Analysis of Regeneration Sustainability of the City Central TextureCase study: Central Texture of Zanjan City

Introduction:

The increase in the population of cities, as well as social, cultural and economic issues, have led to the importance of paying attention to urban regeneration. he city of Zanjan, which has been following the process of urbanization in Iran from 1986 to 2011, has sought to recreate the city with an original and body-centered approach. In recent decades, this approach has diminished and the policies of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and city managers have led to the prosperity of creative cultural industries, which have manifested in central texture tourism, pedestrian-orientation and the prosperity of local handicrafts, etc. Accordingly, the present study tries to study the intervention forces by emphasizing the components of sustainability in four physical, environmental, economic and social fields and then using structural equation modeling to determine the sustainability effects of the study areas on the urban regeneration. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the following question in the study area:1. What is the status of the four areas of the central texture of Zanjan city in different dimensions of sustainability (physical, environmental, social and economic) from the perspective of urban regeneration?

Methodology:

The present research is applied in terms of type and descriptive-analytical in view point of nature, and the library and field method based on observation and questionnaire have been used to collect information. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire items was confirmed by experts and also via Cronbach's alpha (0.856), respectively. The statistical population of the study of households living in the central part of Zanjan is 75057 people that by using of the Cochran's formula, 382 heads of households were selected as the sample population via simple random sampling method. In order to analyze the data, statistical tests such as linear regression (path analysis), one sample t-test, VICOR technique and modeling of structural equations with AMOS software have been exploited.

Results and discussion:

"VICOR technique" has been exerted in order to evaluate and measure the level of sustainability by emphasizing the characteristics of the prosperity of creative cultural industries, four areas of the central texture of Zanjan city. Also; to measure the impact of sustainability indicators (physical, environmental, social and economic) on urban regeneration of the central context, structural equation modeling has been applied that the sustainability was assumed to be dependent variable and the environmental, physical quality, social and economic dimensions were considered to be independent variables. And the study of the effects of regression weight on the studied dimensions showed that the greatest effects of the relationship between the studied dimensions were related to the effect of physical dimension on urban regeneration with regression weight of 0.9188 and next, the economic dimension with regression weight of 0.596. Also, the least one was related to the impact of the social dimension of sustainability on the environmental one.

Conclusion:

Following the research, which based on modeling structural equations, explained the role of four factors and dimensions in the stability of the central texture and modeling the effects of the degree of stability on urban regeneration. The results indicated that the physical dimension (showing the originality and physical orientation approach) and the economic dimension were two dimensions of structural ones that effective on the stability of the studied central texture, which had the strongest relationship in urban regeneration and had greatest impact on the regeneration in the study areas. Therefore, due to the explanation of the situation of urban regeneration in the study area, suggestions are made in the direction of orientation towards sustainable regeneration and elimination of its gaps in the study area, which are:-Strengthening the economic dimension of sustainable urban regeneration in the central texture of four districts of Zanjan by emphasizing the prosperity of creative cultural industries (such as collective space, parks, libraries, cultural centers, holding festivals, strengthening handicrafts and historical textures tourism, museums and cinemas);- Implement incentive policies to strengthen economic and creative performance in fourth and third districts of the center texture of the study area;- Encouraging local residents of third and fourth districts of the study area to participate in public and collective spaces by using of street theater attractions, seasonal exhibitions, etc.;- Organizing the passages in the fourth and third central areas of Zanjan city with emphasis on pedestrian-orientation;- Creating the performance of artistic, cultural and innovative industries in third and fourth districts of the study area;- Adopt supportive and incentive policies, including tax breaks and risky investment support across the study area;-Plans to provide media and urban advertising for the new cultural and economic capacity building of the study area.