Urban Sustainability
Islam Karami; parisa mohamadhoseini
Abstract
Mehr housing developments typify the problem of increasing building density in modern urbanism, a state of affairs with manifold repercussions. The Mehr housing complexes in Ardabil consist stereotypically of apartment buildings tightly jammed together, without regard to every environmental and human ...
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Mehr housing developments typify the problem of increasing building density in modern urbanism, a state of affairs with manifold repercussions. The Mehr housing complexes in Ardabil consist stereotypically of apartment buildings tightly jammed together, without regard to every environmental and human aspect. As rather densely populated complexes and prospective accommodations for upcoming generations, they warrant serious attention in terms of social sustainability. It is indeed possible to make amends for the human and social aspects overlooked in the original designs by enhancing the physical environment. Hence, the present study explored the role of sociable public spaces in social sustainability of residential complexes, seeking to promote social identity and vitality in contemporary urban structures. The examined cases were three Mehr housing developments in Ardabil, namely Niayesh, Vahdat, and Andisheh. Our hypothesis stated that the presence of sociable public spaces at the concerned developments correlated significantly with their social sustainability. The adopted method combined qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the applied strategies included logical reasoning, comparison, and correlation. At first, documentary and analytical studies were embarked on to extract the facets and variables of social sustainability and sociability of the spaces. To measure the two concepts of “space sociability” and “social sustainability”, the designed models incorporated the spatial-physical components of the former and the human and social dimensions of the latter. Questionnaires designed with respect to the research components were distributed among the local residents. The variables of the two concepts and their correlation at the complexes were interpreted by analyzing the data from the questionnaires through one sample t-test and Pearson’s correlation using SPSS. Results of these analyses suggest that establishing sociable spaces will positively contribute to social sustainability of residential complexes, and that Andisheh exhibits relatively higher levels of the two concepts among the examined cases. The next step involved the analysis of spatial and physical facets of the public spaces of the complexes. The data resulting from the analysis of the questionnaires were related to the results of interviews and observations. The variables and environmental attributes pertaining to the sociability of public spaces of the residential complexes were then extracted and classified. The paper concludes by offering a series of solutions, including provision of sociable spaces such as green areas, children’s playgrounds, and commercial and cultural centers, allowing for proper physical-social sizes of the spaces, enhancing environmental welfare, and taking account of visual diversity, all of which will ensure sociability of public spaces at the residential complexes, thereby promoting social sustainability. Sociable places can be regarded as multi-purpose spaces that can accommodate various activities and appeal to different groups, thus intensifying human interactions. The physical-social size of a space is correlated with the sense of security, sense of affinity, and identification with the environment. Environmental welfare is related to being satisfied with the physical environment and to the desire for spending more time at and relishing the space, whereas visual variety makes the space appealing and inviting.
Urban Sustainability
Sina Razzaghi Asl; Farzaneh Khoshghadam
Volume 6, Issue 22 , May 2017, , Pages 59-74
Abstract
Urban authorities and residents of urban deteriorated areas have faced many problems including, among the most important, unstable social condition of these areas. Social problems are one of the most important issues in renovation of and intervention in these kind of urban fabrics. According to the literature, ...
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Urban authorities and residents of urban deteriorated areas have faced many problems including, among the most important, unstable social condition of these areas. Social problems are one of the most important issues in renovation of and intervention in these kind of urban fabrics. According to the literature, definitions of urban regeneration have evolved over time and now are strongly influenced by the concept of sustainability. In fact, intervening in urban deteriorated areas is quite a social issue. There are different approaches for intervention in urban deteriorated areas. Regeneration and its recent approach - urban renaissance - is considered as the newest concept for intervention in recent years. On the other hand, the dominant and recent view of urban regeneration is social sustainability. Therefore, the subject of social sustainability seems essential in the intervention with the social approach in urban deteriorated areas. This study tries to review the existing literature about social sustainability and then extract and analyze the key factors of social sustainability in deteriorated areas of Shiva Neighborhood in Tehran. The aim of this study is to examine social problems of deteriorated areas of the study area and evaluate the effective factors on improving social sustainability. This research is a descriptive survey in the context of library studies which uses SPSS to analyze data. The study is also a qualitative–quantitative research with an applied goal. The results of this study indicate that the most important indicators affecting social sustainability in deteriorated areas, in Shiva Neighborhood in particular, are sense of belonging, walkable neighborhood, vitality, security, supply of affordable housing, social participation, equitable distribution of resources and services, creating job opportunities, education, activity in the place, residents’ empowerment, environmental health, sense of satisfaction, free time, and satisfaction with income. These indicators were grouped in seven categories of equity, quality of life, social security, social interaction, social justice, social participation and social cohesion. These seven categories have respectively the most impact on improving social sustainability in deteriorated areas of Shiva Neighborhood. Equity represents the economic situation of residents. Based on the conditions of deteriorated areas, it seems reasonable that this factor is the most effective one. Despite the importance of this factor, its impact was negative and reduced social sustainability. Social security and social interaction were other factors having a negative impact on social sustainability after renovation in the neighborhood. Quality of life, social justice and social participation were the factors that improved social sustainability in this neighborhood. The impact factor of social cohesion shows that the measures taken have not been considerable in the eyes of the residents. Overall, based on the average of all factors, social sustainability increased after renovation in Shiva Neighborhood, but the amount of this increase was very low and required more serious efforts. It will be very effective to consider these factors in the future planning process of renovation in this neighborhood, an issue that will prevent behavioral, mental, occupational and identity disorders.
