Spatial assessment of spontaneous settlements in connection with the living structure of residents (Case Study: Northern Zone Settlements in Tabriz)

A particular factor effective in the spontaneous settlements in suburban areas is the behavioral patterns in the residents’ lives and relevant daily activities that could affect the shape of housing. Consideration of the life structure and its effect on the formation of the architecture are topics that have been addressed by various thinkers in fields such as culture and environmental psychology. It is essential to attend to the set of values and meanings of human behavior, viewed as local culture, and the realization of traditions. This process provides a criterion in the construction of spontaneous settlements in marginalized areas. This study investigated and identified the physical patterns of spontaneous settlements and their construction strategies with respect to the lifestyles adopted by the inhabitants of the suburban areas in the northern parts of the city of Tabriz, Iran. In these areas, the residents seem to form the features of the residences according to their local culture rather than the regulations and urban plans.

Many policies proposed to improve the conditions of informal settlements have ignored the structure of life, which has led them to neglect residents’ lifestyles and attempt to impose renovation plans with top-down approaches. Despite the abundance of research, there are more fundamental questions about the residents’ hidden layers faced during their lives. Most of the reviews of research on marginal housing have disregarded the residents’ life structure. This study investigates how the physical patterns of spontaneous settlements take shape with respect to the inhabitants’ lifestyle in suburban areas of the northern parts of Tabriz. Some of the most sophisticated studies conducted in the field include the research by Abrams (1964) and Turner (1967), focused on the participation of residents and their autonomy in the process of improvement and empowerment besides critical views of the destruction and displacement of the suburbs. To proceed with these studies, various conferences and meetings were held between 1996 and 1999 to discuss the empowerment of the poor in the suburbs in order to increase the efficiency of urban development. In addition, different dimensions of informal settlement were addressed in the adopted approaches, in which issues such as economic development, culture, social capital, and security were examined (Hashas 2005, Paul 2017, Petter et al. 2007, Tsenkova 2009, Fernandes 2001, Pugh 2000). Along with the expansion of studies on the culture of marginalization and validation of the structures of local communities, field research needed to be conducted, exemplified by Young and Wilmot (1957), Ganz (1962), and Suttles (1974). Focused on the distinction of the culture of marginalization from the urban culture, these studies have demonstrated that marginalized people define a lifestyle framework with self-assessment criteria, and always strive for social cohesion and protection of internal security.

The approach adopted in this research is a qualitative one developed by grounded theory. For selection of the sample, the purposeful sampling method was used with the greatest variety, and semi-structured interviews, observations, and planned samplings were utilized for data collection. In the research sample, forty residents of the examined areas participated, and thirty sample houses were studied.

The results demonstrate that the organization of spaces and the physical pattern of spontaneous settlements have been more dependent on legitimate and semantic structures than on signification or domination. In this process, the characteristics of residents’ lives and the physical shape system of the environment in regard to these structures have affected the environmental components, such as neighborhood presence, physical flexibility and adaptability, physical scalability, integration of living space and work, outdoor viability, and widespread housing.

The analysis of the findings demonstrates that the sense of dwelling is more dependent in informal settlements on autonomous patterns to maintain significant legitimate structures than on practical ones (pertaining to extrinsic biological aspects), and the residents always try to protect their existential security as social agents. They can validate structures that respond to all kinds of real perception (concerning intrinsic value aspects). These categories are essential items that should be taken into account in the design and improvement of suburban areas to align the body with the residents’ lifestyle. This factor can indirectly lead to a sense of belonging and sustainable settlement in these areas. Therefore, the planners must improve the physical-biological aspect as a priority to promote these areas according to the local value structures, so that the residents can improve their residential structures under legitimate and significant structures in their social lives in a self-organizing process, in which reference is made to consideration of changeable, adaptable, and flexible housing.