Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Master Student of Urban Design, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
2 Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
3 1Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Despite the numerous development plans formulated in Iran with the aim of enhancing place qualities so far, the assessment process of such qualities has remained rather expert-oriented, following a top-down approach. This has made for a growing disparity between actual users’ expectations and priorities discerned by professionals and executive managers. This gap manifests itself in a multitude of forms, such as the outward migration of residents and urban fabric gentrification. Abkooh is among Mashhad's oldest neighborhoods -with a history dating back to 400 years ago- that has failed to reclaim its place qualities in the contemporary urban context despite having undergone three development plans since 2006. The present study investigates the need to assess place qualities in deteriorated urban areas and proceeds to explore the distinctions between top-down and bottom-up assessment approaches in these areas. The present work endeavors to explore the theoretical approach to place quality through secondary research and qualitative content analysis using MAXQDA2018. Secondly, as the focal point of the current study, a phenomenological approach along with a combination of first-person and existentialist phenomenological techniques has been used to explore the nature of place quality in the Abkooh neighborhood and evaluate it. The results revealed that the quality of place in deteriorated urban areas can be examined in five perceptual-semantic, physical, socio-economic, functional, and environmental dimensions; However, in the Abkooh neighborhood of Mashhad, due to the distinct legal conditions, especially in the issue of land ownership, the legal-management dimension is one of the priorities affecting the improvement of the quality of the place; In addition, our results suggested a different prioritization of these dimensions across the Abkooh phenomenon and theoretical findings. By comparing the phenomenological results with the currently-implemented model of place quality assessment indicated in the latest approved plan entitled “Abkooh Neighborhood Quality of Urban Life Improvement Plan", it has been determined that the plan prepared for the mentioned neighborhood with a top-down evaluation approach has not been able to assess all the place qualities. Considering the different challenges of inefficient urban contexts, which in each case are affected by the existing context, results revealed that relying solely on theoretical studies and focusing on the priorities set by authorities would not yield a favorable level of place quality improvement and place-making in deteriorated urban areas and bottom-up approaches such as phenomenology are revealed to be crucial to evaluating the quality of the place.
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