International Journal of Architectural Engineering & Urban Planning
Volume:32 Issue: 1, Jan 2022

This paper seeks to study the impacts of different dimensions of ICTs on urban design. Due to the inevitable digitalization of our lives which has a direct impact on urban design, it sounds that providing a redefinition of the concept of urban design is necessary. Although there are various studies about the impacts of ICTs on dimensions of cities, in this study, we consider the concept of urban design specifically. After reviewing various key aspects in urban design which were highlighted by practitioners and writers, eight dimensions were chosen to be investigated. These metrics include morphological, perceptual, social, visual, functional, temporal, environmental, and economic dimensions. We try to address digitalization in the sense that how urban design can help to bridge the science and process of urban design by investigating the impact of ICTs on a few key selected dimensions. This study aims to present a clear and compatible image of urban design in the digital era. The resulting changes from globalization are expected to update the process of urban design. The study presents a qualitative perception of the imperative-analytical technique through a content review and qualitative coding (open, axial, and selective coding) in the first part. We tried to assess the views in chronological order in an urban context to present an updated definition of urban design: urban design is a process of enhancing the qualities of urban environments which would be facilitated by using ICTs tools.

Designers can use the story, as a common language, to improve the packaging of cultural artifacts. Knife packaging, as one of the most important handicrafts of Zanjan province, can be a factor in supplying and selling this product in domestic and foreign markets. The main objectives of this research were to provide a design process for designing products related to emotions. To this end, a collection of stories related to this product was extracted; 30 users were surveyed and questioned as a sample. This study uses a descriptive-analytical method. In the descriptive part we have studied the storytelling method in the design process and in the analytical section we offered a checklist of stories and proverbs and examined them. Finally, the best story was chosen, and the knife was designed using the principles of storyboarding and scenario planning and considering the story-based packaging designed by principles. After taking time to make sure that the questionnaire was fully understood by the user and conducting the survey, the data were extracted, and statistical analysis was performed. The feedback of the users was reviewed and according to the results, it can be found out that the principles of the story in Zanjan knife packaging design have a significant effect on the interaction and emotions of users.

Today, the use of building information modeling (BIM) has become widespread in developed countries; however, in Iran, the use of BIM-based software has received less attention for some reasons. In the present study, in the first phase, library studies and data collection related to research objectives have been surveyed. Then the identification of indigenous indices of green architecture in Iran was identified and explained through the Delphi method with Kendall's W correlation coefficient in SPSS software as a table Test Statistics. Finally, a green villa building in the Lavasan area in Tehran was detected and designated as a sample to be studied. The building was simulated using Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies in order to better understand its environment. Moreover, the energy consumption of the mentioned building during the previous year was studied by modeling it in Revit software. The results of the research indicate that the selected building, which has been claimed to be green, has a distance of 58 kWh / m² with the global standards of ASHRAE and LEED. Accordingly, the studied building does not have the fundamental requirements and basic principles to receive the green building certification according to these international rating systems. Thus, with regard to the green building information modeling in Iran, it could be inferred that due to the lack of an indigenous guide (in terms of energy consumption) provided by the authorities, the environmental ecosystems as global assets are at risk.

Due to the climate change impact, personal thermal comfort (PTC) studies in buildings have been highlighted to reconsider previous results. PTC causes thermal adaptation) physical, physiological, and psychological adaptation (that is the process of acclimatization to different conditions. Thermal comfort is affected by environmental, personal, mental, cognitive, and behavioral criteria. This study was conducted to emphasize the effects of psychological components on PTC in order to improve offices indoor environment quality and reduce energy consumption. In this perspective, cognitive flexibility and resilience have been selected to examine PTC and the ability to accept and choose thermal adaptive strategies based on cognitive characteristics. The research question is: do different cognitive flexibility and resilience level lead to different levels of PTC and conscious/unconscious reaction? To answer this question and calculate comfort temperature, field study was carried out in an office building. The study had two steps: questionnaire and on-site measurements. The questionnaire included an assessment of psychological components, personal components, and thermal responses scales. Environmental components were measured using mobile instruments and the nearest weather station data. A study of 108 participants indicated that cognitive flexibility and resilience had a significant correlation with thermal sensation, thermal comfort, and thermal preferences. So, we can have linear and logistic regression models to predict adaptive behavior, thermal comfort, and thermal preferences based on psychological and personal components. Analysis of comfort temperature using the Griffiths method showed indoor temperature should be 23.7°C for the majority of occupants. We can also be sure that at least two degrees change in indoor temperature is needed to shift occupants’ thermal sensation.

In recent years, several studies have focused on the perceived meanings of urban parks. However, few studies are to be found providing a comprehensive model of the meanings and associations of an urban park. This paper seeks to address the main following question: What are the meanings and associations of Fateh Garden for its users?In this study, a grounded theory approach was conducted to identify meanings and associations as intangible cultural resources of Fateh Garden which is one of the largest and most popular parks in Karaj. In this regard, sixty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with Fateh Garden’s users. The results reveal that when users are asked about the park, they often come up with pleasant meanings and associations. Components, events, and activities as causal conditions create pleasant meanings and associations for the users of Fateh Garden. Moreover, ease of accessibility facilitates the use of this park. However, there are some issues, problems, and contradictions related to Fateh Garden that need to be addressed. In this regard, identifying problems and providing solutions can lead to promoting peace, safety, and hope for Fateh Garden’s users. This study identifies eight categories and sixteen subcategories. The substantive theory that emerged, was named promoting peace, safety, and hope through pleasant meanings and associations. This study provides a framework for urban parks managers and future researchers to assess intangible cultural resources of urban parks.

Home personalization is a way to remedy the monotonous, standardized design of affordable housing, and to make it more congruent with users’ taste, preferences and life style. Previous research on personalized residential space suggests that private outdoor space, especially front yard, provides an ideal setting for personalization. However, most units of an affordable housing do not possess a front yard and current studies rarely give evidence of personalization in other types of private outdoor space. Therefore, the first research question is how four main types of private outdoor space including front yard, terrace, balcony, and rooftop terrace compare with respect to the extent to which each type facilitates personalization. The second question is how the physical characteristics of an outdoor open space correlate with the higher levels of personalization. One hundred and eighty private outdoor spaces of an affordable housing complex are surveyed for amount and purposes of personalization through expert inspection of trace measures and interview with residents. The data has also gone through correlational analysis. Results show that front yard and terrace are the most personalized spaces with two purposes of territorial defense and regulation of social interaction. In contrast, balcony and rooftop terrace are far less personalized, and mostly with the purpose of improving their practicality. Furthermore, larger amounts of personalization are found to be strongly correlated with adjacency to the entrance and living room, a larger size of space, and its being on the lower levels of a building.

The goal of this paper is to review and categorize approaches and methods of facing urban light pollution. Probing various references and documents, the current practice focus on extracting and reviewing different types of urban light pollution detection, survey, and measurement to define a taxonomy of methods by instant comparison. The means of measurement and detecting this pollution include 14 most cited techniques which would be classified in four categories in this paper. These methods comprise ground-based survey, aerial survey, remote sensing, and city modeling. Finally, this paper represents a framework of the methods to show how and when they should be employed considering the pros and cons of each one of these methods. By creating a foundation of specialized arguments, this study helps researchers and urban designers to complete urban lighting research and design. In addition, it provides a base-information for the analysis of urban light pollution.

Noise annoyance is a sensitive indicator of adverse noise effects and by itself means that noise affects people’s quality of life. In fact the acoustic environment has been neglected during the education of building engineers and architects relative to the thermal and lighting aspects addressed in education programs. This study aimed to investigate various non-acoustic factors on the annoyance caused by environmental noise in residential apartments. The surveys were conducted in Iran, city of Tabriz in October and November 2019. This research is descriptive-analytical and the type of research is correlational and causal. The statistical population of this study has formed the residents of different towers of Aseman-e Tabriz Residential Complex, which was selected as the sample size by using 373 Cochran's formula. The way of selecting sample people is randomly simple. The validity of the questionnaire has been confirmed by the professors and the reliability of the questionnaire has been obtained using Cronbach's special alpha formula for the variables in total equal to 0.857, and the variables of the situational section 0.902. Among all variables of the study, only four variables of fear with the 12.93% of variance changes, sensitivity to noise with the 11.85%, health issues of the residents with the 12.25%, satisfaction with the quality of construction and insulation with the 12.53% are the main factors influencing.