Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• khatere amiri ¹
• mohammad Masoud ²
• darioush moradi chadegani ³
• negin sadeghy ¹
• faramarz Safi-Esfahani ⁴

¹ Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of urban planning and architecture, Isfahan (khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.

² Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of urban planning and architecture, Isfahan Art University, Isfahan, Iran.

³ - Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of urban planning and architecture, Isfahan Art University, Isfahan, Iran.

⁴ Department of Computer, Faculty of Computer Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran.

Abstract

  Highlights
- The e-empowerment process is effective in the promotion of citizen participation and urban regeneration of neighborhoods in the city of Isfahan, Iran suffering urban decline.
- The use case diagram of the e-empowerment process of Isfahan residents in areas suffering urban decline shows the relationship between users and their activities.
- Requirements engineering was used for provision of the use case diagram of Isfahan urban decline e-empowerment.
 
Introduction
Areas suffering urban decline are involved with an intertwined combination of physical, social, and economic problems that intensify various dimensions of urban decline (including economic decline, social decline, physical decline, and environmental decline) and reduce the quality of life for residents.
Thus, sufficient motivation is provided for urban management and planning systems to intervene in these areas. A new method of intervention is to apply the urban regeneration approach.
Based on public-private partnership, this approach leads to regeneration of dynamic urban spaces, in order to sustain and improve the quality of urban life. Accordingly, urban regeneration has put the community empowerment process on the agenda in order to increase the level of citizen participation of the residents of these areas so that they can solve their problems.
The community empowerment follows to increase the residents’ shares in decision-making for the living environment in interaction with decision-makers and politicians. With the development of the information and communication technology (ICT), the interaction between politicians and residents is facilitated. Therefore, this article seeks to provide the e-empowerment use case diagram for implementation of cybernetic space for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan.
Theoretical framework
This article introduces the following three concepts.
A: Areas suffering urban decline
These areas are places with worn-out urban infrastructure, service, and access, unable to meet the needs of their residents. Due to the low income of the residents of these areas and the insufficient motivation for investors, improvement and renovation is difficult to achieve in these areas. The decline in these areas includes economic, social, physical, and environmental aspects.
B: Community empowerment in cybernetic space
The process of community empowerment seeks to increase residents’ control and the resulting collective gains.
This process follows from the decentralization of power, and attempts to upgrade residents’ power of decision-making about their living environment. The capabilities of cybernetic space facilitate the implementation of community empowerment in this field, which is known as e-empowerment. It facilitates communication between citizens and decision-makers for participation with awareness.
C: Use case diagram
The diagram of communication between users and their activities in cyberspace is based on the information and communication technology (ICT). This template is a visual representation of the process implementation using the actions, tasks, and activities of the users of that process, which shows the hierarchy of activities in order to solve a problem, produce a product, or provide a type of service to a target population.
Methodology
This research is conducted in four stages, as follows.
A. Analysis of the severity of urban decline in its four types in Isfahan, using the text analysis method (involving texts derived from programs and reports concerning the approvals of areas suffering urban decline).
B. Requirements elicitation, including the following:
a) analysis of the stakeholders involved in the regeneration of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan, using the power-benefit matrix method, which utilizes a structured questionnaire for professionals.
b) introduction of a community e-empowerment process particular to residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan and use of the social survey method based on behavior measurement and Likert scale measurement, utilizing a structured questionnaire for residents.
c) introduction of the implementation mechanism of the community e-empowerment process for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan using expert panel methods and interviews (involving questionnaires without a special structure for experts).
C. Requirements analysis using expert panel methods and interviews (involving questionnaires without a special structure for experts).
D. Presentation of the use case diagram’s process of community e-empowerment, dedicated to residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan using the visual paradigm software.
Discussion and findings
The findings demonstrate that an appropriate e-empowerment process for residents of areas suffering urban decline in Isfahan involves the steps of e- education) with the characteristics of e-empowerment(, e-learning, awareness, e-consultation, and e-involvement. The effective users in this process include residents, facilitating experts, technical experts, instructors, support experts, and decision-makers.
Conclusion
Users of the e-empowerment process (including residents, facilitating experts, technical experts, instructors, support experts, and decision-makers) communicate with each other in cybernetic space within the framework of a use Case diagram by performing the following activities and processes:
A- participation and membership in virtual groups and communities
B- going through the stages of community e-empowerment (teaching the empowerment process, assessing the skills of citizens, holding awareness-raising sessions, establishing and enhancing communications and interactions, creating a spirit of demand, and undertaking responsibility)
C- information and mutual opinion announcement 
D- provision of decision-making skills and fundamentals.
Acknowledgment
This article is Retrieved from the Ph.D. Thesis in the field of urban planning entitled "The application of cybernetic space capacities to design community empowerment model urban decay areas Isfahan " by the first author with the guidance of the second author and the third author The fourth and fifth have been defended in the Islamic Azad University Isfahan (khorasgan) Branch.

Keywords

• community empowerment
• cybernetic space
• e-empowerment
• requirements engineering
• use case diagram
• urban regeneration

Main Subjects

• Urban Management