Urban Architecture
sara Mohebinejad; Khosro Movahed; Ali Akbar Heydari; malihe taghipour
Abstract
Highlights- Various studies have demonstrated that several factors, including social, physical, and economic ones, affect the degree of socialization of an environment.- Spatial organization in a residential complex has a significant role in the increase or decrease in its open space sociability.- Open ...
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Highlights- Various studies have demonstrated that several factors, including social, physical, and economic ones, affect the degree of socialization of an environment.- Spatial organization in a residential complex has a significant role in the increase or decrease in its open space sociability.- Open spaces with central and mixed layouts offer greater sociability than other patterns in residential complexes.- Improper placement of various outdoor functions of a residential complex will reduce the sociability of the space.- A new method involves measurement of the effect of the formation of open spaces in residential complexes using space syntax. IntroductionDifferent arrangements of blocks in a residential complex create different patterns of open space that enable the occurrence of different potentials in terms of spatial socialization. In this study, four different patterns of arrangement of residential blocks in the city of Shiraz, Iran were selected, including linear, complex, single-element, and complex central patterns. Their spatial structures were analyzed using the spatial syntax theory tools and field and documentary observations, and different aspects of socialization therein were compared. Theoretical foundations1- Sociability of the architectural spaceSocialization in a public space is based on people’s need for a sense of social belonging and interaction with each other, which can be realized in a supportive social space along with provision of physical comfort, territory claim, sense of ownership, and reception of justice in space.2- Factors affecting socialization in the open spaces in a residential complexAmong the factors affecting socialization, physical factors (pertaining to spatial order) that affect the sociability of open spaces in residential complexes were studied and analyzed.3- Physical components affecting socialization3-1- Type of spatial organizationHierarchyThe concept of hierarchy denotes a set of features and phenomena that cause different spaces to be classified or ordered in a spatial configuration.AccessibilityThe issue of accessibility can be examined in two ways: physical access and visual access.3-2- Locations of spaces and types of access to them One of the most important factors that affect the sociability of different spaces is their locations in the context of a site and the way in which people access them. TransparencyTransparency means the possibility of visual connection of different spaces with each other, and is an important factor in the provision of a feeling of peace and security in the environment.3-3- Form, geometry, dimensions, and proportions of the space The morphological characteristics of space specify its appearance, and have a direct impact on people’s mood in interaction with space and their desire to attend it, as measured by the following two factors.Spatial diversitySpatial diversity is associated with a variety of concepts that are related both to the uses and to the formal diversity of spaces.Percentages of open and closed spacesIt is very important to consider the proportionality of open and closed spaces and the visible skyline.MethodologyIn this research, spatial organization was evaluated using the indicators of hierarchy and accessibility. The tools of connection, relative connection, and depth were used in the space syntax technique. The locations of the spaces and the types of access to them were evaluated using the two indicators of spatial location and transparency, the subject of spatial location was examined using the tools of communication, relative link, and depth, and the transparency indicator was assessed using the tools of vision control and obstruction.Result and Discussion- It was observed that the least spatial depth was formed in the central layout, leaving the open spaces in the center of the complex with greater sociability.- Where the playing space was located in the middle of the entrance area of a mixed complex, it occupied the largest viewing area, thereby increasing sociability.- Mixed and central spaces exhibited the highest degree of interconnection, minimum separation, and maximum accessibility of the open space due to the type of arrangement of their blocks.- Central and mixed spaces provided greater vision control and transparency despite their great spatial diversity and the possibility of mutual view of the spaces.- In the examination of the indicator of spatial diversity, as observed, the presence of a skyline with a wider field of view and a sense of open space increased the sociability of the public space.Conclusion- Improper placement of spaces in the site of a residential complex will leave them less appealing and desirable to the community.- If a space is relatively deep in terms of access, it will hardly be welcomed.- Variety in the arrangement of blocks can increase sociability in the open air, because it increases the variety of space on the plan.- An open space will enjoy greater sociability if it meets everyone’s needs. Children and families should be free to respond to their basic needs in these spaces.- By establishing a balance between the percentages of open and closed spaces, we can help increase sociability. A visible skyline and consideration of the height of the blocks increase a person’s motivation to be outdoors.- Greater sociability is required to create less visual depth and more communication and interconnectedness.The following suggestions are made about the design of a complex:- tendency to design residential complexes of the mixed and central types- inclusion of playing spaces that are more connected and more frequently used- development of spaces suitable for sitting with a focus on provision of the right shade or the possibility of sunbathing and applying maximum transparency and accessibility- creation of a playing space in a lower hierarchy with the possibility of providing maximum transparency and communication- creation and development of semi-open common spaces on the floors of a residential complex, such as social balconies, and consideration of the availability of public, private, and semipublic spaces- recognition that residents of a complex who have better observed the indicators of physical quality will find their living environment more favorable in the same conditions of the neighborhood.AcknowledgmentThis article is taken from the first author's doctoral dissertation entitled "Compilation of Shiraz apartment housing schemas with emphasis on indicators of optimal physical quality" which is being conducted at the Islamic Azad University of Shiraz.
Urban Planning
zohreh asadi; Hamid Mohammadi
Abstract
Highlights
Brand can create a coordinating role among many economic and social activities and be attractive to all tourism stakeholders.
Strategic orientation to focus the activities of all stakeholders in order to achieve a common end goal.
Helping cities to attract skilled population, attract ...
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Highlights
Brand can create a coordinating role among many economic and social activities and be attractive to all tourism stakeholders.
Strategic orientation to focus the activities of all stakeholders in order to achieve a common end goal.
Helping cities to attract skilled population, attract tourists and investors by relying on competitive advantages and identity
Urban branding is a process that helps cities increase the sense of belonging and satisfaction of current citizens.
the Use the capabilities of destinations to create creative attractions to attract tourists
Introduction
In the past few decades, branding has attracted plenty of attention in tourism planning. In globally competitive markets, the need of destinations to create a unique identity, that is, to differentiate themselves from competitors, has become more vital than ever. Tourism destination branding is a relatively new strategy in attraction of tourists because the brand gives the tourism destination identity and personality, and distinguishes it from other tourist destinations. According to the above, this study sought to address the role of the brand in the development of creative tourism and to help identify the city of Junqan, Iran as a brand using the city brand management (CBM) model. The research also attempted to specify the role and position of urban branding in the identification of the tourism in this city in terms of creativity.
Theoretical Framework
- Branding and urban branding
A brand is a rich source of emotional communication and cognition that leads to memorable experiences of a place such as a city. Urban branding is a relatively new concept that cities have adopted to differentiate themselves from other cities, to develop civic pride among their citizens, and to help tourists and business owners make decisions. Branding a city requires recognition of and information on the believable and realistic features of the city. That includes the historical, social, political, and international identity of the city, how it functions economically, and its amenities. Urban branding has turned into an essential topic in the field of tourism and a main factor affecting the tourism industry. Successful branding for cities and urban tourism destinations is based on their potentials and talents, so that the possibility of replacing it with other destinations is excluded.
- Creative tourism
Creative tourism means to travel to an original, exciting experience and to learn art, get to know the heritage or special features of the place, and establish a relationship between tourists and locals. A creative tourist develops their creativity capacity by approaching locals through informal participation in interactive workshops and learning the experiences that the destination culture plots for their vacation. In creative tourism, tourists engage in the cultural prospects of the destination, so that they can participate in various creative activities including agriculture, art, cooking, dance, and music. That creates new opportunities to learn new skills and establish closer relationships between tourists and locals and their cultural heritage.
Methodology
In the present applied, development-oriented research, a theoretical framework was first presented for the field of urban branding and creative tourism, and the role of urban branding in tourism was expressed using the methods of descriptive and library research for data collection. Then, the key factors influencing the generation of an image of Junqan and identification of its brand for development of creative tourism were studied using the city brand management model (CBM), the library method, and semi-structured interviews with urban and tourism experts. The interpretive analysis method was also used for analysis of the interviews.
Results and Discussion
The purpose of branding in tourism is to create and maintain a favorable image of the destination, increase tourists’ awareness, create positive attitudes toward the destination, and modify tourists’ behavior of visiting the destination. In addition to its positive economic aspects, the development of tourism in Iran can lead to a rapprochement between people of different nationalities. The study attempted to create a brand and manage it for the city of Junqan by examining the concepts of brand, urban brand, and creative tourism using the urban brand management model. The brand can help the city to enhance each of the indicators of creativity, leading to the development of creative tourism. The findings demonstrated that Sardar Asad Bakhtiari Castle was identified as the brand of the city of Junqan. For development of creative tourism aided by the city brand, a tourism route was provided that combined the historical and natural sights of the city to create innovative products and attract entrepreneurs who would find competitive advantages over other destinations. This could reflect the reputation and vision of the city around the world and support and guide creativity in the city, leading to the promotion of tourism, exports, and investment in the city.
Conclusion
We are currently facing the changing needs of tourists around the world, looking for new experiences and seeking to discover their talents. Urban branding is a strategy adopted to add a competitive advantage by providing a clear picture, cultural and political importance, and economic and social development. The main purpose of the discussion was to generate greater appeal for investment and to attract tourists and potential residents with an emphasis on community development and reconstruction of local identity in Junqan. Therefore, the achievement of the research could be addressed in terms of the dimensions of creative tourism. In the field of cultural development and measures, we attempted in this research to introduce, develop, and apply the people’s traditions, customs, and clothing, arts, and handicrafts and to introduce the way of life and interactions of the civil society in order to provide the requirements of tourism in Junqan. Moreover, with today’s development of technology and the information society, the need to employ talented native specialists having graduated in urban management is felt more than ever before. The development of public spaces to increase interactions and establish exhibitions is another infrastructure needed in the city of Junqan, which is in line with the development of creative tourism. Each of the above factors can be important and helpful both in the management and in the economy of the city, so they can be considered in line with the role of the brand in the development of creativity in tourism in Junqan.
Acknowledgment
This article has been extracted from a Master’s thesis in the field of Urban Planning entitled Explaining the Role of Urban Branding in Promotion of Creative Tourism: The Case of the City of Junqan, defended by the first author under the supervision of the second author at Yazd University.
Urban Scape
sadaf ostad ghafari
Volume 5, Issue 17 , February 2016, , Pages 29-40
Abstract
Legibility is one of the most important characteristics of good urban environments which improves the communication between people and place by helping them to perceive and recognize their environment more deeply and precisely. Unfortunately, achieving legibility in today’s urban environments has ...
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Legibility is one of the most important characteristics of good urban environments which improves the communication between people and place by helping them to perceive and recognize their environment more deeply and precisely. Unfortunately, achieving legibility in today’s urban environments has become very hard due to the increase in incoherent developments and partial renovation projects. Moreover, in practice, the concept of legibility has often decreased to some simple solutions to facilitate urban orienteering. However, a comprehensive meaningful concept which includes different parallel aspects and components should be considered. Contrary to the customary one- dimentional solutions, legibility- based urban regeneration would be an appropriate approach which enables the urban regeneration action to play a really effective role in enriching people’s perception and awareness of the environment as well asproviding them with a joyful and memorable experience. The most effective factor which can enhance legibility at different scales of the urban environment is a strong and plain organized structure which turns individual parts and elements into a coherent whole through creation of a comprehensible order. Therefore, it improves legibility by increasing distinction and clarity of both objective and cognitive image of the environment. On this basis, the purpose of this study is to identify principles and strategies which increase legibility in old urban textures by regenerating its main structure, which means revitalizing and retrofitting both its physical and nonphysical aspects. For this purpose, it is necessary to present a thoughtful and comprehensive explanation of legibility and its physical, functional and sensory- semantic components, and also, to specify its meaningful relation with the concept of the main structure, the role and the position of each component in urban main structure and in regeneration plans. Thus, providing effective guidelines for main structure regeneration with the purpose of increasing legibility becomes possible. These guidelines, contrary to the superficial and partial approaches to regeneration, are able to provide a comprehensive holistic framework to deal efficiently with various individual problems of the urban environments and lead to its actual revival, improvement and enrichment through adopting all valuable physical aspects along with their non-physical contents. Thus, a comprehensive in depth study of the concept of “legibility”, in order to identify all its different components and effective factors, can be very helpful. In this paper, legibility- based urban design principals are proposed in three groups based on the three identified components of the concept of legibility, which are the physical copmonents, functional components and sensory- semantic components. Therefore, these principals can support physical unity and coherence of the built environment, its functional vitality and activeness, and the sensory- semantic hoard enrichment of the human environment. In fact, the main focus of these principals is on complete alignment and convergence among the environment’s physical appearence, its function aspect and its sensory- semantic content. This also can provide best compatibility and favourability between people and environment by improving the environment’s identity, unity and comprehensibility. Thus, it promotes people- environment relations and communications significantly.
Slum Settlements
bahman ahmadi
Volume 5, Issue 20 , November 2016, , Pages 29-42
Abstract
Tenure security is a fundamental right of households lack of which leads to economic, social, psychological and political problems; thus, tenure insecurity has become a deprivation index in informal settlements. In recent years, special attention has been given to tenure security in improving informal ...
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Tenure security is a fundamental right of households lack of which leads to economic, social, psychological and political problems; thus, tenure insecurity has become a deprivation index in informal settlements. In recent years, special attention has been given to tenure security in improving informal settlements and thus was the research subject carried out by UN-HABITAT in 2003 and 2006. Scientific and practical experiences in tenure security index show that tenure security is a sense that cannot be achieved only by formal means such as ownership of a title deed. Tenure security is much more than simply examining legal title deeds and involves social, economic and life-quality indexes nowadays. Indeed, de facto and supra legal and perceived indexes along with legal ones, hold sway on tenure security scale in informal settlements. Moreover, sustainable development of informal settlements became one of the main topics of a seminar held by the Habitat in 2004 with particular emphasis on sustainable social development in order to empower residents and promote tenure security in informal settlements. At present, the application of mediating tools has become prevalent in the enhancement of tenure security instead of through legal procedures.. Based on the question of whether it is possible to consider social sustainability as a mediator tool, the purpose of this research is examining and evaluating the impacts of social sustainable development on tenure security in Koshtargah neighborhood in Urmia. Two main indexes have been used in this research to explain social sustainability: spatial justice (accessibility to urban services such as daily shopping centers, educational centers, sports centers, cultural centers, recreational centers, administrative services and remedial centers) and social cohesion (duration of residence, amount of power and solidarity of local organizations, the cohesion of family and friends and willingness of residents to work together in order to improve neighborhood). For Examining perceived tenure security in Koshtargah neighborhood, five criteria (concerns about informality of neighborhood, concerns about municipality dissatisfaction of residences in the neighborhood, concerns about homelessness after evacuation, possibility of forced eviction at any moment and concerns about forced eviction in next 5 years) are utilized. Research method was descriptive – analytical, and field data collection was carried out by means of questionnaire surveys. To analyse the data, ArcGIS techniques, fuzzy analysis and statistical methods such as Pearson correlation coefficient and regression were used. According to the correlation analysis it could be concluded that the impact of social cohesion on the sense of tenure security in Koshtargah neighborhood has been positive and significant; this relation was confirmed by significant degree of 0.000, confidence degree of 99% and correlation coefficient of 0.873. Furthermore, it could be concluded that spatial justice has had a positive and significant impact on the sense of tenure security in Koshtargah neighborhood; this relation was confirmed by a significant degree of 0.000, confidence degree of 99% and a correlation coefficient of 0.792. The results illustrate that by increasing social cohesion and providing justice in urban services accessibility, the perceived tenure security of Koshtargah neighborhood became stronger; thus it can be predicted that moving toward social sustainability promotes the sense of land and housing tenure security of Koshtargah inhabitants.
Urban Design
Volume 6, Issue 23 , August 2017, , Pages 29-38
Abstract
Privacy is conceived of as an interpersonal boundary process by which a person or group regulates interaction with others. The desire for privacy is a public deed, but it is related to variables such as culture, age, gender, personality, and physical environment. It appears that some cultures have a ...
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Privacy is conceived of as an interpersonal boundary process by which a person or group regulates interaction with others. The desire for privacy is a public deed, but it is related to variables such as culture, age, gender, personality, and physical environment. It appears that some cultures have a stronger preference for privacy and have more privacy needs than others. The differences in desire for privacy are not limited only to cultures, they actually exists in sub-cultures too. Iran has many sub-cultures which respond to privacy differently, but there have not been any research on the effect of culture on privacy. The present paper focuses on how Iranian women in different sub-cultures look at surveillance in their privacy. The primary purpose of this study is to examine whether women in Iranian sub-cultures (Gilaki, Kurdish, Turkish and Yazdi women) differ in their desired and achieved levels of privacy in parks. Another purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the desired and achieved levels of privacy and the experience of crowding in parks. The final purpose is to describe the cultural differences in the experience of crowding between Gilaki, Kurdish, Turkish and Yazdi women. This research uses a designed questionnaire to collect data. A number of 1173 women were randomly selected in Shahr (Rasht), Mellat (Sanandaj), Baghmisheh (Tabriz), and Azadegan (Yazd) parks. Chi-square test, Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that women in Iranian sub-cultures significantly differ in their desired privacy levels. Yazdi and Turkish women have higher needs for privacy (desired privacy) in the public spaces than other women. However, Gilaki women’s achieved privacy level is higher than that in other sub-cultures. On the other hand, the results indicate that Yazdi women perceive urban parks as more crowded than others. The crowded women (for all groups) have a higher mean of crowding score than the isolated and the optimum women. Regardless of culture, women’s desired and achieved privacy levels are related to the level of perceived crowding in public spaces. According to Hall, contact cultures are often found in tropical countries (Arabic countries, Mediterranean area, Middle-East countries, and Eastern Europe) while non-contact cultures are usually found in cold weather countries (north of Europe, north of America). Accordingly, Iran is regarded as having a contact culture. The results of this study, however, indicate that in different Iranian sub-cultures there are also differences in people’s tendency for privacy and social interaction in public places. There is no correlation between the results of this study and Hall’s taxonomy. Yazdi (dry and warm) and Turkish (cold, mountainous) people have contact cultures while Gilaki (Caspian mild) and Kurdish (very cold mountainous) people live in non-contact cultures. The main reason for this difference stems from the investigation of perceived crowdedness and tendency for privacy in public sphere. The behavior of Iranian women and their social interactions with others in public places are strongly affected by tradition and religion.
khashyar kashanijou; hamed mohammadi; naeime salehi
Abstract
Industrial revolution, urban growth and population increase have greatly affected the area of cities and have caused a staggering increase in the number of automobiles and streets built to facilitate automobile movement. One of the most important problems in urban streets is pedestrian-vehicle ...
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Industrial revolution, urban growth and population increase have greatly affected the area of cities and have caused a staggering increase in the number of automobiles and streets built to facilitate automobile movement. One of the most important problems in urban streets is pedestrian-vehicle interaction at crossings which is a substantial concern for citizens. Installing footbridges has been supported by related organizations in Iran to solve this problem and increase walkability of the streets. In brief, walkability is the attraction level of places for pedestrians’ presence. Based on the opinion of many urban authorities, footbridge is one of the mobility facilities in crossing the streets. Bridges were used to cross the barriers since a long time ago. However, they were built for avoiding automobiles on the streets and their design were upgraded since about half a century ago. This applied research seeks to comparatively evaluate footbridges and pedestrian crossing in relation to walkability. For this purpose, Karim Khan-e-Zand Street in District 6 of Tehran, between Valiasr Square and Haft-e-Tir Square, was selected as the case study. It is a mechanized footbridge at the intersection with Hafez Street. An ordinary (non-mechanized) footbridge has been installed on it at the intersection of Kheradmand Street. The article is based on the analytical-descriptive method. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) is used to evaluate the findings. After studying the theoretical concepts of research through a documentary-library method, appropriate criteria for walkability assessment are weighted by the Delphi method and field data is collected through survey method using questionnaires distributed among 150 citizens. The obtained data was analyzed by Super Decision software package. Three options were considered for citizens to evaluate footbridges in terms of walkability of Karimkhan-e-Zand Street in Tehran: using non-mechanized footbridges, mechanized footbridges and pedestrian crossing. The findings show that security and safety, mobility, accessibility, and physical conditions are respectively more important than other criteria in selecting footbridges for crossing the street. Furthermore, the least important criteria are attraction and comfort of the path and its maintenance quality, respectively. Among the sub-indicators related to security and safety of paths, crime-related security and presence of others were selected as the most effective ones. The length of path is the most important factor while the slope and topography are the least important factors related to the physical condition of the path. Path lighting in night was selected as the most important sub-indicator related to facilities. Also, path continuity and ease of mobility can be referred to as the most important factors among sub-indicators of movement and accessibility. Finally, with regard to the walkability of streets, despite the opinion of urban managers, level crossing with a score of A=0.36 is more favorable than footbridges, and mechanized footbridge with a score of B=0.33 is more desirable than non-mechanized footbridges with a score of C=0.30. Therefore, it seems that a fundamental review is required in the current trend of development of footbridges in Iran.
Urban Design
Leila Rahimi; Islam Karami
Abstract
Existing experience suggests that the perceptual environment of citizens plays an essential role in the perception of the quality of urban environments. Given the wide variations in urban life, in particular urban life in Tabriz as a metropolis, it is particularly important to recognize the quality of ...
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Existing experience suggests that the perceptual environment of citizens plays an essential role in the perception of the quality of urban environments. Given the wide variations in urban life, in particular urban life in Tabriz as a metropolis, it is particularly important to recognize the quality of urban and neighborhood environment. Therefore, Golshahr and Parvaz neighborhoods are considered as newly designed neighborhoods (less than 30 years old) with appropriate architectural and urban spaces and a high level of facilities and services. This paper presents an instrument for measuring perceived residential environment quality in urban environments. This instrument consists of 11 scales categorized into four criteria including spatial aspects, human aspects, functional aspects, and contextual aspects. The spatial aspects include three scales: architectural-planning space, organization and accessibility of roads, and green space. The human aspects involve one scale: people and social relations. Functional aspects include four scales: welfare, recreational, commercial, and transport services. Contextual aspects cover three scales: pace of life, environmental health, and upkeep. The paper aims to identify and measure perceived residential environment quality and improve the related psychometric qualities. Cognitive psychology is the conceptual framework of this research that focuses on environmental perception. This paper attempts to answer the following questions: 1- What level is the residents’ perceived quality of Tabriz neighborhoods (Golshahr and Parvaz regions)? 2- What factors affact residents’ perceived quality of Tabriz neighborhoods? The research method is descriptive-experimental and the data collection instrument is a questionnaire including 11 scales based on different dimensions of the research variables. The questionnaire comprised of 62 questions in the form of a five-point Likert scale. It was clustery distributed among 250 residents of Golshahr and Parvaz regions in Tabriz. The data was analyzed using the one-sample t-test, paired comparison, multiple regression analysis and path model analysis in SPSS software. Results confirm the factorial structure of the scale and indicate that, among the individual factors, sex and ownership affect the residents’ perceived quality of the neighborhood. Among the four main components, the social and then contextual components have a greater impact on the perceived quality of the neighborhood, while these two dimensions have the lowest score among the inhabitants of the neighborhoods. Among the scales, the green space scale from spatial aspect, discretion and civility from the human aspect, transportation services from the functional aspect, and upkeep and maintenance from the contextual aspect have the highest impact on the residents’ perceived quality of the neighborhood. Thus, the impact on the perceived quality of neighborhood increases when moving from the physical to the social-psychological-mental space, but the emphasis of the decisions of urban planners are more on the spatial and functional dimensions. Another interesting result is that, in addition to the social dimension, attention should be paid to the contextual dimension of the neighborhoods in order to promote inhabitants’ perceived quality of the neighborhood.
Urban Architecture
Ali Mosallanejad; Khosro Movahed; hadi keshmiri
Abstract
Urban passages are one of the most important urban spaces that have long been the main focus of citizens’ social attendance, particularly the youth. Young people can increase the dynamism and vitality of these spaces with their purposeful attendance. It is of great significance ...
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Urban passages are one of the most important urban spaces that have long been the main focus of citizens’ social attendance, particularly the youth. Young people can increase the dynamism and vitality of these spaces with their purposeful attendance. It is of great significance today to address the issue of young people’s attendance of urban spaces and its relationship with architectural components. It is an important step in reduction of the problems of the youth to identify the roles played by these elements in their attendance of passages. Their interaction with other citizens in the streets of the city of Shiraz, Iran can increase the vitality of the urban spaces and provide them with a valuable opportunity to manage their leisure time. The main purpose of this research was to assess the impacts of architectural elements on young people’s attendance of urban spaces. These elements include the shapes of the urban buildings, their colors, flooring types, furniture, and land use variety, and the locations and shapes of the gardens and fountains. The area under investigation is Afifabad Street in Shiraz. The street is 950 meters long and 13 meters wide with about 11 meters of sidewalk on each side. It extends from Qasr al-Dasht Intersection to Afifabad Garden. This urban passage provides a crowded, powerful commercial texture with shopping attraction. This study was aimed at investigating the environmental and functional quality components of its architectural design in order to increase youngsters’ attendance of urban passages. For evaluation of the impacts of physical architectural elements on young people’ attendance of urban passages and their liveliness in this applied research, expert views on the components of urban attendance were first identified through library and documentary studies with an emphasis on the youth. Then, the physical elements that enhance attendance of urban passages were examined, followed by an identification of the components of its reinforcement. In this descriptive-analytical research, the required data were collected through questionnaires obtained from a random sample of 400 respondents that resided, did business, or walked in Afifabad Street. The statistical analysis of the questionnaires was made using SPSS 24, and the important factors related to the environmental components were obtained using the method of factor analysis. The findings demonstrated that the urban furniture element was correlated with some other components such as public and welfare services, environmental components, functional characteristics, safety, and security. Spatial diversity and physical components were found to exhibit the greatest impacts on the attempt to increase young people’s attendance of Afifabad Street, where the correlation coefficient of the relationship was 0.64. It should also be noted that the factors most important to the youth included the concern for the cleanliness of the urban environment and the availability of public services, which can motivate their attendance of the urban area.
Urban Architecture
farnaz dibazar; Sahar Toofan; Siroors Jamali; nima valizadeh
Abstract
HighlightsThe general characteristics of third places have been investigated using observation, behavior mapping, interview and structural equation modeling (SEM) methods.The feature of conversation as the main activity has the greatest impact on social interactions in cafes.Cafes are an example of a ...
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HighlightsThe general characteristics of third places have been investigated using observation, behavior mapping, interview and structural equation modeling (SEM) methods.The feature of conversation as the main activity has the greatest impact on social interactions in cafes.Cafes are an example of a third place.Cafes influence social interactions.Individual privacy and distances affect social interactions. IntroductionThird places provide a platform for social interactions, and have a particular position in public-sphere institutions and social interactions due to their special characteristics. The environment can strengthen or weaken these characteristics; therefore, it is necessary to consider the design and architecture of third places in order to enforce their positive features. The purpose of this study is to investigate the general characteristics of cafés as third places in the studied samples and to analyze their impact on the social interactions formed at these places.Theoretical FrameworkThird places are one of the most important examples of the urban public sector that give meaning to the informal lives of citizens and lead to the restoration and creation of social interactions. Third places can serve as sources of protection and resilience for an individual, a family, and a community by creating social relationships. Moreover, individuals have an inherent need for social interaction, so they provide opportunities for that purpose. Such conditions are more likely offered at third places. A place turns into a third place from a service environment when it meets emotional and social needs as well as physical needs such as the need for eating and drinking. A concrete example of third places, cafés are of particular importance in the urban structure and human interactions. Such architectural spaces make it possible to imagine, think, and communicate due to their special features, described in Table 1, and their creation of pause spaces.MethodologyTwo general types of method have been used in this field research, quantitative and qualitative, including observation, behavior mapping, interviews, questionnaires, and archives, used for data collection. In the observation stage, things, people, and their reactions have been examined without interference with the environment. The observations have eventually led to behavioral mappings. Each sample has been examined using the passive observational method for three days in the periods of 10-12 in the morning and 6-8 in the evening. In the second stage, the interview method has been used, where attempts have been made to obtain more profound results through guidance of the conversations and provision of an understanding of the questions. Finally, structural equation modeling based on covariance has been used to investigate the general characteristics of third places and their effects on social interactions. The population has included all cafés in Tabriz, and the statistical sample has involved a total of 399 people.Results and DiscussionThe behavioral mapping indicated that large group of people and groups of two are more inclined to environments with clear privacy conditions. People tend to welcome spaces where their privacy is respected, while it is possible to establish appropriate communication with the environment as a whole. One way to create such environments is to separate spaces using transparent walls, while other considerations include distance, type of arrangement, material, and type of furniture. An examination of sample photos published by users demonstrates that most of the images concern these spaces, indicating their popularity among the audience. According to the analysis made of the responses, the main reason stated by 83% of the respondents for their presence in the café is to have chats. Attributes seem to play roles in strengthening and weakening each other as people express certain attributes to describe others. The results of the structural equation model demonstrate significant relationships between the variable of social interactions and four characteristics: conversation as the main activity, convenience and habitability, fixed customers, and a friendly atmosphere. The path coefficients of the variables indicate that a friendly atmosphere is 0.358% effective on social interactions, conversation as the main activity is 0.378% effective, convenience and habitability is 0.100% effective, and fixed customers are 0.058% effective. The two characteristics of a friendly atmosphere and conversation as the main activity are most greatly affected by the parameter referred to as homes away from home, and the neutral framework parameter exhibits the greatest impacts on the two characteristics of convenience and habitability and fixed customers. Figure 5 shows the significant effects of these parameters on the four characteristics with confirmed effects on the social interactions formed in cafés.ConclusionAs third places, cafés are influential in social interactions due to their special features.All the characteristics of third places can be found in cafés, but they have different intensities and types of impact on each other and on the social interactions formed in cafés. Conversation as the main activity, a friendly atmosphere, convenience and habitability, and fixed customers directly affect these interactions, and other characteristics exhibit indirect effects as a result of the impacts of these four. Conversation is the most influential parameter in the formation of social interactions. The results of the interviews demonstrate that it is also one of the main reasons for people’s attendance of cafés. In fact, conversation is an element that affects both the primary factor and social interactions; for enhancement of social interactions, therefore, it is necessary to design spaces that can help meet the prerequisites for conversation to take shape between people in cafés. The general characteristics of third places are more likely to lead to social interactions among familiar groups. Adequate privacy and appropriate working hours are factors besides third-place characteristics that increase social interaction as the senses of place and belonging rise, because people communicate when they experience senses of security, intimacy, and peace at the same time.AcknowledgmentThis article is excerpted from the doctoral dissertation in the field of architecture entitled "Interaction between body, mind and architectural environment based on the Integral theory (Case study: Cafe-restaurants in Tabriz)."
Urban Management
A. M.; S. M. P.; S. M.
Volume 2, Issue 6 , June 2013, , Pages 31-42
Urban Design
a n; m h; s m
Volume 2, Issue 7 , July 2013, , Pages 31-46
Abstract
Abstract Although the present study and the strengthening of social interaction issues prevalent in today's research world and Iran, But so far the theoretical foundations of Islam - Iranian has less profound investigated. This study aims religious rulings and interpretations of Quran ...
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Abstract Although the present study and the strengthening of social interaction issues prevalent in today's research world and Iran, But so far the theoretical foundations of Islam - Iranian has less profound investigated. This study aims religious rulings and interpretations of Quran and traditions of the (Citing sources and interpretation of Shiite thinkers and according to historical Islamic documents – Iran) Investigatied specializes in architecture and Urbanism and find principles and practical methods for them. This article was Completed in order to identify the principles, because in the field of religious studies, (have on the diversity and multiplicity of methods) so to answer the question have been used the model of interdisciplinary studies. Type the prevailing methodology of the research is analytical – logical. In this regard among the traditional cities of the same order of social, cultural and religious diversity are significant, Kerman city is selected. Human social life forms one of the important aspects Islamic values, today, with the emergence of a new culture of human communities has been neglected. To restore these values in the contemporary urban, they may need to regenerate to become the expert in urban science. This work, with a statement of each principle and the description of its different aspects and realizing the potential contradictions that today occur begins. The purpose of this paper, is the issues of Islamic urbanism and obtaining the principles for urban designers.The method used in this paper is referred to Islam and deduced and logical reasoning. By Study the Foundations of Religious texts and Compared with the traditional and historical construction of one side and the new requirements in another side, the general values and principles in Islam be achieved for excellence of human in city, neighborhood and house. The most important fundamentals and principles derived from the visible structure in the Islamic living environment of these values in the whole city, such as: attention the religious rituals, The need to promote public participation in strengthening interactions, to consider religious rituals, Respect the rights of other citizens, in every type of construction, prohibition the construction of detriment to others, and attention the Afaf in the design of urban spaces can be considered. In the choice of the Muslim neighborhood, relationship and social organization of a neighborhood is the most important principles of Islamic urbanism. And yet houses are the most of the private and family privacy, and their respect and independence should not be affected by any interference from neighbor or apart from all that houses appear arrogantly. This study investigates the impact of human interaction in implementing strategies to strengthen the religion community pays. Finally, the above principles in regard to the issues have been considered. And also at the end, we have Islamic homes, neighborhood and city that architects and urban planners act with sufficient knowledge of theoretical and practical wisdom of Islam in the area of environmental planning and design of human. Obviously, the other elements of the City, such as laws, managers and citizens should follow the Islamic principles.
Urban Planning
غ خ; ظ ظ; ش ی
Volume 2, Issue 8 , December 2013, , Pages 31-46
Urban Ecology
h d; m r; a z
Volume 3, Issue 9 , February 2014, , Pages 31-44
Abstract
Land use planning and determination of developmental priorities based on regional conditions and characteristics are considered as one of the major aspects of planning on a regional scale. One approach in this field is the determination of land use types. The common point in all applied methods of ecological ...
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Land use planning and determination of developmental priorities based on regional conditions and characteristics are considered as one of the major aspects of planning on a regional scale. One approach in this field is the determination of land use types. The common point in all applied methods of ecological potential assessment is to consider development as the assessment goal in the research process. This occurs when in the allocation of types of uses under equal condition, different types of development can be studied and the most appropriate one selected according to conditions. Therefore, this study tries to apply a model which enables the assessment of land use with different types of development. Since taking into account all types of development simultaneously causes prioritization conflicts (one or more types of development might have the same priority level at one point when different developmental priorities overlap), the major challenge would be to resolve the inter-developmental conflicts. Therefore, the proposed model must be able to resolve such spatial conflict. This study, based on conducted research on assessment of ecological potential and using multi-objective assessment methods, evaluates the ecological potential of Noushahr County in four types of urban, agricultural, industrial, and natural development using a new concept known as “verbal logic”. It tends to offer an integral model for simultaneous analysis of different types of development. On this basis, the method employed in this study has two main sections: the first section deals with ecological assessment based on multi- objective assessment model. In this section, a model of appropriate locations for all the four developments is distinctively identified which results in the recommendation of location priorities for each type of land use development. In the second section, the verbal logic is used to present the integral prioritization areas which cover all the priorities simultaneously. The logic combines the priorities of all types of development employing quantitative approaches and ultimately resolves the conflicts arising from overlapping of priorities of different development types using the conditional rules obtained from the major goal of assessment. On this basis, this model offers priority zoning of integral land capacity in regards to developmental priorities; the major goal of assessment is" zoning the land for optimum allocation of agricultural, urban, and industrial development while protecting environmental values". The model results demonstrate that in integral assessment of a variety of development, only 1% of the region is not suffering inter-developmental conflict while a large part of the region is suffering conflict between assessment priorities of two or more types of development. Only 1 % of all conflict types in the region is dedicated to top priority conflicts in all development types. Nearly 73% of conflicts are devoted to the conflict amongst the three lower priorities. Taking into consideration that the decision-making process of the model is based on the major goal of assessment, the model allocates the desired land to natural development and prevents the expansion of other developments in these areas to resolve the conflict among all priorities. Meanwhile, the study of spatial distribution of various developments in the city and its comparison with land use show that much of the central and southern parts are dedicated to natural development as a first priority while the industrial, urban and agricultural developments are largely linked to each other and are located in the central and northern parts of the city mostly near lowlands at low altitudes.
Urban Ecology
h m; gh kh
Volume 4, Issue 14 , May 2015, , Pages 31-46
Abstract
Fast and uncontrollable growth of urbanization causes loss of agricultural lands and orchards; it leads to a decrease in green areas and open spaces and causes heavy traffic and environmental pollution. Therefore, an essential step in urban planning, management and evaluation of its effects is to simulate ...
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Fast and uncontrollable growth of urbanization causes loss of agricultural lands and orchards; it leads to a decrease in green areas and open spaces and causes heavy traffic and environmental pollution. Therefore, an essential step in urban planning, management and evaluation of its effects is to simulate the physical development of the city. In order to keep ecosystems functioning well, it is necessary for environmental researchers, managers, and decision makers to understand the spatial dynamics of an ecosystem. Importantly, remotely sensed imagery provides an efficient means of obtaining information on temporal trends and spatial distribution of urban areas needed for understanding, modeling, and projecting land change. The aim of this study is to understand the parameters of physical development at Bonab city with regard to sustainable spatial development of urban issues from ecological and environmental viewpoint in the next two decades. Change detection is an important process for monitoring and managing natural resources and urban development because it provides quantitative analysis of spatial distribution in the area of interest. Detection of changes in land use/ land cover involves use of at least two period data sets. Using Landsat 5 multi temporal satellite images and object oriented techniques, application changes of the lands in 1984-2011 period was evaluated with emphasis on Sprawl expansion of Bonab urban area and its scattered peripheral villages located in the study area. The term Sprawl is used in various ways to mean the gluttonous use of land, uninterrupted monotonous development, leapfrog discontinuous development and inefficient use of land. Urban sprawls are characterized by premature or poorly planned conversion of rural land to other uses, the creation of areas of urban development or uses which are not functionally related to adjacent land uses, the creation of areas of urban development or uses which fail to maximize the use of existing public facilities and the use of areas within which public services are provided. For calculating this parameter Holdern index was used. Results show that 41 percent of urban growth of Bonab city has risen from sprawl growth. Based on the results, urban area of Bonab and its six peripheral villages which was 608.4 hectares in 1984 reached 1716.8 ha in 2011. 1065.51 hectares of the aforementioned lands was developed on garden and agricultural lands which demand management of future development based on the principles of sustainable development. Therefore, effective factors of physical development in the urban area of Bonab city was classified under 14 layers and by using the logistic regression method, the possibility of urban development map was prepared. After predicting the future pattern of urban development in Bonab city, the protection of gardens and green spaces strategy in the urban development process was implemented using the hexagonal layout of possibility for urban development map, giving the necessary space for development, and extraction of a natural green belt with an area of 21.83 km. Furthermore, a ban in urban development in the surroundings of the proposed green belt was applied, maintaining the ecological reserves of Bonab city by reducing agricultural and garden lands, decreasing degradation and controlling sprawl expansion and separation of towns and villages.
Urban Planning
M B
Abstract
ObjectivesTourism, on the one hand, is important from the point of view of economic values and, on the other hand, from cultural, political and social viewpoints. It is important to geographically analyze the power and sufficiency of tourism because it provides an active and dynamic field for development ...
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ObjectivesTourism, on the one hand, is important from the point of view of economic values and, on the other hand, from cultural, political and social viewpoints. It is important to geographically analyze the power and sufficiency of tourism because it provides an active and dynamic field for development in every region. Accurate scientific studies are needed to recognize the high potential of tourism in different regions of Iran and its effect on social and economic life of residents these regions, and to realize the link between tourism growth and its role in economic and environmental development of host areas. One of the touristic regions of Iran which attracts large numbers of internal and foreign tourists is the historical city of Kashan. Kashan’s historical, cultural and social attractions, its sport attraction in the Maranjab desert, rose-water festival, waterfalls, etc. have attracted native and non-native tourists and developed the city. Hence, the present study seeks to answer the following questions: how much does tourism development influence urban development? In addition to the modeling, what are the effective factors on tourism development? What are the effects of tourism development on urban development? FindingsIn line with effective factors on tourism development and its role in urban development, a list of variables was identified and arranged according to theoretical basis of the study. Then, the variables’ validity was checked and confirmed. Afterwards, the variables were evaluated in the form of a structural model. The results of analyses indicate that tourism has been effective on environmental, framework, economic, and social factors of the region. The economic factor plays the most important role in specifying the effects of Kashan tourism development. Income growth is the most tangible indicator affected by tourism development in the region. Capital increase and job diversification are other important indices which are influenced by tourism development in Kashan. Social factor is another crucial factor affected by tourism in Kashan. Four indices are loaded in this factor, including decrease in residents’ peace, increase in local and family income, realization of value of the local culture and efforts for protecting it and increased quality of life. Environmental factor is another factor which is affected by tourism development. The factor has dedicated maximum number of variables to itself which shows that it is largely influenced by tourism development of the region. The last affected factor is framework. Unfortunately, tourism development of the region has been accompanied by many framework destructions.ResultsThe results demonstrate that tourism development has an important role in urban development. This effectiveness was 0.29 at the significance level of 0.000. Therefore, with a confidence of 99%, tourism development influences urban development. Tourism development in Kashan accounts for 0.67% development in cultural services (library, mosque, etc.), 0.66% development in facilities and infrastructure services (water and sewage network, transmission, etc.), 0.65% improvement in residents’ living and 0.52% increase in common services (hygienic service, accumulation of garbage, etc.).
Urban Scape
Mohammad Azad Ahmadi; Mehrdad Karimi Moshaver
Abstract
Today, the issue of visibility assessment and visual impact (dominance) of a building on its surrounding context is considered as one of the most important issues of urban landscape. Accordingly, this paper analyzes the visibility of two high-rise buildings in the center and west of Sanandaj using raw ...
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Today, the issue of visibility assessment and visual impact (dominance) of a building on its surrounding context is considered as one of the most important issues of urban landscape. Accordingly, this paper analyzes the visibility of two high-rise buildings in the center and west of Sanandaj using raw input data and processing them by GIS and ArcGis 10. For the visibility analysis in urban landscape, the mutual visibility between high-rise building and its surrounding area is calculated. This is done traditionally by taking photos from urban areas. However, in this method, the whole region is studied by considering all points and places. The available vegetation such as trees with an approximate transparency ratio is considered to obtain more accurate results. Also, for better evaluation of differences between the amount and trend of visibility, the areas around both buildings (region number 1 is relatively flat and has a river-valley with low depth and mild slope; region number 2 involves dune hills) were classified into the close, intermediate and far fields. The visibility of these two high-rise buildings in their surrounding areas is in the form of output GIS images which is calculated separately for both buildings and all their floors. It means that for building number 1, which has 17 floors, 17 output maps of visibility to surrounding areas are obtained by the software. Also, for building number 2 with 14 floors, 14 output visibility maps are obtained. The findings show that visibility trend of different floors of these two buildings is not a constant and linear trend, it has variations in some points. Among these points, visibility and its effect, relative to surrounding areas, is more important than other floors in the triple fields. The points where visibility curve has track change, steep change and sudden increase show the greater importance of their visibility and their relative dominance than other floors. These floors can visually have more effect on their surrounding environment. Therefore, the design style of these particular floors (milestones in the visibility curve) in high-rise buildings can be important. The changes in floors visibility trend and their values were different for the two buildings. By evaluating the related diagrams, the reasons for this difference were found in three cases: first, the difference in average height of buildings around of two buildings; second, the difference between the tilt around the two buildings; and third, the dune hill in region number 2. Finally, we can say that visibility analysis is considered to be a tool for modeling the visibility in planning high-rise buildings. Before constructing such buildings, visibility analysis can be an effective method to estimate that a floor or an apartment will or will not have a good view after completion. Therefore, this tool can be used to investigate the positive or negative value of a region. Also, the extent to which a building is or is not visible can be very important in decisions about determining the height of a building relative to its surrounding texture (especially in cities with historically valuable texture and touristic landscape).
Urban Planning
MH Y; A P; Maryam Jami
Abstract
Objectives Today, walking is one of the missing links in urban life. Thus, it is required to review the form and structure of today’s streets, which is a great concern for the urban experts and citizens. Therefore, it is crucial to consider urban pedestrians and find solutions to promote urban ...
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Objectives Today, walking is one of the missing links in urban life. Thus, it is required to review the form and structure of today’s streets, which is a great concern for the urban experts and citizens. Therefore, it is crucial to consider urban pedestrians and find solutions to promote urban environmental quality of life and to promote citizens’ satisfaction with the environment. The city of Sareyn is not an exception. Given the climatic conditions of Sareyn and its high traffic, it cannot attract tourists and residents. These circumstances may pose an obstacle to the development of Sareyn in terms of tourism. Thus, constructing pedestrian walkways could facilitate the revitalization and development process of the city. As a result, this research aims to introduce significant factors in constructing pedestrian walkways in Sareyn, which will be a suitable background to guide the development process of the city. Findings This paper applies the path analysis method to determine the factors affecting the construction of pedestrian walkways in Sareyn. The results of regression analysis method for direct effects indicate that about 64% variance in pedestrian walkways is likely to be explained by research indicators. Variables of walkways and transportation, security, economic functions and urban services and facilities are more significant than other variables in predicting the dependent variable. The second and later stages of the path analysis method measures indirect effects. The results of these stages show that the effect of urban services and amenities on the construction of a pedestrian walkway is 46.3%, it is 11.4% for the transportation criterion, 11% for economic performance, 3% for the socio-cultural criterion and 18.1% for the security factor. Sum of the direct and indirect effects of the independent variables on constructing pedestrian walkways shows that the most effective factor in Sareyn city is related to “Walkways and Transportation” factors. Walkways and transportation affect the dependent variable directly by 0.362% and indirectly by 0.091%. Other effective factors in order of importance are security, urban services and facilities, economic, socio-cultural and geographic functions. Results Path analysis method was used to determine the effective factors on making pedestrian walkways in Sareyn, as a pole of tourism in Iran. Due to the multiplicity of factors, multiple regression test was performed. The direct effects were analyzed in the first step and then the indirect effects were calculated. In the first step, it was observed that research factors explained pedestrian walkway construction by 64%. The most significant factors in this stage were urban services and facilities, transportation, security, socio-cultural and economic functions. The most significant indirect factors were determined to be geographic factors with an indirect path and security with two indirect paths. There were 5 direct and 8 indirect paths in this research. Finally, the most important factors were walkways and transportation, followed by security, urban services and facilities, economic, socio-cultural, and geographic factors. The results show that the improvement of the above factors would make good conditions for constructing pedestrian walkways. Furthermore, the improvement of these factors would have a positive effect on the number of pedestrians using walkways. Finally, improvement of other factors would also have such effects.
Urban Management
javad mahdianpoor; mohammad taghavi zavareh; hamidreza saremi
Abstract
Urban development, population growth, and intensified urbanization have led to a variety of issues such as physical distress and decay in most cities around the world. Besides triggering physical effects, this has imposed plenty of economic and social consequences on residential neighborhoods. Therefore, ...
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Urban development, population growth, and intensified urbanization have led to a variety of issues such as physical distress and decay in most cities around the world. Besides triggering physical effects, this has imposed plenty of economic and social consequences on residential neighborhoods. Therefore, it seems essential to investigate, assess, and acknowledge these consequences and to adopt solutions to alleviate the present conditions. The purpose of this study is to explain the urban acupuncture approach for improvement of the quality of residential neighborhoods and presentation of local solutions for management of the problems encountered in residential neighborhoods. In fact, the research seeks to address the notions, principles, and criteria in urban acupuncture in the urban neighborhood scale and apply them to the Tajrish neighborhood in Tehran, Iran. In general, urban acupuncture involves three stages of executive action. In the first stage, the objectives of the interventions are determined after an analysis of the conditions and dominant economic, social, and environmental system. Once the goals are defined, the intervention range is specified, and the points within each region, sub-systems, and stimuli are then determined. In the second stage, the measures and interventions pertaining to each point and the effects and results of the interventions are explained. The important point here is the necessity of appropriateness of the interventions to the conditions of each point and to the effective area for achievement of the desired and expected outcomes. In the third and final stage of measures, the intervention times are planned. The present descriptive-analytical survey involves a fundamental and applied study. The Tajrish neighborhood was selected as the area under investigation. It is a historic core of the city with an extra-local role due to its several potentials, but is confronted today with problems such as physical distress and decay and environmental, economic, and social issues. For evaluation of urban acupuncture solutions within the area investigated in the present study, the theoretical framework, tools, and solutions in urban acupuncture were first reviewed, and the systems affecting the physical, environmental, social, and economic aspects were then explained for specification of the zones of intervention. Next, we analyzed the results obtained by factors such as the influential beneficiaries, probable outcomes of urban acupuncture, and effective stimuli within the area using the method of network analysis and the DC, PRP, and PCI indicators. For the application of urban acupuncture stimuli to the intervention zones, they were then prioritized using thirty mental images for the examination of the residents’ spatial perception, Hierarchical Analysis Process (AHP), and the Expert Choice software, followed by an analysis of the intervention zones using the SWOT technique. A comparative method was used for presentation of the solutions given successful acupuncture experiences and the facilities and limitations of the neighborhood. The research results indicate that sites such as Tajrish Market, Maqsud Beyk River Valley, Arezu Park, and Museum of Music are the most sensitive points in the neighborhood for application of the intervention stimuli.
Urban Design
Seyed Mojtaba Safdarnejad; Seyed Abdolhadi Daneshpour; Mostafa Behzadfar
Abstract
Highlights · Playing various diverse roles by rivers and their abundant quality values for humans and their habitats · Utilizing the competitive advantage of urban rivers according to a ...
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Highlights · Playing various diverse roles by rivers and their abundant quality values for humans and their habitats · Utilizing the competitive advantage of urban rivers according to a comprehensive planning and a holistic, multi-sectoral, intelligent, and creative management · Necessity of paying attention to the core characteristics of the rivers and their use as character shaping components of public places based on urban rivers in planning and design process 1. Introduction Rivers have been effective in the location, appearance, and development of settlements, everywhere including in Iran, and have offered them various qualities. The current problem of water in the country has emphasized the issue of water quality and health of rivers. However, simultaneous protection of rivers, response to the concern of how to handle them in the development of settlements, and utilization of this gift to the benefit of the public requires an identification of their dimensions, functions, and values within different branches of science. Recognition of the importance of rivers, along with avoidance of an incomprehensive view in their planning, management, and exploitation, provides a collective consensus among the people, officials, and professionals, which paves the way for the use of rivers to improve the quality of life. 2. Theoretical Framework By reviewing the functions, values, and qualities of rivers, while emphasizing the need for their protection, this study seeks to re-examine and re-emphasize their importance for settlements and their inhabitants and the need for comprehensive consideration of these natural phenomena. It also highlights the need to change attitudes toward rivers and avoid sectoral planning and management in different scales and systems of study, and indicates the importance of adopting a comprehensive view. In the context of urban design, the study explains the central role of rivers in distinguishing public places. Accordingly, the primary purposes of the research are to review and account for the functions, values, and qualities of rivers for settlements and to explain the dimensions of river-centeredness in cities and public places. The secondary purposes are to account for the different dimensions of urban rivers in accordance with the systems of study in different branches of science and to explain the necessity of adopting a holistic approach in confrontation with urban rivers. The review of the research literature indicates that most studies have examined aspects of the role and value of rivers along with their focuses. Specifically, domestic studies have not attempted to comprehensively investigate the issue, and involve minor references to certain functions or qualities of rivers. In addition, these studies have not examined the centrality of rivers in settlements and public places. 3. Methodology This developmental-applied research seeks to reform the attitudes and perspectives of urban management professionals and experts in river-related branches of science (including urban planning and design) and to note the importance of a holistic view for their protection and use by reviewing the roles and functions of rivers and their qualities and values for humans and settlements. In addition, the present study attempts to investigate the centrality of the river in public places that are based on this natural phenomenon. It is based on the empiricism paradigm and a qualitative approach, where the method of multi-case study is adopted to examine the status of theoretical concepts extracted from the literature in order to collect the necessary data for description, analysis, and comparison of the case samples along with field surveys. 4. Results and Discussion The present study has examined the related literature including field surveys conducted in different Iranian cities with rivers, identified, formulated, and presented the roles and functions/values and qualities of the river as environmental/ecological, physical/spatial, functional, economic, social/cultural, perceptual and psychological, legal, geographical, and other systems of study, and shown the scopes of investigation of various branches of science for them. In addition, it has introduced the multiple dimensions of rivers and indicated the necessity of overhaul and metamorphosis treatment of rivers due to their multifaceted nature after provision of the required framework within river-related branches of science. On the one hand, the study has identified the items that can be inferred as differentiating factors in river-based public places using river characteristics with logical conclusions drawn from river roles/functions/values/qualities. On the other hand, the findings confirm that water and its effects and characteristics (i.e. the status of the river as basis) are the most important factors used for distinguishing river-centered public places from others. Therefore, it is necessary in the planning and design of such places to consider the central features of the river and use them as components that shape the distinct personality of the place. Thus, effectiveness of the river and river-centeredness in public places with rivers as basis at sustainable place-making requires particular concern for activity and attempt, function and use, climatic comfort, economic competitiveness, social interaction, identity and culture, energy supply, education and culture, landscaping, physical and mental well-being, self-actualization, pedestrianism, meaning creation, infrastructure, appearance and landscape, internal cohesion, external cohesion, and connection with the nature. 5. Conclusion Playing numerous, diverse roles, rivers provide many values and qualities for the settlements involving them and their inhabitants. Although Iran is located mostly in arid and semi-arid climates, many of its settlements experience the presence of small and large rivers, permanent and seasonal. Taking advantage of this opportunity and enjoying such qualities and values as a competitive advantage requires a well-codified, comprehensive plan and transcendental, intelligent, creative management. The results of the research demonstrate that most of the interviewees believe that the river can be used as a public place provided that the required training is offered to users, and proper planning, design, and maintenance is established under the supervision of the government and urban management as designated domains for the river free of the risk of damaging it. Potential applications of this research include the integration of planning, design, and management of rivers, sustainable place-making and reconstruction with a focus on rivers, revision of urban development documents, and revision of the relevant laws. Acknowledgement The present article has been developed based on the PhD dissertation of Seyed Mojtaba Safdarnejad in Urban Planning, entitled Regeneration of Urban Rivers as Sustainable Public Places, in progress at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Iran University of Science and Technology under supervision of Dr. Sayed Abdolhadi Daneshpour and advisory of Dr. Mustafa Behzadfar. Highlights 1. Playing various diverse roles by rivers and their abundant quality values for humans and their habitats 2- Utilizing the competitive advantage of urban rivers according to a comprehensive planning and a holistic, multi-sectoral, intelligent, and creative management 3- Necessity of paying attention to the core characteristics of the rivers and their use as character shaping components of public places based on urban rivers in planning and design process
Urban Design
Azadeh Alizadeh; samaneh khosravaninezhad; Mohammad Falahati; reza akbari
Abstract
Highlights The most important criteria in nightlife spaces is "Being" and "safety" has the least impact on creating an urban night space. Factors that affect night urban spaces design can be classified in two categories: "Creator factors" and "Supporter factors". Creator factors are related ...
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Highlights The most important criteria in nightlife spaces is "Being" and "safety" has the least impact on creating an urban night space. Factors that affect night urban spaces design can be classified in two categories: "Creator factors" and "Supporter factors". Creator factors are related to attraction and producing the night space and the Supporter factors are related to its population maintenance and how space is used and Determines the type and quality of space experience. Introduction Cities are changing in the contemporary world, and the most important tools for this transformation involve the time component and it synthesis with culture, art, and technology to reproduce urban spaces. The result is the concept of nightlife and urban night spaces. Due to the importance of time in contemporary life and changing time structures resulting from lifestyle transformation, better utilization of time in urban life can be achieved in these spaces, and the vitality of daily activities can extend into the night hours. In the city of Yazd, Iran, night spaces encourage greater presence in space, especially in hot seasons, and enhance the city vitality, which is currently one of the most important urban management concerns, temporally distributing population density and keeping them in space for longer periods of time. Given that night urban spaces require their own design considerations, this study was aimed at explaining the factors and criteria that affect urban night space design. Theoretical Framework Two dimensions were identified for night spaces through a review of the literature on the definition of nightlife and 24-hour cities and their analysis from the aspect of night urban space design. These included sociability arising from the physical space and perception of the function of space. Then, criteria and indicators were defined for the above dimensions. Methodology After the effective criteria were extracted from the literature and experience, they were prioritized using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and evaluated with respect to Kashani Street in Yazd. The most important advantage of this hybrid method, focused more on the qualitative aspect, involved the assessment and analysis of quantitative data in urban spaces and confirmation of the accuracy of the results through interpretation and enrichment. In order to prioritize the criteria in the quantitative method, the questionnaire tool and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Friedman tests were used (The reliability of the questionnaire was 0.812). In the qualitative method, these criteria were analyzed using environmental assessment techniques (field study and observation at different times in the period from 7 PM to 12 AM and open interviews) on Kashani Street. Results and Discussion The prioritization of the criteria indicated that flexibility had no effect on urban nightlife. Moreover, attendance exhibited the greatest and safety had the least impacts on the development of urban night spaces. The criteria were prioritized as attendance, security, inclusiveness, attractiveness, legibility, continuity, enclosure, spatial enticement, eventfulness, visual accessibility, and safety. A qualitative evaluation of these criteria in regard to Kashani Street demonstrated that the most important criteria, including attendance and security, provided the greatest potentials of this street for turning into an urban night space due to the density of activities and appropriate population. In contrast, criteria such as attractiveness, continuity, spatial enticement, and eventfulnessrequired plenty of design and planning to create urban night spaces. Conclusion Based on the results, the design considerations of night urban spaces were classified into two categories: creator factors and supporter factors. The former concerns attraction and construction of night spaces, while the latter pertains to their population maintenance and how space is used to specify the type and quality of space experience. The creator factors included attendance, security, inclusiveness, and attractiveness. The supporter factors included legibility, continuity, enclosure, spatial enticement, eventfulness, visual accessibility, and safety. The creator factors indicated the potentials of spaces for creation of the night space, reinforced through synthesis with the supporter factors and bringing about the correct performance of night spaces through improvement of the quality of the space experience. This proposed two-fold framework could serve to complement the other aspects of night urban spaces (economic, cultural, governance, tourism, etc.) and to function as a guide to design of such spaces. In Yazd, night spaces provide contemporary responses to the new lifestyle to meet the needs of different groups, especially the youth, who can lead cultural challenges to creative use of their abilities. Combination of nocturnal spaces with urban tourism can create a new experience of being there at historical places and presenting the contemporary assets of the city along with its historical assets. It provides a booming service economy for sustainable urban development.
maryam shaebani; mahmood sharepour
Abstract
Highlights- Streets are where urban spaces and activities are connected and linked.- Jan Gehl argues that activities performed in the public sphere are particularly important in the understanding of this space.- Streets of Tehran do not provide favorable conditions for social activities.- There is a ...
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Highlights- Streets are where urban spaces and activities are connected and linked.- Jan Gehl argues that activities performed in the public sphere are particularly important in the understanding of this space.- Streets of Tehran do not provide favorable conditions for social activities.- There is a kind of centralism in the quality of street scenes in the northern regions of Tehran. IntroductionStreets are a key part of our societies and human life. An abundance of theories have emphasized how streets and sidewalks can be utilized for social purposes, because street design is mainly treated as part of the general planning cycle component. This reflects the fact that people use the streets in front of their homes, those from their neighborhoods, and those around their workplaces, and the quality of streets and other public spaces thus affects their everyday lives and directly contributes to their sense of welfare.Theoretical frameworkToday, the human dimension of public spaces has been considered more than ever by urban planners and designers, because activities performed in public spaces can affect the quality and quantity of people’s encouragement to stop and interact in these spaces.Streets are the sites where urban spaces and activities are connected and linked. In his well-known book Life between Buildings, Jan Gehl argues that activities performed in the public sphere are particularly important in the understanding of this space. According to Flower, people’s activity in public spaces can be classified into three categories. Firstly, there are necessary activities, which are only partly influenced by the physical quality of the environment, as it is essential to perform them to continue life. Secondly, there are optional activities, which occur only in optimal conditions and are thus regard as the direct means of measurement of the quality of public spaces. These activities also affect users’ perceptions of space. Thirdly, there are social activities, almost all of which arise from cross-fertilization activities.Life between Buildings is the most important study by Jan Gehl, which belongs to the social context of urban design according to Carmona’s classification and has turned into a classic source in the field. The importance of Jan Gel’s studies lies in the observation that the relationship between the levels of activities and physical elements in public spaces has not been sufficiently considered, because social designers have usually paid attention to the forms rather than the activities of outdoor open spaces. Therefore, it can be stated that this book is of exceptional importance for those who seek a deeper understanding of social planning and architecture. The present study attempts to contribute to the theoretical development of the key concepts addressed by Jan Gehl in the context of Iranian urban studies.MethodologyUsing an exploratory sequential mixed method in the first stage (qualitative part), observational and thematic analyses were made to analyze the data, and in the second stage (quantitative part), the survey method was carried out. In the qualitative part, five streets in Tehran were selected using purposive sampling with maximum variation, and 302 individuals were selected as the sample population in the quantitative part using sampling proportional to volume and simple random sampling. The research population involved all citizens of Tehran at the age of 15 years or higher. To analyze the data, SPSS 23 and PLS 3 were used.Result and discussionThe findings demonstrate the occurrence of a larger number of necessary activities than optional ones, which obscures the quality of the street scene of Tehran and indicates that the streets of Tehran do not provide favorable conditions for social activities; this is the very unfavorable situation that Jan Gehl has mentioned. Another notable result in this regard concerns the occurrence of optional activities among residents of northern Tehran and of necessary activities among residents of southern Tehran, which clearly indicates a kind of centralism in the quality of landscape of streets in the northern parts of Tehran.ConclusionTehran, as a city that has experienced various manifestations of capitalist life since the 1920s, has also exhibited a variety of spatial inequality in the course of its social and historical development. This problem has created a different unequal space within the urban context, which involves a different demographic and class context in terms of quality and desirability. The existence of this form of inequality is evident on the surface level and in people’s daily life.The better quality of streets in the northern parts of Tehran than in the southern parts and the occurrence of optional activities among the residents of Northern Tehran clearly indicate a kind of centralization in the northern areas of the metropolis. This should be considered more closely in the future urban development policies for the southern parts of Tehran (with the approach of spatial justice). It should be subject to the scientific, practical attention of urban planning officials, because the expansion of outdoor activities is greatly influenced by physical planning. Just as a certain design can be created in a city through the selection of materials and colors, better conditions can be provided for outdoor events that lead to urban vitality through decisions and planning.AcknowledgmentThis article is taken from the doctoral dissertation of the first author entitled " A Sociological Approach to the Impact of Street Scene Quality in Urban Ethics: Spatial Justice Analysis in Tehran " which was defended under the guidance of the second author at University of Mazandaran.
Urban Planning
r h; a m; F M
Volume 3, Issue 12 , November 2014, , Pages 33-46
Abstract
In recent decades the issues of urban quality of life and the promotion of citizens’ satisfaction in regards to their living environment have attracted the attention of many researchers and international organizations as high as the United Nation which releases an annual report entitled “Human ...
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In recent decades the issues of urban quality of life and the promotion of citizens’ satisfaction in regards to their living environment have attracted the attention of many researchers and international organizations as high as the United Nation which releases an annual report entitled “Human Report”. This report illustrates the differences between cities in terms of level of quality of life. Quality of life is measured by various factors and one of the most important measures of quality of life is physical security which if paid attention to reduces problems such as the devastating effects of natural disasters, lack of sense of relief in urban spaces and so forth. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of life based on standards of quality of life and quality of physical security in settlements. The standards of quality of life and physical security in both objective and subjective aspects in the ancient city of Urmia was evaluated and investigated as a case study. The method used in this paper is survey-analysis. The investigation was carried out using questionnaires, AHP (AHP) model and Fuzzy Techniques, linear regression and Pearson correlation analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. By using library resources and research undertaken on the subject, this research determined indicators of physical quality and security including access to housing facilities, infrastructure and home ownership conditions. In order to achieve the goal of study, the hypothesis “it seems that improvement in the quality of life and physical security in the old city of Urmia can result in the satisfaction of its citizens” was introduced. To analyze the data and verify the hypothesis, the indicator index was first calculated. In order to analyze the objective data, off-scaling phase was used and the degree of membership of variable indicators studied for each housing unit was obtained. Finally, by combining the coefficients of the variables and the degree of membership variables, objective life quality final score (a measure of security and physical quality) per dwelling unit was attained. In the next section, subjective survey data was examined. By combining the coefficients and parameters of the obtained scores of Likert scale questionnaire, subjective quality of life in the final score was calculated for each residential unit. To assess the relationship between physical quality and physical security with mental quality of life, the standards of security and physical quality as independent parameters was introduced. The combination of responses from citizens were introduced as dependent variables. By testing the hypothesis and obtaining a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.984 and coefficient of determination of 0.969 showed that there is a very strong correlation between urban life quality index and physical security in the old city of Urmia. The results show that satisfaction in access to services statistically has a significant positive effect on subjective quality of life and resident satisfaction from the variables of quality of life and physical security leads to greater increase in satisfaction of the subjective quality of life. These findings remind urban planners that physical parameters have a great role in increasing satisfaction of quality of life of citizens.
Urban Scape
m k; a a; m a
Volume 4, Issue 13 , February 2015, , Pages 33-42
Abstract
Isovist and Visibility Graph analysis tools are used to quantify and measure the quality of space, and despite their lack of maturity and evolution, they are considered to be the future of space analysis tools by researchers. This study was undertaken with the purpose of introducing the aforementioned ...
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Isovist and Visibility Graph analysis tools are used to quantify and measure the quality of space, and despite their lack of maturity and evolution, they are considered to be the future of space analysis tools by researchers. This study was undertaken with the purpose of introducing the aforementioned tools for analyzing Sanandaj’s urban areas. In this study, four different urban areas in Sanandaj were selected and after the software was prepared, the areas were analyzed by Isovist and Visibility Graph analysis. Then, the charts and data obtained from these regions were compared. The interpretation of the findings of the Isovist and Visibility Graph analysis reveal that in the old region builders used a sort of inherent and collective standard for measurements despite building without modern urban development maps. Amongst all the four urban areas of Sanandaj, this region has the greatest visual richness and diversity; in addition, the special analysis of neighborhood size indicates harmony and balance in this region. Moreover, the results illustrate that the nearest wall and special neighborhood size indices have the highest correlation, followed by jaggedness which has the highest correlation with revelation. However, openness factor and the nearest wall have the lowest correlation. The openness factor indicates the degree observers feel themselves in the space and also present their visual dominance over the space. In this factor, the standard deviation values of the new and the middle areas are low which indicates that the openness coefficient is the same in all areas and the individual experiences monotony and boredom. The feeling of being in space and attention to the environment in these regions (especially in new areas) is significantly reduced. In addition, in this index the high standard deviation for informal settlement areas is merely due to the diversity of the streets and sidewalks, but in the old area, the high standard deviation is due to the combination of sidewalks with squares and various open spaces spread in the region. Thus, the only area with visual richness and diversity is the old area. The nearest wall index signifies the domination of the wall in the informal settlement area over the spaces. In the middle area, the surrounding long streets and linear views along with visual opening and open spaces with lower degree of circumscription appear. According to this index, the old area has the lowest standard deviation which indicates visual space sequence and the feeling of the existence of a united identity in the area by the observer. Since the revelation index indicates the rate of change in the field of view during movement, the highest value of kurtosis and drift in the revelation index of the old area indicates that this area has the most variations and changes in vision for the moving observer and meets the quality of mystery in vision and visual richness. Finally, the results concerning the four types of regions in Sanandaj indicate that the Isovist and Visibility Graph analysis factors reveal the similarities and differences between these regions in terms of space properties and visual quality. Therefore, using these tools in decision-making related to urban design can significantly contribute to the promotion of the visual quality of the urban fabric.
Urban Design
Mozhgan Jafari; Bahram Siavashpuor; Abasalt Askari
Abstract
Plenty of research has been conducted worldwide on the notion of segregation and the factors effective on it. Globalization, economic crises, rise and fall of governments, and failure to invest in the housing sector are some of the major factors that have made segregation severer in cities. The current ...
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Plenty of research has been conducted worldwide on the notion of segregation and the factors effective on it. Globalization, economic crises, rise and fall of governments, and failure to invest in the housing sector are some of the major factors that have made segregation severer in cities. The current conditions of segregation and discriminatory behavior indicate the potential for economic growth without exploitation, including human resources and social and economic communication. Cities have turned into more of places where phenomena such as extreme poverty, social harm, and social segregation are concentrated. As a term, segregation, which denotes separation of some individuals in a group from others, is a major urban problem that jeopardizes integration in the city, and prevents it from functioning properly as a single whole. A variety of approaches have been adopted to confront segregation, including the analytical approach adopted in this research to investigation of segregation from environmental, physical, and spatial aspects. The theoretical framework of the research for the study of this urban problem involves the theory of space syntax examined from the perspective of urban space configuration. The theory is based on the idea that there is mutual interaction between the physical and social structures of the city. This research involves a case study of a district in the city of Sabzevar, Iran known as Kuye Golestan, and is aimed at reducing social segregation by identifying its physical structure and presenting solutions for its improvement. The investigation also seeks to assess the effects of syntactic variables on non-syntactic parameters to help obtain a specific classification of the factors with the greatest impacts on the physical structure. This is an exploratory study with a hybrid method, where both quantitative and qualitative methods are used for answering the research questions. The qualitative method was implemented through a field study using observation as a technique and a checklist as a tool, and the quantitative method was implemented through a spatial analysis of the axial lines in the UCL Depthmap software environment. The syntactic variables were assessed as independent ones, and the non-syntactic variables as dependent ones, and the relationships between them were finally evaluated using multivariate linear regression analysis in SPSS. The results of the study demonstrated that there were significant relationships between the syntactic variables and lighting, landscape, noticeable corners, convenience, valued elements, entrances and openings, building quality, and building age, in order of priority. On that basis, maximal changes in the physical structure are expected to be achieved through changes made in the above variables, which would lead to changes in the social structure.
Urban Planning
Seyyed Jamal Seyyed Hashemi; Hamidreza Jayhani
Abstract
In the second half of the past century, urban development programs, including master and comprehensive plans, have led to extensive intervention in ancient cities, while the construction of streets had already led to substantial changes therein. An examination of the interventions indicates their inefficiency ...
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In the second half of the past century, urban development programs, including master and comprehensive plans, have led to extensive intervention in ancient cities, while the construction of streets had already led to substantial changes therein. An examination of the interventions indicates their inefficiency in solving urban problems. At the same time, these interventions have led to new issues, including a lack of integrity in the historic urban areas and their fabrics. In this article, the impact of the new streets in the Sultan Mir Ahmad neighborhood in the city of Kashan, Iran was investigated. The process of urban changes in Kashan was organic until the early 20th century, limited to areas around the heart of the city, the historic bazaar, and the governmentcitadel. Subsequently, the pattern of urban development changed, and construction of straight, long streets was prioritized in line with the growing trend of modernization and the expansion of automobile use. The two streets of Fazel Naraqi and Alavi have been constructed with an interval of about two decades near the Sultan Mir Ahmad neighborhood. One is located to the north of the neighborhood, and the other separates a part of the area from its larger part. This article sought to study how the two streets influence the spatial structure of the Sultan Mir Ahmad neighborhood. For a thorough analysis of the changes that have occurred, the space syntax method was used. Therefore, axial maps of Kashan were provided for three periods: the 1920s, 1960s, and 2010s. Then, the area under investigation was analyzed using integration, depth, and choice as indicators. The results demonstrated an enhancement in global integration as a result of the construction of the Fazel Naraqi and Alavi streets. It should be noted, however, that the impacts of the two streets are different. Alavi Street has had a greater influence due to its proximity to the center of the neighborhood and intersection with its main paths. Subsequently, it was found through an investigation of the local integration and choice indicators that the center of the region had lost its original position, and that Alavi Street had come to be known as the most crowded, most accessible route in the region as the new center of the urban area, with the old heart of the neighborhood turned into a sub-center. In fact, two events have occurred along with the emergence of the development plans and construction of straight streets at the heart of the fabric. Firstly, the construction of streets nearthe neighborhood intersecting its major paths has led to an increase in accessibility and integrity and a decrease in the depth of the urban area. At the same time, however, part of the neighborhood that is adjacent to new communication routes has experienced increased permeability and accessibility. This has caused the inner parts of the neighborhood, including the historic center, to lose their positions in the urban spatial structure and turn into sub-centers.
