Islamic- Iranian Cities
Abbas Ghaffari; Morteza Mirgholami; Bita Shafaei
Abstract
Highlights- Spaces such as Rasteh-Bazaars, which are identical in form and material, exhibit consistent acoustical behavior.- By decreasing sound intensity, sonic comfort does not necessarily increase.- In tranquil urban spaces, with the occurrence of "Difference in SPL", the tranquility and quality ...
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Highlights- Spaces such as Rasteh-Bazaars, which are identical in form and material, exhibit consistent acoustical behavior.- By decreasing sound intensity, sonic comfort does not necessarily increase.- In tranquil urban spaces, with the occurrence of "Difference in SPL", the tranquility and quality of the soundscape decreases.- Simply following the standard values of SPL and RT is not enough for sonic comfort.- The environmental characteristics and qualities of spaces such as geometric proportions have a direct effect on pleasantness of the soundscape. IntroductionSoundscape is a subfield of urban studies that deals with the quality of sound heard and perceived in urban spaces. Numerous characteristics affect the quality of urban space soundscapes, and the acoustic behavior of the space is thus an influential factor which depends on its environmental characteristics. The acoustic behavior of the space indicates that the physical body of any environment amplifies or attenuates sound waves in the face of sound. As the environment body intensifies sound once created in space, sound waves stay in the environment longer, and increase sound intensity. Conversely, when the acoustic behavior of space attenuates, sound waves are destroyed in space shortly after created by sound sources. In this case, the intensity of the sound heard in the environment can be relatively stable, provided that the audio sources are constant.Theoretical FrameworkThe amount of time it takes sound to drop to 60 decibels after created by a sound source is called Reverberation Time (RT), which is measured in seconds. In soundscape studies, Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is also a physical component in decibels, which is used to measure sound loudness. Thus, Sound Pressure Level and Reverberation Time are two components that can specify the acoustic behavior of a space. In addition to acoustic assessments, soundscape studies address how people perceive the sounds around them and how desirable and pleasant they are. In fact, acoustic measurements are a tool that can help to create the desired soundscape, because sonic comfort depends to a large extent on the SPL. However, what greatly matters in soundscape studies is the perceptual loudness and subjective sonic comfort. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the factors affecting these subjective components. The perceptual quality of urban soundscape is specified through subjective assessments.MethodologyThis research discussed the effect of environmental features on the acoustic behavior of Rasteh-Bazaars, in Tabriz Grand Bazaar, and on the quality of the soundscape therein. Based on the objective evaluations, the acoustic behavior of the Rasteh-Bazaars and the factors affecting it were specified, and the desirability of the Rasteh-Bazaars soundscape was clarified using subjective evaluations. Objective assessments were made to specify the acoustic behavior of the Rasteh-Bazaars based on the measurements of SPL and RT. The B&K 2260 set of equipment and ACAM100 acoustic camera were used to measure RT and SPL. Both of these values were evaluated in frequency spectra. Subjective assessments were made based on a descriptive soundscape questionnaire, where a total of 165 people answered the questions. The questionnaire assessed sound loudness, sonic comfort, sound preferences, and soundscape descriptors through the Likert scale. Based on the results, it could be found how the people present in the Rasteh-Bazaars of Tabriz Bazaar felt about and perceived the space soundscapes.Results and DiscussionThe findings demonstrated that spaces such as Rasteh-Bazaars, which are identical in form and material, exhibited consistent acoustic behavior. If accompanied by physical changes such as ones in the space axis and spatial integration as cavities, this homogeneity could change the acoustic behavior and the heard sound. This finding could add a new concept called homogeneous spaces to the field of soundscape design. This means that homogeneous urban paths can be designed so that the soundscape is perceived almost uniformly along them, and diversity and distinction can be provided through physical changes in the urban soundscape that can be perceived during movement. The findings also indicated that sonic comfort did not necessarily increase as sound intensity decreased. Even in tranquil urban spaces with low SPLs, the tranquility and quality of the soundscape decreased as the phenomenon of difference in SPL occurred. This important finding demonstrated that a new component called urban soundscape clarity should be evaluated in the study of soundscapes in tranquil urban spaces to investigate the occurrence of difference in SPL in tranquil urban spaces.ConclusionBased on the comparison of the objective and subjective findings of the research, it was found that it was not sufficient for provision of sonic comfort to simply follow the standard values of SPL and RT. This is because the phenomenon of difference in SPL could have a negative effect on environmental and sonic calmness, as mentioned earlier, in a silent space. The subjective perception of the soundscape depended on factors other than the physical quantity of the sound. In fact, the values of SPL and RT, which indicate the acoustic behavior of the space, could not serve as the sole basis for assessment of the quality of the soundscape although somehow involved in people’s perceptions thereof. The environmental characteristics and qualities of spaces, such as lighting and congestion and supplied goods appeal at the Rasteh-Bazaar were found to have direct effects on the favorability of the soundscape.AcknowledgmentThis article was extracted from Bita Shafaei’s doctoral thesis under the supervision of Dr. Abbas Ghaffari and Dr. Morteza Mirgholami at Tabriz Islamic Art University.
Islamic- Iranian Cities
mohamadmannan raeesi
Abstract
The holy Quran and Imams’ hadiths as the most important Islamic religious texts which have significant capacity in various fields of human knowledge, but have often been neglected in academic research. Among the issues raised in these Islamic ...
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The holy Quran and Imams’ hadiths as the most important Islamic religious texts which have significant capacity in various fields of human knowledge, but have often been neglected in academic research. Among the issues raised in these Islamic religious texts are the city and its features based on which some studies have been conducted and the concept of Islamic city has been developed. On the other hand, one of the main problems dealt with in recent decades (especially in the field of urban development) is the development pattern which can be classified into two main patterns: horizontal development and vertical development. But, due to various problems, in recent decades, the vertical development pattern has spread increasingly in most cities, especially in metropolises. Accordingly, this research addresses this problem from the perspective of Islamic teachings (especially Shiite jurisprudence). Therefore, the main problem that is investigated in this article is desirability or non-desirability of vertical development of residential buildings in Islamic city (based on Shiite jurisprudence). The research method applied in this article is a mixed method. According to the features of various stages of this research, archival research method was used to collect data. Meanwhile, the researcher used logical argumentation and qualitative content analysis to analyze the data. In this way, propositions (especially the jurisprudential hadiths) that are directly or indirectly related to the problem of this research were extensively investigated using qualitative content analysis. Then, research findings were obtained based on the analysis of propositions through logical-argumentative method.According to the findings, vertical development pattern is not desirable in Islamic cities because of various jurisprudential reasons such as visual dominance and some of Imams’ traditions like star sightings, etc. Moreover, vertical development of residential buildings is in contrast to the content of some Quran verses like: “What, have they never observed the heaven above them, (and seen) how we built and adorned it, leaving no crack?” (Qaf Surah, verse 6); “bear then with patience what they say. Exalt with the praise of your lord before sunrise and before sunset” (Qaf Surah, verse 39); “Therefore, be patient with what they say, and exalt with the praise of your lord before sunrise and before sunset. And in the watches of the night and at the edges of the day, exalt him, so that you will be pleasing” (Taha Surah, verse 130). According to these verses, Islamic city should be built in such a pattern that people be able to see sunrise and sunset and thus vertical development pattern of residential buildings is not desirable in such a city. However, it should be noted that the Islamic city has some other features and horizontal development alone is not enough to make a city Islamic. In addition to the physical characteristics, there are some other features such as city identity that define an Islamic city.Residential Buildings, Vertical Development, Shiite Jurisprudence, Islamic Teachings
Islamic- Iranian Cities
Alireza Mohammadi; Ebrahim Firouzi Majandeh
Volume 5, Issue 17 , February 2016, , Pages 55-66
Abstract
Objectives: The city of Ardabil, as one of the most important cities in the territory of the Islamic civilization, in recent decades, is faced with the problem of unbalanced distribution of mosques in the city. This uneven distribution can be dependent on such factors as population density, historical ...
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Objectives: The city of Ardabil, as one of the most important cities in the territory of the Islamic civilization, in recent decades, is faced with the problem of unbalanced distribution of mosques in the city. This uneven distribution can be dependent on such factors as population density, historical elements and the formation of city neighborhoods. The unbalanced distribution of mosques in the city, can lead to some problems such as congestion and overcrowding in some neighborhoods. The aim of this study is analyzing the spatial distribution pattern and frequency of mosques and its relationship between the population density and the historical elements and determination of the mosque distribution in the city areas and neighborhoods. The type of study is analytical-descriptive and the location of the 179 mosques has been extracted from urban documents. Methods such as Kernel Density, the closest neighborhood average and geographic Weighting Regression analysis was used in Arc GIS 10.3 software.
Findings: The results of using the mean nearest neighbor method, shows that the distribution pattern of mosque in Ardebil city with a coefficient of 99%, is a cluster type. Use of geographical weighted regression method and Kernel Density method, shows that the density and proximity of mosques in the central part of the city are much higher than within the old and median tissues and marginal or new neighborhoods of the city. The main reason for the concentration of mosques in central part of the city is the existence of places like the grand mosque, Bazaar, commercial spaces, the geographical center of the city and old neighborhoods. The use of spatial autocorrelation (Moran index) method showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the population density and distribution of mosques in the city area. New urban districts often face low-density point mosques. In the remainder of the city and in areas with high population concentration, the numbers of mosques are greater. New neighborhoods due to their short life and low population density lack completed mosques. Geographically weighted regression method results showed that there is a high positive and meaningful relationship between distance of the main urban spaces and symbols with the number of mosques. About 81 percent of the mosques are located in the service radius of zero to five minutes of the city’s main spaces and symbols. The buffering method and determination of the mosque coverage area and calculation of religious space per capita in urban neighborhoods showed that the distribution of mosques in neighborhoods of the city is often uneven. The central parts of the city have more mosques, but towns and new neighborhoods often have fewer mosques.
Results: The results of this article show that the spatial distribution pattern of Ardabil mosques is the cluster type and there is a significant relationship between the spatial distribution of mosques and population density and the historical elements of the city. The spatial distribution of mosques in Ardebil city neighborhoods is heterogeneous. Finally, based on the findings, recommendations are presented.
