Aliakbar Salaripour; Sara Nikmard Namin; Mohammad Nouripour sedehi; Zahra Ahmadi
Abstract
In recent decades, a strategic approach based on developing collective urban visions has been introduced within Iran's urban planning system. In this context, the present research investigates the "Public Event: Rasht 1422" and explores the significance of event-driven approaches in shaping ...
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In recent decades, a strategic approach based on developing collective urban visions has been introduced within Iran's urban planning system. In this context, the present research investigates the "Public Event: Rasht 1422" and explores the significance of event-driven approaches in shaping these visions. Consequently, by adopting a policy analysis method within a broader model that includes textual analysis, four distinct stages in the visioning process and implementation of the Rasht 1422 public event were carried out and analyzed.
The first stage involved a comprehensive review of theoretical foundations. In the second stage, through refining the conceptual model for developing Rasht's public event, the critical interplay of three key elements – space/place, citizens, and urban institutions/management – was elucidated in creating discursive and interactive spaces for vision formulation. This stage further included a qualitative review and systematic categorization of policy documents using textual analysis techniques.
Following the document analysis, the third stage focused on pre-defining the event framework through:
Completing and analyzing citizen questionnaires and in-depth interviews
Conducting working group sessions and interviews with key stakeholders
Incorporating insights from urban elites and influential figures in Rasht
This participatory visioning approach ensured that the core vision axes were developed through inclusive engagement with the majority of stakeholders and decision-makers. The fourth and final stage involved executing the main event, where three primary activities were conducted:
Finalizing and prioritizing 29 key vision axes
Developing the comprehensive vision statement
Formalizing the collective urban vision
Through this step-by-step implementation of the participatory event model, the study presents a practical framework for enhancing citizen engagement and multi-stakeholder participation in urban visioning processes. The research demonstrates how such event-based approaches can effectively bridge the gap between urban institutions, citizens, and physical spaces to co-create sustainable urban futures.
Hamideh Boghrati; Toktam Hanai
Abstract
Increased environmental pressures and threats to cultural heritage in historic areas have affected the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of these regions, making a comprehensive assessment of these consequences challenging. The complexity arising from the multitude of local and regional variables ...
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Increased environmental pressures and threats to cultural heritage in historic areas have affected the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of these regions, making a comprehensive assessment of these consequences challenging. The complexity arising from the multitude of local and regional variables has made it difficult to form integrated and operational analytical frameworks. This research aimed to design a new methodological framework to improve the accuracy and efficiency of assessing the environmental impacts of tourism in historic contexts. It did so through a meta-method approach, combining qualitative and quantitative methods.
Data was gathered through a systematic review of 28 selected articles from reputable databases like Web of Science and was qualitatively analyzed using MAXQDA software within a thematic coding framework. The research process had three main stages: first, identifying methodological considerations in previous studies; second, critically analyzing methodological challenges (data collection tools, sampling, and analysis); and finally, designing a hybrid model based on integrating quantitative data (e.g., the contribution of influencing factors) and qualitative data (e.g., the perspectives of local stakeholders).
The findings show that previous studies primarily focused on the quantitative measurement of variables such as tourist consumption of natural resources (56%), transportation systems (68%), and economic development (60%). In contrast, the socio-cultural dimensions and the role of local stakeholders were not systematically addressed.
This research's methodological innovation lies in combining a systematic review with in-depth qualitative analysis, using hybrid tools (structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews), and incorporating the results of studies that included the views of local stakeholders in their analysis. This approach provided a deeper understanding of the social and cultural dimensions. It allowed for the simultaneous identification of macro patterns through quantitative data and the hidden layers of conflicts through qualitative data, which were mostly studied separately in previous research. The results emphasize that using adaptive frameworks and a hybrid methodology in future studies can bridge the gap between purely quantitative assessments and passive qualitative analyses, leading to sustainable policies in managing historic tourism.
Farshad Nourian; Sajedeh Nazarimajd
Abstract
Rapid urban development has led to significant transformations in physical environments, activities, and place experiences. As a result, the meaning and collective memory have also undergone transformations. Today, people increasingly use social media across various domains; and one of the uses of these ...
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Rapid urban development has led to significant transformations in physical environments, activities, and place experiences. As a result, the meaning and collective memory have also undergone transformations. Today, people increasingly use social media across various domains; and one of the uses of these social networks that has become more prevalent among users in recent years is the recording and sharing of past and present memories and experiences in different ways. The way individuals perceive a place and create collective memory has been profoundly influenced by the direct and indirect interactions between places and people through social media tools. However, there is limited research on the impact of popular social media tools such as Instagram on the urban context, particularly on collective memory regarding urban spaces. Even though there is significant discussion about the impact of new technologies on place, the evolving impact of information and communication technologies on the perception of place is evident today. However, the integration of these technologies into urban planning and design practices remains a topic of debate. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge about the impacts of social media on collective memories of places, which in some cases has led to the creation of less memorable and less meaningful places. This research, by adopting a qualitative content analysis method, aims to develop a theoretical framework by juxtaposing the concepts of Instagram social media and collective memories in urban spaces. This article is divided into two parts: analysis and synthesis. At first, a preliminary chart was formed to examine the one-to-one relationships between the main concepts of collective memory and social media. The final framework illustrates the significant impact of using Instagram narratives through a dual model of individual and place (physical environment, activity, and meaning) over the time process of interaction with a place on the process of memory representation. Ultimately, the results of this study suggest that research in this area can be refined within the framework of concepts such as collective memory and Instagram social media. The present research indicates that new opportunities for interaction with places are emerging due to the increasing use of digital social media, especially Instagram, necessitating research on the impact of these social media tools in the urban context. The proposed theoretical model is a step forward in understanding the role of Instagram narratives in representing collective memories. Urban design professionals can use this model in the context of urban spaces to enhance and preserve the collective memories of individuals. This framework can be utilized for approaches to reviving memories in urban spaces with historical identity, which, in addition to physical dimensions, focus on moving forward and integrating the psychological process of collective memory representation. Additionally, this model can clarify how individuals perceive their environment in the new internet era, which is highly valuable for urban actions. Since the ultimate goal of urban design is to create meaningful places, this model provides a valuable basis for integrating the increasing use of social media with urban actions.
Roya Hatami varzaneh; Mahmoud Shokuhi Dolatabadi; Fatemeh Bahrami Gahruei
Abstract
Urban stress, as one of the most prevalent mental health-related disorders, reflects the connection between the urban environment and its impact on human psychological well-being. In this regard, enhancing the quality of urban spaces, with an emphasis on therapeutic urban design, contributes to the improvement ...
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Urban stress, as one of the most prevalent mental health-related disorders, reflects the connection between the urban environment and its impact on human psychological well-being. In this regard, enhancing the quality of urban spaces, with an emphasis on therapeutic urban design, contributes to the improvement of residents’ mental health. The assessment of perceived stress levels in urban spaces is influenced by sound and visual environments as well as urban stressors, including natural features, traffic, enclosure, crowding, and natural or human-made sounds. Although the impact of sound and visual environments on various aspects of mental health is well-recognized and highlighted in previous studies, their independent and interactive impacts on urban residents’ stress remain largely unknown and require further investigation. Therefore, conducting studies tailored to the specific conditions of Isfahan is essential to expand the knowledge of urban psychology. The main research question is as follows: How do sound and visual environments affect the perceived stress levels of residents in urban spaces of Isfahan? The present study was designed as a laboratory-based experiment aimed at evaluating the therapeutic impacts of sound and visual environments on residents’ stress in the urban spaces of Isfahan. This study was conducted using a two-way factorial design (four sound environments × five visual environments), and participants were randomly assigned to one of the 20 therapeutic environments in a virtual reality laboratory. These 20 videos were produced to realistically simulate urban experiences and examine their impacts. Each video combined images of selected urban spaces in Isfahan (Shahid Rajaei Park, Sepah Street, Imam Ali Underpass, and Shahid Keshvari Neighborhood) with sounds including nature sounds, crowd murmurs, and traffic noise. Nature sounds represented relaxing experiences in green spaces, crowd sounds reflected human presence in urban environments, and traffic noise represented exposure to auditory stress-inducing sources. This collection covers a diverse range of common urban spaces in Isfahan and represents familiar and dominant auditory experiences for residents. A total of 100 students from the University of Art Isfahan completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to induce a moderate level of stress before exposure to the therapeutic environments. Participants reported their stress levels both before and after exposure to a randomly assigned environmental treatment using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). The results indicate that the impact of sound environments on reducing urban stress is 1.4 times greater than that of visual environments. Moreover, environments with natural characteristics, regardless of whether they are auditory or visual, have a greater impact on stress reduction compared to environments with artificial features. The combination of natural landscapes and nature sounds had the strongest impact on perceived stress in urban spaces compared to other environments. These findings indicate that sound and visual environments influence perceived stress both independently and interactively. This interaction plays a crucial role in enhancing the quality of urban spaces and shaping users’ psychological experiences, which is observable in specific combinations of sound and visual environments.
Mojtaba Rafieian; Nafiseh Zahed
Abstract
Since the emergence of the concept of the “family-friendly city” in 1995, numerous countries have implemented plans and extensive studies to operationalize this approach; however, a precise and comprehensive definition of the concept and its attributes has not yet been developed. By conducting a ...
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Since the emergence of the concept of the “family-friendly city” in 1995, numerous countries have implemented plans and extensive studies to operationalize this approach; however, a precise and comprehensive definition of the concept and its attributes has not yet been developed. By conducting a a systematic review of existing research from 1995 to 2025 in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, this study seeks to close this gap.Using bibliometric methods, including citation analysis and keyword co-occurrence analysis with VOSviewer, together with a qualitative review of the literature, it examines research trends, key concepts, indicators, gaps, and future directions. The inclusion criteria covered studies related to family-friendly urban planning, and after removing duplicates and conducting a thorough screening process, 57 articles were selected for final analysis. The findings indicate that research activity in this field has followed a fluctuating pattern, with a notable turning point in 2020. The United States, with 22 percent of the publications and 306 citations, leads research on the family-friendly city. The concept encompasses spatial dimensions (affordable housing, safe transportation), social dimensions (social capital, diversity), economic dimensions (employment opportunities), environmental dimensions (safety and sustainability), governance and participation (family involvement), and temporal dimensions (work–life balance). The results also indicate that the family-friendly city has undergone a conceptual shift from focusing on physical aspects toward sustainability and livability. A geographic concentration on North America and Europe, along with a scarcity of studies in the Global South, represents a key limitation of research on family-friendly cities. This study shows that the family-friendly city approach can serve as a strategic framework for creating sustainable, inclusive, and livable urban environments. It offers policymakers and urban planners a valuable resource for making more informed and effective decisions about the future of families in cities.
esmail Dalir; Morad Nasiri; Saman Abizadeh; Masoomeh Amoozadeh
Abstract
Security and safety of the urban environment is a multidimensional and key phenomenon in urban studies. A safe city is a city that, while reducing physical and psychological threats, provides the basis for promoting sustainable well-being and security for its citizens. In examining the relationship between ...
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Security and safety of the urban environment is a multidimensional and key phenomenon in urban studies. A safe city is a city that, while reducing physical and psychological threats, provides the basis for promoting sustainable well-being and security for its citizens. In examining the relationship between safety and the urban environment, two basic dimensions are considered: the social dimension (behavioral and institutional), and the structural dimension (physical and physical) that is related to urban security. From this perspective, urban security requires the simultaneous analysis of physical, social, service and mental indicators. Also, safety assessment in urban environments is usually carried out based on two categories of criteria: objective criteria such as crime statistics, accident rates and infrastructure quality and subjective criteria including citizens' perception of safety, in which factors such as lighting, visibility and social cohesion play a role. In addition, indicators such as the quality of green space, air pollution, access to health services, job opportunities, and the level of preparedness against natural disasters are also effective in shaping urban safety. In general, the combination of these indicators and their comprehensive analysis provides a more accurate picture of the state of urban security and safetyUrban safety and security, as one of the main indicators of quality of life, play an important role in the social and physical sustainability of cities. The number of population and the complexity of the urban structure have made its management and analysis a major challenge for urban planners and managers. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating and measuring the level of safety and security in the urban areas of Ardabil. This study was applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and analytical in terms of method. A number of 15 changes were set in the form of 30 questions with a five-option Likert design and were provided to 383 people from the statistical sample in the five regions of Ardabil city using the Cochrane method of random sample selection. The analytical model of Vazpas and TOPSIS was used for the analyses. The findings showed that from several cases of the study, the most socially focused and the use of the traffic management system played the least role, thus urban areas 3, 1, 2, 4 and 5 were among the lowest in terms of urban environment safety and security, and overall, Ardabil city was in a higher than average state with a Qi value of 0.5535. Based on these results, urban safety in Ardabil relies more on social, physical, and managerial factors than on security requirements.
parima Yami Marandi; Hassan sajadzadeh
Abstract
Street cafés have increasingly become influential elements in shaping the urban experience along the Enghelab Square–University of Tehran axis. Beyond their service-oriented function, these cafés possess the capacity to create “third places” and strengthen social interactions. ...
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Street cafés have increasingly become influential elements in shaping the urban experience along the Enghelab Square–University of Tehran axis. Beyond their service-oriented function, these cafés possess the capacity to create “third places” and strengthen social interactions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of street cafés in enhancing the components of the third place based on Oldenburg’s theory and to analyze how physical, social, managerial, and perceptual indicators influence user experience.This research is applied and descriptive–analytical in nature. Data were collected from 380 users through a 55-item questionnaire based on 13 third-place indicators, with a reliability coefficient of 0.94. Data analysis was conducted using Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Pearson correlation, Friedman, and ANOVA tests in SPSS.The findings indicate that spatial quality and sensory experience (3.80), social vitality and liveliness (3.78), café form and architecture (3.82), and especially café management (3.90) showed strong performance and played the most significant role in shaping a positive user experience. Dimensions such as sense of belonging, activity diversity, and perceptual comfort were rated as moderately high. Conversely, dimensions related to continuity of activity (3.36), physical interaction with the street and soft boundaries (3.50), and particularly the urban environmental index (2.88) received the lowest mean scores, highlighting weaknesses in environmental sustainability and spatial integration with public spaces.Overall, the results demonstrate that street cafés along the Enghelab–University of Tehran corridor act as urban activators beyond their consumptive role, fostering social interactions, enhancing spatial experience, and increasing sense of belonging—thus contributing meaningfully to the formation of third places. However, improvements in environmental sustainability, café–street integration, and management of extended operating hours are essential for strengthening third-place functions in these settings. These findings can serve as a basis for urban planning, policy enhancement, and human-centered design in similar urban corridors.
Monib Talebi; Nina Ghaslani; Atoosa Hassani; Mehrdad Yousefzamani
Abstract
Traditional bazaars in Iranian cities function not only as infrastructures for everyday commodity exchange but also as complex lifeworlds saturated with social relations, memory, and multisensory experience. In recent decades, the introduction of modern retail elements—particularly the glass storefront—has ...
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Traditional bazaars in Iranian cities function not only as infrastructures for everyday commodity exchange but also as complex lifeworlds saturated with social relations, memory, and multisensory experience. In recent decades, the introduction of modern retail elements—particularly the glass storefront—has posed new challenges to these lifeworlds. Focusing on the traditional bazaar of Sanandaj, this study seeks to understand the lived experience of the shop window in this context and to interpret its relationship with the spatial–social logic of the bazaar. The research adopts a hermeneutic phenomenological approach inspired by Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with sixteen participants, complemented by field observations and systematic note-taking on spatial conditions and behavioral patterns in the bazaar. Data analysis followed a multi-stage process involving thematic articulation, the construction of meaning horizons, and the fusion of horizons between researcher and participants.
Findings reveal that the shop window in the Sanandaj bazaar embodies a dual experience. On the one hand, it is perceived as a protective boundary that reduces dust penetration, minimizes the daily burden of arranging and clearing merchandise, enhances product security, and to some extent regulates the excessive spillover of stalls into pedestrian passageways. On the other hand, it transforms the fluid threshold between stall and passage into a rigid and formal façade, diminishes the bodily presence and natural surveillance of shopkeepers, reduces the multisensory richness of the bazaar to a predominantly visual display, conflicts with the occupational structures reliant on tactile and olfactory engagement, and resonates only weakly with the lifestyle and mental image of the bazaar’s primary user groups—particularly rural visitors, low-income shoppers, and older adults.
The study underscores the need to avoid uniform, storefront-oriented renovation schemes in historic bazaars and highlights three key considerations: aligning modes of display with the nature of each occupation, preserving and reinterpreting the living threshold between stall and passage, and remaining attentive to the social composition and aesthetic expectations of the bazaar’s core users.
Mohanna Sarvari; Nina Khalighi; Mehdi Saidi
Abstract
Women’s participation in the planning and management of urban parks has increasingly been recognized in recent years as a key approach to enhancing spatial equity, improving the quality of public spaces, and promoting urban quality of life. This study aims to identify and analyze the barriers to women’s ...
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Women’s participation in the planning and management of urban parks has increasingly been recognized in recent years as a key approach to enhancing spatial equity, improving the quality of public spaces, and promoting urban quality of life. This study aims to identify and analyze the barriers to women’s presence in urban parks and to propose participatory, need-based strategies grounded in their lived experiences. Adopting a mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) approach, the research focuses on Shohada Park in the city of Sanandaj. The statistical population consisted of all women aged over 20 years, from whom a random sample of 384 respondents was selected. Data collection tools included questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, field observations, and spatial analysis, and the data were analyzed using SPSS, MAXQDA, and ArcGIS software.
The findings indicate that certain physical indicators, such as accessibility, vegetation quality, and the availability of parking facilities, are in relatively favorable condition, whereas components related to safety, diversity of activities, welfare services, lighting, cultural programs, and socio-economic facilities are assessed as inadequate. Qualitative analysis further reveals that women strongly emphasize the need to improve lighting, strengthen social surveillance, expand welfare services, and design multifunctional spaces.
The main innovation of this study lies in the development of the Experience-Based Gender Equity Index (GEPI), which systematically integrates qualitative and quantitative data to enable the simultaneous assessment of physical infrastructure and women’s perceptual–social experiences. The index is structured across five dimensions—physical, social, economic, cultural, and environmental—and is proposed as a practical tool for planning public spaces aimed at facilitating women’s effective and sustained presence. The integration of quantitative and qualitative data, together with GIS-based analysis, allows for the formulation of multi-level operational strategies to enhance the quality of urban parks. The findings of this research can serve as a model for urban planners seeking to design gender-responsive public spaces in Iranian cities and the wider region.
Ali Riahi Dehkordi; Amir Shakibamanesh
Abstract
Contemporary cities face a growing range of crises, making their smart management a vital priority. Following the rapid advancements in digital technologies, the Urban Digital Twin has emerged as a key innovation in the 21st century, considered a pivotal tool in crisis management. In this context, the ...
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Contemporary cities face a growing range of crises, making their smart management a vital priority. Following the rapid advancements in digital technologies, the Urban Digital Twin has emerged as a key innovation in the 21st century, considered a pivotal tool in crisis management. In this context, the aim of this research is a comprehensive investigation into the conceptual and operational capacities of the Urban Digital Twin for effectively optimizing and enhancing the crisis management cycle. The study seeks to explain how this catalytic tool intervenes in each stage of crisis management (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) and advances smart decision-making to reduce financial and human casualties. Adopting a qualitative, interpretive approach and a deductive reasoning strategy, this research offers a deep understanding of the conceptual dimensions and complex structures of this technology within the urban context. The nature of the research is fundamental-developmental, and regarding the time dimension, it is considered a longitudinal study. The results indicate that Urban Digital Twins have profound effects in areas such as real-time data collection, predictability, strategy evaluation, and high-resolution modeling and simulation. Evidence clearly confirms that the Urban Digital Twin has evolved beyond being merely a technology to become an essential component in the smart crisis management ecosystem. This technology's capabilities in data integration, complex scenario simulation, and the provision of predictive analytics offer powerful support across all three phases of the crisis management cycle: in the preparedness phase by optimizing evacuation routes and strengthening infrastructure; at the moment of crisis by providing rapid damage assessment and an intelligent response; and in the post-crisis phase by serving as a comprehensive information platform to optimize the prevention system and increase future resilience, thereby improving the urban crisis management process.
Hassan Mohammadian Mosammam; pouya Joodi Gollar
Abstract
Urban and regional planners in Iran have largely neglected one of citizens' most fundamental needs—food—which has historically served as a powerful catalyst for social change, cultural identity, and economic development. This oversight has led to an increasing socio-spatial disconnection between ...
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Urban and regional planners in Iran have largely neglected one of citizens' most fundamental needs—food—which has historically served as a powerful catalyst for social change, cultural identity, and economic development. This oversight has led to an increasing socio-spatial disconnection between residents and food systems. Historically, the defense and secure control of food supply underpinned the emergence, evolution, and survival of Iranian cities, playing a central role in societal development and constituting an essential precondition for their sustainability and prosperity. In response, this study seeks to advance food security and the sustainability of the food system in the Tehran metropolitan region. Adopting a mediating ontological stance, a pragmatist epistemology, a mixed-methods approach, and a pragmatic framework, the research first conceptualizes core concepts: food security, urban food systems, spatial transformation, and the role of urban planners in food-related issues. To identify leverage points and priority intervention areas for urban and regional planners, the paper analyzes the spatial transformations in the Tehran metropolitan region and its impacts on the food system using variance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings indicate that the region has experienced significant spatial transformations. Overall, these changes have not resulted in a net negative impact on the food system. However, negative effects are apparent in underlying subsystems—particularly physical infrastructure, activity patterns, socio-demographic characteristics, and employment structures—posing risks to the long-term sustainability of the food system. Ultimately, by synthesizing theoretical insights with the issues arising from the interplay between spatial transformations and these subsystems in the Tehran metropolitan region, the study proposes targeted policies and practical strategies to enhance and strengthen the urban and regional food system.
Hashem Dadashpoor; Mana Vahidbafandeh; Mohammad Mehdi Panahi; Maede Dadashpour
Abstract
In recent decades, the role of cities within the global governance system has undergone a significant transformation, with cities evolving from purely administrative units to active actors in transnational interactions. This transformation, referred to in the literature as “urban diplomacy,” enables ...
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In recent decades, the role of cities within the global governance system has undergone a significant transformation, with cities evolving from purely administrative units to active actors in transnational interactions. This transformation, referred to in the literature as “urban diplomacy,” enables cities to act independently or semi-independently through intercity networks, thematic collaborations, and city-to-city relations. Among these, sister city relationships—one of the oldest yet most contested mechanisms of urban diplomacy—have oscillated between symbolic functions and practical collaborative capacities. Despite the expansion of research in this area, the existing literature remains largely fragmented, heterogeneous, and lacking a coherent analytical synthesis regarding the dimensions, functions, and real limitations of this mechanism. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic overview of the conceptual and functional developments in urban diplomacy, with a focus on sister city mechanisms, identifying dominant patterns, research gaps, and policy implications. To this end, a systematic review methodology was employed, and scientific articles published between 2000 and 2025 in reputable citation databases were searched, screened, and analyzed. Extracted data were coded and categorized using a thematic analysis approach, and dominant themes were identified. The findings indicate that contemporary urban diplomacy is transitioning from symbolic and ceremonial approaches toward problem-oriented, networked, and learning-based collaborations. Sister city relationships can be explained through five core components: multi-level governance and institutional legitimacy; decision-making rationality and collaboration leadership; institutionalized implementation and economic sustainability; networked and innovative empowerment; and learning, resilience, and data-driven evaluation. At the same time, results show that in the absence of clear institutional frameworks, the capacities of sister city relationships are often reduced to symbolic interactions, preventing the achievement of sustainable outcomes. Accordingly, this study emphasizes the necessity of redefining sister city relationships as a selective, problem-oriented, and institutionally capacity-based mechanism and provides an analytical foundation for more informed policy-making in urban diplomacy and the management of cities’ transnational interactions.
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