Functions of pedestrian zones in improving the urban structure (case study: Tehran metropolitan)

In compare to driving, cycling and other transportation modes, people pay more attention to their surrounding and connect with the environment while they are walking. Therefore, urban elements closed to the walking paths should be considered as very important elements. Pedestrians, while talking and shopping, accept more impacts from the environment and its characters than any other occasions. Separating the pedestrian spaces from roadways and streets can decrease the effects of noise and environmental pollutions and finally improve the issue of commuting in the city. The present study focuses on designing and constructing five pedestrian zones in metropolitan of Tehran and investigates their functions on urban structure. In the present study, attention is paid to five pedestrian zones of Tehran metropolitan to investigate their effects on urban structure. To do this, the emphasis of the present study is on changes occurred in three criteria including: “urban commuting space”, “green space and environmental health”, and “urban identity”, after construction of the pedestrian zones. Main required data were collected from the questionnaire designed and completed by the local businessmen community and pedestrian zone users. Field and documentary data were used as well. The sample included 350 questionnaires selected by Cochran formula. The results indicated that the studied areas have already moved towards a homogeneous situation due to the construction of pedestrian zones. Also, in one-way analysis of variance, five pedestrian zones showed a significant difference of improvement among the criteria, which means that there is a functional difference between some of them.