نشریه نامه معماری و شهرسازی
سال چهاردهم شماره 33 (زمستان 1400)

Urban Informality has a great role in deepening the gap between theory and practice in urban planning. The weakness in addressing the dualities surrounding the concept of urban informality and the lack of a comprehensive explanation of its various dimensions are the major gaps in the previous studies. This paper seeks to investigate the impact of Global North and South division on the understanding of urban informality and its dynamics in the different urban contexts. Furthermore, this study tries to dimensionalize urban informality and explain the dynamics of each dimension. Using Web of Science Core Collection as the database, 152 articles have been extracted based on a search of “urban informality”. Applying the inductive latent content analysis method, the texts of selected articles related to the urban informality concept have been analyzed. “The global north and south division and its effect on the understanding of urban informality” and “different dimensions of urban informality and the dynamics of each dimension” are the two core categories that have shaped the theoretical literature of this concept. The first core category is formulated from the interaction between the two major categories including “comparative urbanism and the negation of Global North and South division” and “characteristics of urban informality in the Global North and South”. Negating Global North and South division through comparative urbanism studies, the common belief that urban informality exclusively belongs to the Global South and subaltern has been transformed. In contrast to the previous belief, a new common belief is emerging in the theoretical literature, according to which the Global North is also facing urban informality, and besides, other social classes, especially urban elites, are also involved in the formation of urban informality. The second core category includes six major categories that form the various dimensions of urban informality. The cultural aspect implies, on the one hand, the needed-based urban informality formed by subalterns, and, on the other hand, the desired-based urban informality shaped by the urban upper and middle class. The social aspect can be addressed on two local and global scales. The economic dimension includes an explanation about the common belief of the economic aspect of urban informality and those schools of thought which deny the common belief. The legal dimension considers urban informality as the result of interaction between social classes and the legal system governing society. It addresses the causes for incompatibility of the actions of different social classes with the mechanisms of the legal system. It explains the role of the legal system in shaping urban informality and vice versa. The legal aspect is engaged with the quality and quantity of urban law, regulations, and codes. Therefore, it is needed to rebuild the legal system to move towards a just city. The political dimension is faced with a paradigm shift. Also, it focuses on sovereignty as the main factor in the formation of urban informality. The spatial aspect addresses the relationship between public space and urban informality. Also, it explains the interaction between urban informality and marginal spaces, spaces of exception, and gray spaces.

One of the main challenges in urban design is enhancing the relationship between human perception and the environment as well as improving pedestrians’ experience by focusing on their apprehension of surroundings. However, urban design mainly centers on the visual scape of surroundings and overlooks other human senses such as hearing. Specifically, the imbalance between the perception of visual and soundscape has hampered the capability of achieving a thorough perception of our surroundings. The soundscape is the result of the listener's perception of the environment which can arouse thoughts and emotions, affect the human experience, and guide users' behavior in the public space. Also, the physical structure is one of the main factors affecting the visual-auditory balance. The physical structure of the environment can affect different human senses and create different perceptions of the 3D space for individuals. Hence, this research studies the impact of different physical structures and spatial configurations on the pedestrians’ soundscape perception of urban spaces. It is hypothesized that different spatial configurations and physical structures can have specific effects on the observer's perception of sound while moving in an urban space. Also, to study the relationship between a physical structure and spatial configurations on the pedestrians’ soundscape perception, this research used tests based on different arrangements of physical structure. Therefore, a cause-and-effect analysis and exploratory field research were used. Besides, it is impractical to change the physical structures and spatial configurations in real life or control the non-physical factors. Therefore, this study employs virtual reality to probe the research hypothesis. This makes it possible to make dynamic changes to the physical-spatial variables in a semi-real context. Moreover, the physical components are prioritized and a subset of the most important components have been taken into account in our experiments. Hence, it is attempted to simulate the physical-spatial experiments as accurately as possible by considering several factors. The spatial configuration, height of buildings, route width, and the number of public spaces in a path are taken into account along with the real-life sound effects. Also, to achieve a logical review, the researchers analyzed the effects of the physical-spatial structures in nine defined simulated tests on pedestrians' soundscape perception. A questionnaire has been used to evaluate the impact of the abovementioned factors on pedestrians’ soundscape perception. Statistical analysis is conducted in SPSS software to study the mechanism and dependencies between different factors. Moreover, we simulated the distribution of sound in our experiments using the Arraycalc software. Therefore, the results show the practical understanding of comparing the distribution of sound in real conditions with the pedestrians’ soundscape perception in a three-dimensional urban space. It is observed that there is a strong correlation between the soundscape perception factors and the physical-spatial configuration of a structure. Furthermore, our experiments show that in the spiral and convex spatial configurations, reducing structure height, width, and obstacles will improve the auditory experience of pedestrians significantly.

Iranian cities have experienced a dramatic change (as a great contemporary challenge) since the last century, leading to a failure of physical, socio-cultural and ecological coherence and confronting collective memories with significant challenges. In such circumstances, the collective memories of the citizens are forgotten and we are faced with the cities that are alienated from their pasts whose soul and meaning have completely changed. Demolishing urban historical fabrics, irreparable damages to the physical, socio-cultural and ecological structure of the cities as well as a substantial change in lifestyles are some evidence of this drastic change. A change that could entail the need for research about collective memory in Iranian cities. That is why counting the indigenous research-worthy problems in this field becomes deeply significant. The aim of this study is to propose a methodological framework about the process of counting the context-based challenges and selecting the research-worthy problems -particularly focused on “collective memory in Iranian cities”- by adopting a problem-based approach and respecting the indigenous originality of the research. This research is qualitative, and the methodology is a combination of the case study approach (by studying a specific experience in choosing the research topic of Ph.D. in Urban Planning around "collective memory" as a general topic), qualitative meta-synthesis of the Iranian researches about collective memory and the methodological texts in the field of problem-based research (in order to find the method of identifying research-worthy problems). This process has been a reciprocal process between case study and qualitative content analysis of methodological texts. This means that firstly, after a meta-synthesis of Iranian researches about collective memory, a study has been conducted on the method of counting research-worthy problems, considering the need to observe the dialectic of the universal and the particular and indigenous originality of research, the need to rely on problem-based research and identify the real issues of Iran. Then, the proposed method has been used in a real case study of choosing the Ph.D. research topic. In this paper, seven problems including “meaning transmission and memory permanence in the contemporary city”, “an imbalance between change, continuity and constancy: the challenges of memory production in the contemporary city”, “disassociation between collective memory and lived experiences in the city”, “the distance between memorizers and memories”, “removing memories in order to gain modern services/ profit-making”, “changes in the lifestyle and concepts and its role on citizens collective memories” and “contemporary challenge and disintegrating the city meaning system” has been identified as the research-worthy problems in the field of collective memory in the Iranian cities, by using the proposed methodological framework and focusing on indigenous originality of the research. The final proposed methodological model is based on a three-step process including “preparing the initial checklist of the problems” resulting from personal and practical observations and experiences, “identifying the research-worthy problems” through a four-step evaluation of the problems (look, read, synthesize, conclusion) and “preparing concise proposals of possible researches about the problems”.

Over the years, the broadened range of what is regarded as heritage due to the comprehension of multifold dimensions of this concept, led to the realization of the profound role of social factors on the conservation of cultural heritage. The constant evolution of the concept of heritage and the widening range of factors and challenges resulted in the implementation of other disciplines such as human and social sciences within the multidisciplinary nature of heritage conservation discourse. Thus, the execution of management strategies such as the stakeholder approach with the intention to handle and direct various social forces and conflicting interests of contemporary societies towards their heritage in order to diminish the potential conflicts between individuals and groups of the heritage community and enhancement of supportive attitudes and behaviors among them, were integrated into the conservation planning processes. In respect of the growing need for more inclusive approaches to heritage management and a greater emphasis on community engagement, distribution of socio-psychologic discussions such as attitude research to the field of conservation on account of managing the social influences of human societies has become inevitable. Accordingly, heritage management has been more concerned with developing and reinforcing attitudes that would lead to the building of a true culture of prevention within the heritage community by means of promoting proactive rather than reactive attitudes toward heritage conservation and management. The primary aim of this study is to achieve a practical framework of empirical approach concerning the subject of conservation of architectural heritage based on the utilization of analyzing the accessible attitudes of the Stakeholders of Conservation in Jameh Mosque of Tehran. The study applied a grounded theory approach in order to collect qualitative data through a non-directive interview which provides insights into understanding various attitudinal aspects of key stakeholders' outlooks on the conservation process of the place and recognition of the range of interests in the property. Attitude accessibility from memory is acknowledged to be a determinant of the strength of attitudes, the importance of attitudes and to what extend attitudes can affect behaviors; therefore more accessible attitudes are more influential on people's judgmental biases and decision making. Data labeling according to repetitions, patterns and similarities, unveiled 18 fundamental themes titled "code groups" and 109 subject matters titled as "codes" among all four groups of stakeholders' interviewees. Three stages of analysis were conducted to estimate the similarity or difference between attitudes of every group with reference to others, different individuals in the same groups in regard to each other, and each individual to their own. Findings revealed the dominance of "Corporal Aspects" and also some obvious divergencies in meanings, interests and priorities of different groups of stakeholders towards the conservation process of the property. Furthermore, two of the effective attitudinal subject matters which are most eligible to form attitudinal judgments and behaviors of stakeholders toward the conservation process were recognized as "Restoration Time Zone" and "Tidiness of the Space", which both are related to "Corporal Aspects".

Indoor skylights or patios are considered one of the pervasive spaces in Tehran's residential buildings. Patios play a significant role in modifying the climatic conditions and bringing the environment closer to humane conditions with a passive approach, thereby reducing energy consumption. The environmental benefits of these spaces were raised as a new response to the energy consumption of buildings after the energy crisis of the 1970s and since then, atrium spaces have been used in modern architecture. Research shows that the climatic performance of skylights is different from and affected by the surrounding conditions and they reduce the need for cooling, heating and mechanical ventilation. On the other hand, they reduce relative humidity, particularly in winter. The purpose of this paper is to obtain the temperature conditions, WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature), relative humidity of skylights, and its effect on comfort achievement. For this purpose, a skylight of a roofed five-storey residential building in the north of Tehran with plants and injection of pool moisture into the central skylight space. This is a field work in which simulation was done with indoor skylights with cover, water and plants and indoor skylights with the cover but without water and plants. Field measurements were done by temperature and humidity data loggers, and WBGT device in summer and winter for four and five consecutive days, respectively.  In order to record the air temperature in different layers of the patio, three data loggers were installed on the odd floors of the building and a data logger was installed on the roof of the building in the shadow to collect local temperature data every 30 minutes. Then, the building was simulated using the DesignBuilder software and after the results and graphs were obtained, a comparative analysis of the samples was performed and the validity of the simulation results was proved. The results show that the skylights roofed with the plant and injection of the moisture content of the ponds caused a moderate climatic condition in the skylight space, reducing the air temperature to 4° C in the warm season and increasing it to 11.7° C in the cold season. By closing the pool door several times during the field measurements in winter, it was found that the temperature difference in the patio floors increased after the removal of the pool moisture from the skylight. In addition to reducing humidity, the moisture stratification in the floors changed and the humidity decreased from the first to fifth floors. As the skylights were roofed, sunny or cloudy weather conditions in the cold season had little effect (on average 0.5° C) on the internal temperature of the patio. A comparison of the results of simulation and field studies showed that the removal of plant and pool moisture led to an increase in the temperature difference in the skylight. Examining the WBGT index also showed that the fifth-floor patio will be in the caution heat zone during the daytime maximum temperature and will be in the extreme caution zone in the middle of summer.

According to a number of scholars, addressing curriculum planning is an indispensable method to improve the quality of education. Nowadays, the fact that university graduates lack the required competence to enter the profession points to a huge gap between university education and actual professional requirements in the market. This highlights the need to improve the quality of architectural education, the training of architects, and professional competence according to the needs of society. The main purpose of the Architecture Studio 5 is to train architects to respond to the residential needs of the people and prepare them for the profession (the main purpose of the field of architecture), and there is no consistent training method. This research aims to evaluate the curriculum for Architecture Studio 5 in terms of preparing the students for the required professional competence and tries to answer the following question: “What is the relationship between professional competence in graduates of architecture in the field of housing and the curriculum for Architecture Studio 5 offered at the Faculty of Architecture?” In the first step, this study sets out the theoretical foundations of the research using a qualitative approach and the descriptive-analytical method. Then, it investigates the factors affecting the Architecture Studio 5 curriculum structure by extracting the dimensions and components that form the curriculum. Since the purpose of this study is to identify the factors affecting curriculum structure, the next step involves data collection, library resources and qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews with professional architects set up by the authors. The factors affecting training and curriculum structure are extracted by analyzing the contents of interviews in a field survey. The statistical population of specialized architects participating in the interview includes CEOs of architectural consulting companies active in the field of housing design and specialists at East Azerbaijan Province’s Construction Engineering Organization selected with purposive, maximum variation sampling. The number of interview participants is determined through theoretical saturation. The results of the present study – concerning the categorization of interview contents, the extraction of sub-categories, and comparing them with the curriculum for Architecture Studio 5 – show that there are differences between curriculum expectations from students and indices of career competence. These differences can be identified in three areas: knowledge, attitude, and skill. The results of the interview point to gaps between curriculum expectations and indices of career competence, which are relatively wider in the knowledge and attitude dimensions compared to the skill dimension such as the fact that the main curriculum component is completely overlooked. Furthermore, there are significant gaps between curriculum expectations and indices of career competence in the knowledge and attitude dimensions in terms of rules and regulations as well as in terms of sociology and audience analysis. In conclusion, despite the importance of technical and structural issues from a labor market perspective, indices of career competence in architectural education are not limited to this subject. Therefore, it is necessary to address broader issues and apply more fundamental changes to the curriculum.