نشریه دانش شهرسازی
پیاپی 1 (زمستان 1396)

Unsustainability is one of the problems in Iranian communities, especially in the neighborhood level. However, a more fundamental problem has overshadowed the indexes of sustainability. Indeed, there is no assessed framework to recognize unsustainability and its strategies in the localized knowledge of Iran. The main purpose of the present study is to compile and propose a framework which clarifies the main concepts of sustainability in terms of environmental variables, general norms, and objective indexes of assessment for the localized Iranian context. Moreover, there are many ambiguities in understanding the main constructs and norms of sustainability as an environmental quality concept. To this end, in the first step, the key elements of sustainability including society, economy, environment, and management have been identified. Then, their indexes and assessment criteria have been tabulated. Next, it was tried to evaluate the responsiveness of the criteria based on the three main indicators of place including society, function, and environment in a case study conducted on Deh Vanak, Tehran, Iran. This study is a mixed method one. As such, the related literature was reviewed and, based on in-depth direct observation and interview, the questions about the effectiveness of the criteria have been answered in Deh Vanak. To investigate the effectiveness of the criteria, a series of t-tests were conducted through SPSS. The results indicated that the desirability of all extracted indexes except for ‘greenness’ and ‘belongingness’ were inappropriate. In addition, some solutions have been introduced for the future sustainability of the district.

The concept of ‘public interest’ over the past decades, and in the form of discussions and debates, has always been regarded as one of the most foundational bases serving the legitimation and justification of ‘urban planning’ and ‘policy making’ .Nevertheless, one of the important weaknesses in this regard is the lack of clarity and transparency of this conceptual domain. Especially in the Persian language, the literature in this theoretical field is highly limited and often related to disciplines such as political science and philosophy. In this study, after explaining a general history of this concept in knowledge and practice of urban planning using literature review and meta-analytical methodology, we focused on identifying and analyzing the foundational dichotomies inherent in this term and concept. The clarification of these issues, by extending the horizons of those interested in this field of research, can prevent the epistemic gap arising from merely relying on only one aspect of these dichotomies and from numerous misunderstandings and consequently contradictions in planning theory and practice.

Urban Environment Quality (UEQ) is directly influenced by environmental, physical, and socio-economic factors. Therefore, this study attempts to assess Borazjan’s UEQ in 2017 by means of 16 indices in four main measures. In this study, two methods of reviewing documents and conducting a survey were used to collect the data. It was sought to evaluate what the UEQ of Borazjan city was and which neighborhoods had the lowest UEQ in 2017. The geographical scope of the study comprises 31 neighborhoods of Borazjan including 22,600 resident households as the study population. Based on Cochran’s method, 380 samples were selected to participate in the study for a city-wide systematic survey. The validity and reliability of the instrument were computed by means of CVR (0.66) and Cronbach’s Alpha (0.86) tests. The goodness of fit, by employing Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, resulted in p-values higher than 0.05 as the level of significance. Following this, the ANP technique was used to weight the factors and measures; next, WIOA and Reclassify techniques in GIS were employed to analyze the results through overlaying. The findings from synthesizing all factors for UEQ indicate that four settlement types, namely, industrial areas and floodway’s surrounding, informal settlements, dilapidated and old neighborhoods, and newly developed neighborhoods have unsuitable and low level of UEQ. Based on the findings of the study, several suggestions have been put forward to improve the UEQ of these neighborhoods.

Today, social and spatial justice in urban issues and consequently distributive justice in the distribution of services in urban areas have been of paramount importance. Therefore, paying due attention to the importance of service use distribution in urban areas based on the needs of service users in those areas is an influential factor in the sustainability of urban life. In this study, a spatial analysis of seven urban services in district eight of Tehran, as a case study, was carried out based on distributive justice approach by means of geostatistical techniques. This applied study utilizes descriptive-analytical method where the data have been gathered through documentation. To this end, based on the objective data in the comprehensive plans of district eight, they were analyzed through GIS and Moran formula. The results indicate that the focus of urban services in district eight follows the center-periphery model. This means that the more we more away from center toward suburban areas, the less services are distributed in those areas. This implies that distribution of public services which must have been fair or relatively fair is unfair.

An analysis of physical transitions of Ardabil City, an important sample of historical cities of Iran with its unique characteristics, requires a comprehensive research. During the Safavid period, this city turned out to be the cultural origin of the Safavid government and became the source of inspiration for the changes in other cities of Iran that rooted in the culture originally formed in Ardabil. The present study aims to study the cultural patterns of the Safavid era on the formation of cities with an emphasis on the city of Ardabil. To this end, based on Canter’s conceptual model of Facets of Place, the components of the location were analyzed first; next, the characteristics of the Safavid era urbanization and the cultural factors and patterns influencing the formation of the culture of Ardabil City in the Safavid period have been investigated. The results of the studies indicate that the bazaar, as the center of activities and the formation of urban acts, has played a pivotal role in forming the city and its rituals. Sheikh Safi’s Tomb, as the origin of the Safavid dynasty has been indicative of the identity of the city as well. In addition, Friday Mosque that was constructed by the states along with the formation of the city has had a history of honor and it indicates the political, economic, and social majesty of Ardabil. These key constituents or facets have been influential in forming the physical structure and culture of the city.

Various strategies can be used to provide proper lighting in urban public spaces. As such, this paper aimed to present and prioritize the strategies for urban street lighting using descriptive-analytical and case study methods and the techniques of interview, observation, and review of the related literature and visual documents so as to provide an opportunity for improving the quality of public spaces at night. To this end, Karim Khan Zand Street in Shiraz was selected as a case study. In the present study, SWOT analysis matrix was used to identify the optimal strategies for improving the quality of street lighting of Karim Khan Zand Street and Quantity Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM) was applied to prioritize these strategies. The items of SWOT matrix were specified and weighted based on interviews with a sample group of 25 experts who were selected by snowball sampling method. Based on the results of interviews with experts, overall, 12 internal factors (consisting of seven strengths and five weaknesses) and 12 external factors (including seven opportunities and five threats) were identified. Among the strengths, active uses and behavioral bases at night across large sections of the street that provide lighting for sidewalks in the absence of pedestrian lighting have the highest final scores. In addition, among the external factors, providing the necessary lighting on the path of pedestrians in order to increase security is considered as the most effective opportunity. Given the final total points of the internal (2.667) and external factors (2.568), the selected strategies seem to have been the aggressive ones. The results of the study suggest that strategies of proper lighting throughout the pedestrian path and a greater emphasis by lighting on the intersections of the roadway and the pedestrian path, providing appropriate conditions for the use of space at different times of day for various social groups, and emphasis on street linings by proper lighting are of the highest priority compared to the other strategies.

Over the past few decades, the new urbanism has emerged as a controversial alternative against traditional and conventional patterns of urban development. As a pioneering movement, it was developed in response to the failure of cities and suburbs in the mid-twentieth century. The new urbanists, like the advocates of garden cities and before them the modernists, began their work with great hopes to meet the needs of marginalized groups and restore the beauty and character of the cities. In this regard, this study seeks to answer these questions: To what extent has new urbanism been able to lead to planning a good community? How is new urbanism developing its own theory and how does it help us understand this theory? By means of content analysis, various ideas and views about new urbanism and its formation from theory to practice have been reviewed and criticized and finally, the advantages and disadvantages of its implementation in Iran are discussed. The results of the study reveal that although the new urbanists envisioned cities without suburbs, but in practice they have not yet been able to properly apply the values that this normative theory adheres to in order to make good communities. Their critics express that new urbanists ultimately serve the interests of the development process instead of rescuing the cities and the choices suggested by new urbanist forms mainly favor the production and sustainability of economic activities in the sale market rather than being in line with peoples’ preferences. The new urbanist designers support a variety of forms in order to respect urban diversity but do not tolerate opposing views about the shape and character of urban environments. The new urbanist approach considers the democratic participation in contrast with the expert decisions made by qualified designers who know the formal principles of a good community. In their view, democracy can downgrade the quality of urban planning.