Improving Quality of Social Integration with an Emphasis on Morphology Feature (Case Study: Abadan s' Neighborhoods)

Promoting "Social Integration" can be considered as an approach to "Segregation" and "Social Exclusion". Neighborhood with disparate characteristics reflects the mutual attributes such as race, income, lifestyle and nationality. This matter is an objective fact in modern settlements which leads to social conflicts, variance, etc. Thus, social Integration has been considered as a new trend in design and development of the city. Physical interpretation of this policy in terms of physical is creating neighborhoods which can place a variety of age, gender, ethnic-racial background, income, etc. In this regard, many urban designers and planners have supported social mixed communities and tried to promote social Integration, using different concepts such as creation of safe spaces, public areas vibrant, mixed use, etc. These protagonists believe this approach leads to viability, economic health, security and sustainability of place. Also it is affected by functional, morphological and social features of urban design. The purpose of this study is measuring the role of morphology in promoting the "social & diversity Integration" term. Morphological feature of urban design describes the qualities which are related to physical environment. Segmentation and block pattern, land use and roads are the most effective parameters in physical qualities of urban spaces. Regarding this issue, fifteen neighborhoods in Abadan has been chose. The amount of mixing in these neighborhoods had been assessed in three levels of low, medium and high. Among them, four neighborhoods got the lowest and highest valuation: Amiri and Ahmadabad have the most amount of mixing and Northern and Southern Bovarde have the less deal in opposite. The main question of this research asks if there is any relation between main components of morphology feature and the amount of social Integration in case studies. The hypothesis tries to find a meaningful and rational relation between divisibility of place and urban design solutions in morphology feature. Relevant parameters such as job type, income level, education level, race, family type and lifestyle have been investigated using library studies and field visits. Also different qualitative and quantitative analytical methods have been used. To get quantitative data, the results of filled questionnaires had been analyzed in SPSS. Qualitative measuring of social & diversity Integration in mentioned neighborhoods is based on using "Simpson" formula. By reviewing the relevant concepts, theories and analyzing case studies, the hypothesis has been tested. The criteria and effective factors on morphology feature of urban design are defined in the final part. The result shows the effectiveness of two factors: mixing and connection. The term "mixing" is about two subjects: 1- mix of housing types, 2- mixture of facilities in order to support different demands and deficiencies in a neighborhood. In presentation of different house types with different house prices in neighborhoods leads to positive social interactions among citizens with different age, race or income. Therefore, it will lead to betterment the social qualities in presence of unequal circumstances in neighborhood, Regarding morphological issues, "Connection" depends on accessibility and traffic network rather than social interactions, as it helps interactions itself.