Improvement of Environmental Quality in Informal Settlements with Emphasis on Environmental Security (Case Study: Manouchehri neighborhood in Hamadan)

Nowadays, informal settlements and generally urban poor textures has become an important issue in both developed and developing countries. The major problem of poor settlements and slums is lack of security. Making safer urban spaces is one of the critical necessities in any city. For this reason, many efforts have been considered in order to reduce crime through environmental design. Due to the inherent problem which informal settlements face in urban areas, identifying principles and standards of urban design and environmental design in design of secure residential spaces, in order to improve security, is the main purpose of this study. Data of this study has been collected by using a questionnaire and library studies, and descriptive - analytic method to analyze these data. And in order to analyze collected data an analytical method (ANP) has been used. Results show that access control, natural surveillance, mass culture has a considerable impact on security of informal settlements. According to the principles of urban design for creating a secure environment based on quality standards and guidelines could lead to an improvement in quality and security of informal settlements which lead to an improvement in environmental conditions of these settlements. Finally, this study has tried to establish and improve the security of informal settlements by studying previous experiences and theories.