1390s and researchers' ...
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Urban regeneration, despite the past decade’s consideration in Iran, has rarely been investigated comprehensively. Accordingly, this study examines the synthesis of the dimensions and components of urban regeneration in scientific research publications on urban planning during the 1390s and researchers' attitudes towards it. This paper was conducted with a qualitative approach and the inductive reasoning method in three phases. The desk study method was used in order to extract the components and dimensions of urban regeneration. Afterward, related dimensions and components were identified and verified through the application of the content validity index in accordance with expert opinions. A systematic review was conducted in the second phase to select articles regarding urban regeneration. The content of these articles was analyzed using MaxQDA2020 and VOSviewer software. Finally, a Conceptual model was developed. As a result of the findings, the dimensions of society, economy, and culture, as well as the components of social participation, city and neighborhood economies, and cultural heritage, have received the greatest amount of attention and participation in the synthesis of urban regeneration research. However, the dimensions of environment, management, and law, as well as the components of laws and regulations and environmental pollutants, have received the least attention. According to the findings of the research, in the 1390's, two approaches of economic application of cultural heritage for the purpose of economic prosperity with the ultimate goal of social prosperity in the inefficient areas of the cities and taking advantage of the social potential of the urban areas in order to conduct urban regeneration received the most attention. Thus, a balanced approach should be adopted in order to increase the productivity of research by incorporating both new perspectives, such as paying attention to the capability of urban events as a concept linked to both. Aligning Iran's urban regeneration policies with theories like the Eventful Cities, and Iranshahr can enhance development success. This approach revitalizes urban spaces while preserving cultural and historical aspects, contributing to sustainable development and heritage preservation.
Regeneration and revival of historical context
maryam hematian dehkordi; Afsoon mahdavi; mohammad reza iravani
Abstract
Highlights:
Urban regeneration stands at the intersection of diverse urban policies, representing a pivotal strategic choice in advancing global urban development.
Non-physical elements, embodied in the form of social capital, can serve as both a tool and a catalyst for a renovation that is not only ...
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Highlights:
Urban regeneration stands at the intersection of diverse urban policies, representing a pivotal strategic choice in advancing global urban development.
Non-physical elements, embodied in the form of social capital, can serve as both a tool and a catalyst for a renovation that is not only more desirable but also widely accepted within the context of residents.
The influential factors contributing to the development of local community culture, encompassing semantic, physical, functional, and social dimensions, play a pivotal role in empowering residents, fostering trust, strengthening their sense of belonging, and ultimately ensuring the feasibility of urban regeneration in the central core of Shahrekord.
Introduction:
Urban regeneration, situated at the intersection of urban policies, represents a crucial strategic avenue for advancing global urban development. Analysis of the evolving trends in urban regeneration experiences underscores that success within urban areas hinges not solely on physical enhancements but also on social dimensions where residents actively participate in the regeneration process. This research aims to establish criteria for the feasibility of urban regeneration, with a specific focus on fostering the development of local community culture.
The findings of the research, particularly in the context of Shahrekord, highlight that the cultivation of local community culture in the central core translates into enhanced control over the living environment and its content. Consequently, this socio-economic transformation contributes to an improved Quality of Life (QoL). The four pivotal criteria—structure (encompassing both natural and artificial dimensions), meaning (in terms of identity, authenticity, and motivational role), activity (spanning economic, social, and cultural aspects), and social factors (such as cultural needs, trust, and hope)—emerge as influential elements shaping the development of local community culture in the context of urban regeneration.
Thus, a comprehensive approach is imperative, taking into account all cultural, economic, functional, and spatial components of the plan, as cultural elements and their indicators manifest across all the aforementioned dimensions.
Theoretical Framework:
Contrary to traditional approaches that focus solely on physical perspectives, this research recognizes the significance of metaphysical components—social assets, tools, and motivators—in achieving a more desirable and acceptable urban revitalization. The study challenges the one-dimensional (physical) approach prevalent in many Iranian urban regeneration efforts, emphasizing the need to involve residents in decision-making processes. In Shahrekord, the lack of coordination among organizations, neglect of residents' opinions, and indifference toward human structures have led to a spectrum of problems in the central core. The study aims to introduce and examine feasibility criteria for urban regeneration by investigating components influencing the development of local community culture, thereby leveraging the institutional capacity of the local culture sector for socio-political and socio-economic growth.
Methodology:
Ethnography, a qualitative approach delving into the social processes and mental nature of human life, serves as the research method for field studies. The study area, the central core of Shahrekord city, is characterized by shared behavioral, cognitive, and speech paradigms among local residents. Sixteen individuals from the local community were selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Ethnography allowed the researcher to understand shared patterns within the group. Themes/categories derived from previous research formed the basis for interview questions. The study population consisted of inhabitants in the central core, and themes were continuously revised and finalized through consistent comparison, resulting in ultimate concepts and themes.
Conclusion:
This paper explores the feasibility criteria for urban regeneration, emphasizing the development of local community culture in Shahrekord's central core. Urban regeneration, a multifaceted process, encompasses diverse strategies and planning policies. The research sheds light on interventions in Shahrekord, particularly the central core, highlighting deficiencies in residents' participation and urban regeneration education. The lack of trust between residents and the city management system, coupled with the absence of trust in residents' decision-making capabilities, impedes meaningful engagement. The research emphasizes the need for residents' participation in shaping their living environment, connecting it to residence and employment, which provide meaning to livelihood. Social and communicative participation, along with cultural mediation, enhances social ties, meets various human needs, and improves quality of life (QoL) and welfare. The development of local community culture in the central core enhances control over the living environment, leading to socioeconomic transformation and an elevated QoL. The identified criteria—structure, meaning, activity, and social factors—emphasize the importance of a comprehensive approach, considering cultural, economic, functional, and spatial components for successful urban regeneration.
Urban Management
khatere amiri; mohammad Masoud; darioush moradi chadegani; negin sadeghy; faramarz Safi-Esfahani
Abstract
Highlights- The e-empowerment process is effective in the promotion of citizen participation and urban regeneration of neighborhoods in the city of Isfahan, Iran suffering urban decline.- The use case diagram of the e-empowerment process of Isfahan residents in areas suffering urban decline shows ...
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Highlights- The e-empowerment process is effective in the promotion of citizen participation and urban regeneration of neighborhoods in the city of Isfahan, Iran suffering urban decline.- The use case diagram of the e-empowerment process of Isfahan residents in areas suffering urban decline shows the relationship between users and their activities.- Requirements engineering was used for provision of the use case diagram of Isfahan urban decline e-empowerment. IntroductionAreas suffering urban decline are involved with an intertwined combination of physical, social, and economic problems that intensify various dimensions of urban decline (including economic decline, social decline, physical decline, and environmental decline) and reduce the quality of life for residents.Thus, sufficient motivation is provided for urban management and planning systems to intervene in these areas. A new method of intervention is to apply the urban regeneration approach.Based on public-private partnership, this approach leads to regeneration of dynamic urban spaces, in order to sustain and improve the quality of urban life. Accordingly, urban regeneration has put the community empowerment process on the agenda in order to increase the level of citizen participation of the residents of these areas so that they can solve their problems.The community empowerment follows to increase the residents’ shares in decision-making for the living environment in interaction with decision-makers and politicians. With the development of the information and communication technology (ICT), the interaction between politicians and residents is facilitated. Therefore, this article seeks to provide the e-empowerment use case diagram for implementation of cybernetic space for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan.Theoretical frameworkThis article introduces the following three concepts.A: Areas suffering urban declineThese areas are places with worn-out urban infrastructure, service, and access, unable to meet the needs of their residents. Due to the low income of the residents of these areas and the insufficient motivation for investors, improvement and renovation is difficult to achieve in these areas. The decline in these areas includes economic, social, physical, and environmental aspects.B: Community empowerment in cybernetic spaceThe process of community empowerment seeks to increase residents’ control and the resulting collective gains.This process follows from the decentralization of power, and attempts to upgrade residents’ power of decision-making about their living environment. The capabilities of cybernetic space facilitate the implementation of community empowerment in this field, which is known as e-empowerment. It facilitates communication between citizens and decision-makers for participation with awareness.C: Use case diagramThe diagram of communication between users and their activities in cyberspace is based on the information and communication technology (ICT). This template is a visual representation of the process implementation using the actions, tasks, and activities of the users of that process, which shows the hierarchy of activities in order to solve a problem, produce a product, or provide a type of service to a target population.MethodologyThis research is conducted in four stages, as follows.A. Analysis of the severity of urban decline in its four types in Isfahan, using the text analysis method (involving texts derived from programs and reports concerning the approvals of areas suffering urban decline).B. Requirements elicitation, including the following:a) analysis of the stakeholders involved in the regeneration of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan, using the power-benefit matrix method, which utilizes a structured questionnaire for professionals.b) introduction of a community e-empowerment process particular to residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan and use of the social survey method based on behavior measurement and Likert scale measurement, utilizing a structured questionnaire for residents.c) introduction of the implementation mechanism of the community e-empowerment process for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan using expert panel methods and interviews (involving questionnaires without a special structure for experts).C. Requirements analysis using expert panel methods and interviews (involving questionnaires without a special structure for experts).D. Presentation of the use case diagram’s process of community e-empowerment, dedicated to residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan using the visual paradigm software.Discussion and findingsThe findings demonstrate that an appropriate e-empowerment process for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan involves the steps of e- education) with the characteristics of e-empowerment(, e-learning, awareness, e-consultation, and e-involvement. The effective users in this process include residents, facilitating experts, technical experts, instructors, support experts, and decision-makers.ConclusionUsers of the e-empowerment process (including residents, facilitating experts, technical experts, instructors, support experts, and decision-makers) communicate with each other in cybernetic space within the framework of a use Case diagram by performing the following activities and processes:A- participation and membership in virtual groups and communitiesB- going through the stages of community e-empowerment (teaching the empowerment process, assessing the skills of citizens, holding awareness-raising sessions, establishing and enhancing communications and interactions, creating a spirit of demand, and undertaking responsibility)C- information and mutual opinion announcement D- provision of decision-making skills and fundamentals.AcknowledgmentThis article is Retrieved from the Ph.D. Thesis in the field of urban planning entitled "The application of cybernetic space capacities to design community empowerment model urban decay areas Isfahan " by the first author with the guidance of the second author and the third author The fourth and fifth have been defended in the Islamic Azad University Isfahan (khorasgan) Branch.
Urban Planning
majid rousta; mohamad Soleimani; mozafar sarafi; mojtaba rafiyan
Abstract
Highlights
- Improvement of residents’ quality of life
- Scale in urban regeneration programs and plans
- Unorganized, poor urban neighborhoods
- Statuses of urban regeneration projects in Iran and impact of project efficiency and residents’ quality of life
Introduction
One ...
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Highlights
- Improvement of residents’ quality of life
- Scale in urban regeneration programs and plans
- Unorganized, poor urban neighborhoods
- Statuses of urban regeneration projects in Iran and impact of project efficiency and residents’ quality of life
Introduction
One of the most important challenges in today’s metropolises is the existence of unhealthy, poor urban neighborhoods in the peripheries. A series of regeneration policies and plans have sought to meet such a challenge over the twentieth century to provide a better quality of life for residents of such impoverished urban spaces. Such measures have hardly been successful, however. This study has assumed that a major reason for such failures has been the lack of concern for scale in urban regeneration plans and schemes. Accordingly, two main questions have been raised here. The first pertains to the reason why the concept of scale should lie at the heart of an urban regeneration plan and to the way in which such a focus can improve plans and upgrade the quality of life in an urban residence. The second question concerns the status of urban regeneration based on the criteria and indicators considered in this study and the effects it can have on project efficiency and target residents’ quality of life.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of this study has been set only to extract the indicators and criteria of the survey (questionnaire) and to measure the quality of life in the target samples. Therefore, the intellectual approaches of sustainable urban regeneration, right scale theory, expectation-efficiency model, sustainable place-making, and collision effectiveness theory have been considered in this research simply as theoretical approaches supporting the survey. However, the arguments made in these approaches and the set of controversies that can arise about each along with the relationships between them go far beyond the references cited in this article. After all, the main components of the questionnaire for assessment of the quality of life in the target samples include the theoretical approach of the right scale, providing the required coordination between the elements, the theoretical approach of collision effectiveness, providing effectiveness, the theoretical approach of sustainable place-making, affecting target residents’ quality of life, and the theoretical approach of expectation-efficiency, affecting satisfaction.
Methodology
The present applied research has been designed as a systematic logical plan seeking to maximize scientific validity in the definitions, criteria, indicators, procedures, and methods of data collection and analysis and in the information and extraction and inference of the findings. Two contextual methodologies have been adopted to analyze the concept of scale, along with a survey-data methodology used to measure the quality of life. The data and information sources include censuses and questionnaires, library documents, programs and designs, and techniques of analysis, including correlation and regression (used to measure the quality of life), and meta-analysis (used to identify the scale). A set of qualitative (subjective) and quantitative (objective) criteria has been extracted in accordance with the theoretical framework of the research. The indicators and variables extracted from theoretical approaches and global and Iranian experiences have finally been used to compile a questionnaire, the descriptive and inferential results of which have been presented in the next step of the research.
Results and Discussion
The results obtained for the first question of the research demonstrate that the approaches should be implemented as local small-scale regeneration projects operated in regional integration, unlike previous approaches, in which national (government) programs and projects have been implemented as large-scale renovation projects. In addition, the concept of scale is generally used today to refer to the spatial, temporal, quantitative, or analytical dimension. Scale is also a determining factor in pattern recognition, phenomenon explanation, result generation, and program and plan optimization for regeneration and achievement of satisfaction and efficiency.
The results obtained for the second research question indicate the significance of the correlations between the number, initial energy, and locations of urban regeneration projects in all the sample cities and their impacts on target residents’ quality of life. Given the importance of this relationship (correlation) and fulfillment of the requirements for presentation of the prediction model in this field, a multivariate regression model has been proposed. The obtained model indicates that the factors of projects, initial energy and orientation can predict how target urban residents’ quality of life is affected in the present study.
Conclusion
Finally, what distinguishes this research from similar studies in the literature is the distinct practical outputs that it has presented in the field of urban planning as well as the focus beyond the concept of scale in its traditional sense, which has disturbed its meaning. The research findings challenge the current attitudes of urban planners and designers towards sustainable urban regeneration policies, emphasizing the significance of holistic approaches in the definition of urban place-making projects. The need has been defined not only from a physical point of view, as in Makower (2014), in the recognition of the urban scale but also from a multidisciplinary perspective, with an emphasis on socio-economic and physical approaches in the three layers of project relationships, level, and size for improvement of citizens’ quality of life and realization of their satisfaction with life in places. It seems that expansion and enrichment of the findings of this research in the field of urban planning and design requires further research, refining, for example, the concept of scale at the place level and effective socio-cultural relationships on the place formation continuum and identifying the appropriate level and effective economic relationships on the continuum.
Urban Planning
Mohammad Mehdi Azizi; Bahare Bahra
Abstract
Highlights In the process of urban regeneration, the establishment and strengthening of decision-making should be through evaluation. The article has tried to achieve a generalizable structure for evaluation after the implementation of flagship development at neighborhood scale. In flagship development ...
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Highlights In the process of urban regeneration, the establishment and strengthening of decision-making should be through evaluation. The article has tried to achieve a generalizable structure for evaluation after the implementation of flagship development at neighborhood scale. In flagship development at the scale of neighborhood, more important notice should be given to the residential parameter. Introduction. Urban development through development of internal neighborhoods is an attempt to restore urban life to the deteriorated areas of cities. In order to facilitate this process, planning and implementation of flagship development has been considered as one of the policies used for urban neighborhood regeneration and provision of the requirements for the residents’ presence and concern for different dimensions of development.Regeneration of the historical and deteriorated areas in cities has been addressed in the recent literature on urban planning worldwide. Inefficiency is a major problem in historical and deteriorated urban areas, where automatic update and change is no longer possible.As in many other countries, the current process of extension of deteriorated urban areas in Iran indicates that problems will be complicated if no precautionary measures are taken, and no appropriate policies or operating plans are adopted.Implementation of flagship development has been considered as a solution.A main purpose of flagship development is to help achieve urban regeneration goals, an approach taken up as a comprehensive strategy for making positive changes in a place with signs of deterioration. This strategy is aimed at quality improvement, with integrated economic, social, and physical goals. Flagship development is applied in order to improve a place that is in the process of decaying and deteriorating, and its advocatesare agreed that an urban area will not achieve regeneration without such projects, since it causes a series of reactions that will lead to regeneration of the urban fabric. On the other hand, it is not the case that we hope to achieve development over a vast urban area simply by relying on this project, as many projects all around the world have failed to achieve their main purpose, i.e. to regenerate a decaying fabric. Theoretical Framework. Evaluation is possible throughout the urban regeneration process, from the stage of problem identification to the implementation of projects and the review of the decision-making process. Through presentation of mobility and development indicators, therefore, the present study has developed into an appropriate, generalizable structure for assessment of the impact of flagship development and catalyst projects after implementation at the neighborhood scale. It evaluates the effects of an example of these projects in the Gowdal Mosalla neighborhood in the historical city of Yazd, Iran. The theoretical framework of the research involves three main parameters based on the overall literature and practical experience: the physical parameter, the residential parameter, and the activity parameter. The activity parameter includes the indicators of dependency burden, percentage of active population, percentage of commercial use, active commercial use, employment rate, and men’s rate of immigration. The physical parameter includes the indicators of access to infrastructure, access to parking space, population density, residential renovation, percentage of non-arid land, sustainable buildings, new buildings, percentage of administrative use. The residential parameter includes the indicators of percentage of indigenous population, percentage of tenancy, active housing, single-family housing, home access to primary schools, access to local parks, access to sports venues, youth population, number of students, level of education, and coefficient of residence. Methodology. A research method based on the quantitative methodology, regression analysis was used in this study to analyze the effects of each indicator on each factor, and the matrix of impact assessment, known as Leopold Matrix, was used for evaluation after the implementation of the flagship development and the neighborhood regeneration. The final results were obtained after 25 evaluation indicators pertaining to urban regeneration and flagship development were extracted from the established overall literature and practical experience, and secondary data on 93 urban blocks of the Gowdal Mosalla neighborhood were analyzed in SPSS 21. Results and Discussion. The research findings demonstrate that the project performed at the Faculty of Arts and Architecture of Yazd has the greatest effects on the physical parameter, followed by the residential parameter and, eventually, the activity parameter at the scale of the Gowdal Mosalla neighborhood, and it can be approved as a positive flagship development through provision of modification options. The results indicate the closest relationships between the indicator of native quality and the residential status of the fabric, between the indicator of access to services and the status of the residential environment, and between the indicators of population at the age of activity and percentage of commercial land use and the activity and economic status of the neighborhood. Population density, administrative level, and the stability of buildings affect the mobility and physical development of the neighborhood. Conclusion. In future planning, it is necessary to consider indicators that focus on improvement of the residential parameter, especially through consolidation of the existing indigenous population and absorption of the young population. Moreover, the extracted theoretical framework will be effective for planning flagship developments and evaluating them in future practice and research.
Urban Management
Andishe Ariana; Gholamreza Kazemian; Mahmoud Mohammadi
Abstract
Conflicts between urban regeneration stakeholders prevent full utilization of their participation capacities in areas with urban decline, and plans have not been fully realized as a result of conflicts since participation is a key element in urban regeneration. The main purpose of this study was to present ...
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Conflicts between urban regeneration stakeholders prevent full utilization of their participation capacities in areas with urban decline, and plans have not been fully realized as a result of conflicts since participation is a key element in urban regeneration. The main purpose of this study was to present the conflict management model of urban regeneration stakeholders in Iran based on institutional theory and collaborative governance. In a case study, the Hemmat-abad neighborhood in the city of Isfahan, Iran was considered according to the history of several measures taken and plans proposed for renovation and improvement of the distressed areas and the failure of the projects so far. Stakeholder conflict management can balance disagreements and conflicts between stakeholders of urban regeneration and lead to interaction, partnership, and collaboration among them, providing creativity and effectiveness and improving the implementation processes of urban regeneration projects. This article aimed to present a model for conflict management of urban regeneration stakeholders in Iran based on institutional theory and collaborative governance using the method of qualitative content analysis for the Hemmat-abad neighborhood. The components of the proposed conceptual model were presented through an investigation of the foundations of institutional theory and basic concepts including urban regeneration, stakeholder conflict management, and collaborative governance. Then, the proposed model was tested and analyzed for the Hemmat-abad neighborhood using the method of qualitative content analysis. For this purpose, the transcripts of the interviews made with the key stakeholders and the documents on reconstruction of the neighborhood were used after identification of the key stakeholders and their main conflicts. Finally, the conflict management model of urban regeneration stakeholders in regard to Hemmat-abad was derived. For presentation of the proposed model, the main stakeholders were classified using the power-interest matrix. After the identification of the key stakeholders, the types of conflict (cognitive conflicts, conflicts of objectives or interests, normative conflicts, and conflicts of relationships) between them were specified, along with the status of each in the intervention management process for regeneration of the Hemmat-abad neighborhood, to suit different conflict management styles (competition, collaboration, compromise, and avoidance). According to this model for Hemmat-abad, identified conflicts in accordance with the collaborative style held the highest priority to enter the proposed management model due to the lack of experience in the competition management strategy. A collaboration cycle could thus be established at the prescribed stage. In this model, three collaborative processes were used, including involvement and principled participation, capacity for joint action, and shared motivation using conflict resolution techniques, face-to-face dialogue in particular. In this case, dialogue was utilized as negotiation in order to establish the four components of trust-building, legitimacy, understanding, and common commitment with respect to the subject of conflict, leading to consensus between the conflicting parties. Thus, decision-making for achievement of a win-win situation means to meet the demands and expectations of both parties of the conflict. With effective conflict management between stakeholders, the proposed model was found to play an effective role in capacity-building and enhancement of the efficiency of the Hemmat-abad neighborhood renovation plan.
Urban Sustainability
Ahad Nejad Ebrahimi; Nastaran Najdaghi
Abstract
There are some problems in the historic fabric that eclipse values of these sites in cities. Sustainable urban regeneration approach is the best approach to solve these problems. Due to the nature of this approach and the intervention platform, the role of education must be clarified in this process. ...
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There are some problems in the historic fabric that eclipse values of these sites in cities. Sustainable urban regeneration approach is the best approach to solve these problems. Due to the nature of this approach and the intervention platform, the role of education must be clarified in this process. This study was conducted with the aim to determine the effectiveness of education on urban regeneration. At first, the viewpoints of experts were collected by Delphi technique and then a consensus was reached on the positive impact of education on residents. Afterwards, the women living in Sang-e-Siah neighborhood were chosen as the statistical population to assess the viewpoints of residents. This study is an applied research employing the descriptive and analytical methods. The main objective is to elucidate the effectiveness of education for women living in the Sang-e-Siah neighborhood in Shiraz on sustainable urban regeneration. The main question is “How much effective is the education of the culture of citizenship, preservation of historic heritage, vocational skills, and environmental protection on successful implementation of urban regeneration plans?” Data was collected through questionnaire, interview, and field study. T-Test and one-way ANOVA were used to assess the factors’ effectiveness. The results show that there is a significant positive relationship between women education and sustainable urban regeneration. Women have selected as the target population because of their higher presence in the neighborhood during the day and their higher impact on the education of children. The data collected from the study population was used to clarify the effect of education on the implementation of urban regeneration plans. Experts’ opinions and the views of women living in the neighborhood were compared. According to experts’ opinions, educating residents is the most effective approach of education-oriented urban regeneration with such effective components as social, physical, environmental and economic factors. However, based on the views of women living in the neighborhood, the most effective factors on women education in order of importance are environmental, social, physical and economic factors. As the mean value of t statistic was more than 3 for all the four factors, it is concluded that the effect of women education on all the four factors is above average. Also, research findings indicate that differences in individual characteristics of respondents can change the impact of sustainable urban regeneration programs with age being the most effective factor. It is therefore suggested that educating residents will be set as the objective of sustainable urban regeneration plans as a pivotal element of urban planning. In addition, to develop the theoretical approach, it is suggested that residents’ education will be classified according to different age groups. Finally, it is recommended that the impact of education on urban regeneration process will be measured by determining the feedback from educated subjects.
Urban Planning
Sajjad Fallah Zadeh; Farzin Mahmoudi Pati
Volume 4, Issue 15 , August 2015, , Pages 5-16
Abstract
An urban regeneration project is defined as a series of actions determined to accomplish urban regeneration aims that lead to a reduction of the problems of an area through the improvement of socio-economic, physical and environmental conditions (Roberts & Sykes, 2000; Yu & Lee, 2012). "Today, ...
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An urban regeneration project is defined as a series of actions determined to accomplish urban regeneration aims that lead to a reduction of the problems of an area through the improvement of socio-economic, physical and environmental conditions (Roberts & Sykes, 2000; Yu & Lee, 2012). "Today, urban regeneration is one of key principles in act of planning and it is beyond the urban renewal, urban redevelopment or urban rehabilitation processes because of its longer-term and strategic approaches and its socioeconomic goals beside physical ones" (Tarkay, 2010; 22). In the context of participating actors and stakeholders, the transition of urban regeneration policies has shown that from the 1950s to the beginning of the 21st century, in each decade, the policies had a tendency toward cross-sector partnerships amongst private sector, public sector and community. From 1990s until the present participatory approach has dominated, local authorities have been empowered and coalition amongst the main actors and stakeholders has been enhanced (Roberts & Sykes, 2000; Tsenkova, 2002; McDonald et al, 2009). In fact, participation, strategic planning and sustainability form a triangle and provide a basis for actions in urban regeneration. In other words, participation (public, inter-organizational and participation among organizations, people and other stakeholders), strategic planning (combating urban decline, problem solving and involvement of all stakeholders) and taking into consideration sustainability goals (socio-economic, environmental and sustainability of acts in planning) are the main elements in urban regeneration (Nourian and Ariana, 2013). The essence of urban regeneration projects is very different from other urban development projects due to their complexity, in particular from the perspective of uncertainties because there are various actors and stakeholders such as local government, private developers, public organization and local communities who are involved in planning of these projects. For example, it is possible when one policy needing actors' participation is running, then several conflicts can occur amongst stakeholders due to the complexity of relationships. The results of these conflicts will increase costs, lowering efficiency and delaying implementation schedule (Carley, 2000; Yu & Lee, 2012). One of the complexities of participatory urban regeneration projects is to bring the key actors and stakeholders together to participate. This will need cooperation between local government, public organizations, private developers and local residents (Carley, 2000; Ball and Maginn, 2005). Therefore, one of the main reasons for the failure of urban regeneration projects is the occurrence of conflicts of interest amongst various key stakeholders in order to implement its participatory-oriented policies of the project. To this end, the present research seeks to assess participatory policies of an urban regeneration project and then prioritizing them based on the rate of possible conflicts-risk among stakeholders via offering a method of risk assessment. This method is a combination of FMEA and VIKOR methods in fuzzy environment with a proposed process. Applying this synthesis method to assess five participatory policies has shown that, based on the Q index, the low conflict-risk policies are desirable and they can be prioritized for implementation. Additionally, based on the Q index, the high conflict-risk policies are undesirable and they need to be corrected. Consequently, the combined method has been shown that the projects or the policies facing less risk can be prioritized for implementation.
