Assessing Planned Urban Housing in the City of Tabriz from the Perspective of Residents

Urban housing planners, following the presentation of a suitable and desirable model of urban housing, have not considered a  model outside the category of consumer values and housing suppliers. They have always sought to identify values reflected in the consumer and producer preferences in the purchase and sale of a residential unit in an interactive way to take a more objective view of values by taking measures to use it in urban housing planning and design. The concept of ‘value’ in urban housing planning is a construct that, together with the essence of the society, can pave the way for the interaction of the benefits of the urban housing development model with the interests of their beneficiaries. As urbanization and urban planning issues have become more acute and studies have been conducted on urban housing development policies, aspects of their inefficiency such as creating price gaps between different types of housing in the city, non-compliance with ecological and climatic requirements, non-compliance with religious considerations, and religion (such as the discussion of aristocracy and respect for compatibility, proximity, neighborhoods, etc.), spatial separation of cities, social justice, etc. have become apparent. In Tabriz metropolis, with the increasing growth in the last decade, we are witnessing the development of various urban housing development programs and the growth of different types of residential neighborhoods, which in a similar way, has caused a high-value gap between different areas and neighborhoods of the city. The average house price in the metropolis of Tabriz is estimated to be very high and almost on par with the capital. In other words, the concept of value in housing planning in Tabriz has various features and a hidden market that can not reflect the pattern of an Islamic city. This has led to various different housing prices in the process of supply and demand.  

The present study aimed to assess the concept of value in housing planning in the city of Tabriz based on Islamic culture and perspective as well as Islamic realism using Allameh Tabatabai's value theory and the research strategy of post-mining. Since many of the features explaining the value of urban housing are not directly traded in the market, the basics of the Hedonic model have been used to quantify values. The explanatory model in the City of Tabriz (using three samples: Rushdie, Ashkan, and Chamran housing complexes) was tested and analyzed by correlation and regression (linear and quasi-logarithmic) models. Given that the data of the study are both quantitative and qualitative, the analysis model is covariance analysis or ANCOVA. In order to perform correlation analysis, the Spearman coefficient was used for ranking data and the Pearson coefficient was used for distance data. To identify the variables regarding value urban housing, multivariate linear regression was used. Rushdie town was a well-planned example that covered both villas and apartments. Chamran complex was also a manifestation of the planned apartment complex. Ashkan neighborhood was considered as a guided neighbor (according to the detailed and comprehensive plan of cities).   

The findings of the research showed that structural-physical and environmental categories related to the ‘access to land uses’ were most significant in explaining the variable ‘value of urban housing’ in Tabriz.  Furthermore, in well-planned ones, such as in the Rushdie complex, many of the criteria were not met. It should be noted that although the same variables were included in the model in all three samples, due to different responses and inhomogeneous housing conditions in the samples, different results were obtained in the samples, but the structure of the variables was the same. In fact, the observations can be explained by a common structure. It should be noted that   each sample, in terms of significant variables, by itself can not conceptually expand the structure of consumer and producer housing preferences. Allameh similarly believes that values have a fixed structure (innate tendency towards good and true Goodness and escape from wickedness) but they can accept different examples and the goodness of such examples is not absolute and definite. In line with the results, it should be added that the physical and structural features of a building and its environmental and local location are included in the calculations as ‘variable’. The results depend on the type of the selected house (apartment/villa), the type of selected area, etc., which could also be affected by the time period and spatial scale. However, these variables are pre-designed and their repetition and frequency do not necessarily indicate their superior preference. For example, some previous policies of urban housing planners and city managers have created values ​​in cities that are not necessarily considered good. The value in the identified model does not necessarily have a positive semantic burden that should be considered as a credit structure in the housing planning process from now on. But these values, in fact, in a way summarize the cause-and-effect relationship in the city system. It is the urbanization and identification of existing disciplines that, as mentioned, are not necessarily considered valuable. The repetition of values ​​and obtaining the coefficient in the developed Hedonic model show that these variables play a role in the existing structure of Tabriz housing planning and have formed some patterns.  

Value is a cultural category and the housing planning derived from values is in fact linking urban housing development programs and policies with the culture that governs our society. From this perspective, in the process of housing planning, it is necessary to do more research reflection on the issue of its value and meaning in the society and from the perspective of expectations and preferences of individuals and beneficiarieswhich could  lead to more achievable policies. Considering that the housing development model is context- and value-driven in a given society and that value is a cultural phenomenon, it is necessary to identify community values first and the plan for urban housing using the values as a guide.  Islamic cities can become representatives of Islamic culture. According to the findings, in the city of Tabriz, it can be concluded that despite many similarities in the content of values, in terms of the value system, differences according to economic, environmental, social conditions, heterogeneous tendencies, and expectations of residents  exist. Therefore, a single version cannot be developed to explain the concept of value in cities. People are more likely to choose areas that are closer to their expectations. However, it depends on  their purchasing power; therefore,  customer's preferences for housing characteristics (values) could  be reflected in the spatial pattern of price and value of urban housing. The most important suggestion of studies based on the totality of what was discussed is that in the process of urban housing planning, before planning and formulating any urban development plan, a proper understanding of the values ​​governing the society should be reflected on and the values ​​should be more tangible. In this way, urban housing planning is looked at something more than   mere housing development; instead,  housing and its surroundings, along with the expectations and values ​​of residents, are seen as an interactive set.