نشریه اقتصاد و برنامه ریزی شهری
سال چهارم شماره 2 (تابستان 1402)

Introduction :

As part of domestic and international assemblies, cultural industries have always been discussed [1] to provide opportunities for urban development, especially economically, by finding a place for culture in national and international economic contexts [2]. Cultural industries link the cultural system to the economy through innovation and creativity, creating jobs and accumulating capital as the most crucial competition tools [3].Additionally, as human settlements, cities have become so significant that researchers are required to identify whatever could be effective in developing such settlements. Cities, which were previously at the peak of flourishing by stressing the economic aspect, are currently deteriorating. In addition, the past lives of such arenas, which were considered the driving force behind economic mobility, are disappearing [4].From 1980 onward, and with the emergence of changes in economics, culture has become a dominant and pivotal element in the process of social change. Since cities have a hidden force within, called culture, as the hidden treasures of cities, they can become enlivening factors for cities and provide the driving force necessary for the prosperity and development of cities [5,6] and become a proper substitute for an economy that is waning in the light of globalization and economic, social, and cultural changes [7,8]. Thus, culture and cultural economics could prosper inner city potential and cause urban development. Further, in light of this thinking, it has brought developing countries new hopes regarding wealth production through cultural industries and by overcoming poverty and unemployment. Iran is not an exception and, as one of the few living civilizations remaining from ancient times, has a historical,cultural, and artistic record, and before that, had numerous cultural industries, which can be used as a potential for the growth and development of cities.Hence, three questions can be posed: first, what aspects, components, and indicators is the conceptual framework of cultural industries affecting urban development in Iran based on? Secondly, which one is more crucial? And thirdly, how much do the accounted cultural industries affect each development aspect? Therefore, this study aims to create a coherent framework of cultural industries affecting urban development in Iran, prioritizes them based on an expert survey, and determines the extent of cultural industries’ impact on every aspect of urban development.

Based on its nature, this study falls into the category of descriptive-analytical research. Further, it describes and introduces the concepts, aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries that can affect urban development. Data collection was conducted through documentary research. The concept of culture, cultural industries, their aspects, and their components was developed, and the development aspects were examined through content analysis. Surveys of experts (including 40 individuals with Ph.D. in Urban Planning and Cultural Management) were used to corroborate the accounted aspects, components, and indicators mentioned and obtain theoretical saturation. They were asked to, firstly, share their opinions regarding corroborating or rejecting the aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries in achieving urban development in Iran, secondly, determine the importance coefficient of each aspect, component, and index of cultural industries in urban development in Iran, and thirdly, clarify which aspects of urban development each index would affect the most. Finally, swing weighting was applied to prioritize the aspects, components, and indicators. Accordingly, the geometric mean weight of aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries effective in urban development in Iran, obtained from expert surveys, was calculated. For the comparability of indicators, the obtained weights were normalized to clarify which aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries could be emphasized and which aspects of urban development the mentioned framework affects most to achieve urban development in Iran.

Cultural industries can affect the economic, political, social, and other aspects of urban development in Iran through tourism, higher education institutions, and entertainment. The tourism aspect includes components such as communication, branding, cultural heritage, natural heritage, and visual arts, encompassing 17 indicators from the total cultural industries indicators, including being located on the communication path, the number of hotels, and the quality of hotels. The higher education institution and science aspect has components such as printing, publishing, and research and development, encompassing seven indicators from the total cultural industries indicators. Finally, the entertainment aspect comprises three components, including films and videos, performing arts, and toys, making up eight indicators of the total cultural industries indicators. Since the aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries do not affect urban development aspects in Iran equally, a geometric mean was obtained from the average of coefficients experts gave to the indicators of cultural industries to determine the initial weight of each index. This is even though the calculated coefficients do not allow for two-by-two comparisons of indicators and components in various aspects. Hence, all levels were consistently normalized to 1 for comparability of aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries in urban development in Iran. Among the 32 indicators of cultural industries affecting urban development in Iran, advertisements play the most substantial role, with a coefficient of 4.033%. Next are indicators such as the quality of natural heritage, historical contexts, the number of historic and registered heritage sites, and the number and quality of annual festivals, with importance coefficients of 3.884%, 3.839%, 3.816%, and 3.770%, respectively. To calculate how much cultural industries affect urban development aspects, experts clarified the indicators of cultural industries that most affect the political, social, economic, technical, environmental, legal, and physical aspects of urban development in Iran. Therefore, the weight of each index was multiplied by the number of iterations of each urban development aspect. After normalizing to 100, the impact every index has on each aspect of urban development in Iran was determined. According to the results, cultural industries can develop social, economic, physical, technical, political, legal, and environmental aspects with impact coefficients of 39.207%, 16,901%, 12.15%, 11.076%, 9.253%, 7.499%, and 3.914%, respectively, and achieve urban development in Iran accordingly

According to this study, firstly, the accounted aspects, components, and indicators of cultural industries directly affect urban development in Iran. Further, Iranian cities are particularly interesting for tourists because of their cultural and artistic facilities, thus creating cultural tourism. These cultural industries also attract a professional workforce in various fields by being active in different artistic areas, which provides employment. Additionally, cultural industries create spaces throughout cities by engaging in numerous artistic fields, which enhances social relations and interactions within cities. Secondly, they are not equally effective in urban development in Iran. Among tourism, entertainment, and the expansion of higher education institutions and science, tourism accounts for the most significant effect, followed by entertainment. Among components related to tourism, cultural and natural heritage components have the highest points, followed by communication, branding, and visual arts. Regarding entertainment, the film and video components stood higher than performing arts and toys. Finally, regarding the expansion of higher education institutions and science, the research and development component was ranked higher than printing and publishing. Furthermore, among all 32 indicators, advertisements, natural heritage quality, historical contexts, the number of historic and registered heritage sites, the number and quality of annual festivals, the number of quality of hotels, the number and quality of museums, the annual tourism percentage, the number and quality of shopping centers, and the number and quality of science and technology parks had the highest points from the total of 9 components. With their knowledge-based nature, cultural industries borrow from culture as one of the aspects of urban life and sustainable development to affect other aspects of urban development in Iranian cities, especially on social, economic, and physical aspects, with impact coefficients of 39.207%, 16.901%, 12.150%, respectively

Introduction :

Participatory governance is an important approach that has attracted the attention of statesmen in the past few years, and it is used to bring people together with policies and use their capacity in implementation and monitoring. Urban management also uses this approach in the field of budgeting, implementing, and monitoring municipal projects. In this regard, one of the important plans that were carried out in Tehran municipality in 1401 is the “I am the mayor” plan, which aims to survey citizens for budgeting and prioritization of new municipal projects. 

This article aims to investigate and evaluate this plan’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with the SWOT analysis method and then prioritize the extracted strategies using QSPM technique. This research was conducted using a qualitative (descriptive-analytical) method. Information was collected in the form of in-depth and semi-structured interviews. In this regard, 24 experts in the field of urban management and participatory governance were surveyed.

The results of this analysis show that proper accessibility, proper notification, considering the incentive system, and a quick review of proposals are the strengths of the plan; short plan implementation time, the possibility of registering fake comments, aggregating various preferences, and asking unprofessional questions are weak points of the plan; increasing social capital, strengthening social justice, reducing social problems, and greater productivity are plan opportunities; and limitation of resources, imposing opinions on all people, creating expectations in citizens, and lack of sufficient awareness of citizens are the threats of this plan. Based on the analysis, 8 important strategies have been presented in the form of a SWOT matrix. 

The results obtained from the QSPM analysis also show that among the developed strategies, the “Strategy of informing people about the results of plan implementation” and “the strategy of using various tools and methods for participation” are the most important. The selection of “Strategy of informing people about the results of plan implementation” as the most important strategy shows that people like to be aware of the results of their participation and to see the effects of participation in their lives. In the end, practical suggestions are provided for making more use of strengths and opportunities, as well as reducing weaknesses and threats. Finally, solutions for better implementation of participatory budgeting plans are recommended.

Introduction :

This article aims to create a proposal for urban social criteria to improve the quality of urban life, based on the review of various well-known indicators used at the international level, with a special focus on the way to increase the quality of life through work on urban and social factors and indicators. It is assumed that working on these factors and indicators at the micro-urban level may evoke people’s satisfaction with their city. In addition, to increase the rank of Iranian cities in international indexes. In terms of quality of life social indicators, among 163 countries, Iran ranks 93rd after Turkey. However, unfortunately, it has a low rank, which indicates the average quality of life of its residents the main problem related to the issue of measuring the quality of life in the current quality of life evaluations is that no study has been conducted to identify whether Tabriz performs poorly in all the mentioned determinants or only in a few of them. Another issue is that the current quality of life indicators is that they work at a macro level where they consider the quality of life in a region at a great scale. If evaluation tools work more on the development of urban micro-scale indicators instead of macro indicators, the quality of life of people in the city may increase. 

 This research has a descriptive-analytical approach that uses a descriptive qualitative approach to identify the primary factors and indicators that provide the quality of urban life. In addition to the analytical approach to analyze the urban and social indicators about contemporary indicators that have been included in many international case studies, eight international evaluation indicators were also considered for brief content analysis by reviewing the literature. This review focuses on the existing academic literature and appropriate practices for quality of life assessment worldwide. The selected frameworks and indicators were chosen because they can be applied for implementation at different levels of the city. While this list may not be exhaustive, it attempts to systematically record and review the latest international research and practice on this topic. Then, the factors of each of them are examined, followed by a detailed qualitative analysis of their cities, and social indicators are shown. Then a comparative analysis has been done in relation to the main factors of these indicators. This analysis aims to identify the importance of socio-urban factors as well as a set of socio-urban assessment criteria that can help urban dwellers in discovering possible basic areas of intervention that may increase the quality of urban life of people, which is inferred through criteria. In addition, a survey of experts using a questionnaire was applied to verify the proposed criteria and rank their importance using relative weights according to the city of Tabriz. Experts were asked to rate the importance and relevance of indicators that provide each of the primary measures of eight urban social factors. The results of the questionnaire are also provided. 

According to the experts’ survey about the city of Tabriz, Safety, mobility, and recreational facilities are in the first rank of needed interventions. In addition, focusing on basic criteria such as recreation requires more green and public spaces, however, if it is applied to a specific community, the results may change and be more specific to the specific needs of the community. One of the main obstacles to international indicators of quality of life is that even though they are promoted as international indicators, there is no common definition of what should be defined as an urban factor and what should be considered an objective or subjective indicator. Sometimes recreation is considered as a factor with a set of indicators, while in other cases it is considered as an index to measure other factors. Housing as a field also has the same problem. When it is raised under life and physical security, it is considered as one of the main factors in another index, which is compared with an objective index such as the number of newly built private residential units and average sales price or with subjective indicators reflecting the quality and variety of sizes. Furthermore, as the sub-indices are derived from international indices, they will have a direct impact on the city’s score. The proposed dimensions and principles of the quality of urban life were determined with the aim of guiding and helping public policymakers, urban planners, and designers to improve the quality of urban life in a region, considering the need to create a layer of context based on the goals and approaches needed. 

Quality of life is a comprehensive concept that cannot be separated from the physical environment, and it is more accurate to mention it under the title of quality of urban life. You must have a concept of flexibility that includes different goals and methods. The quality of urban life consists of two understandable dimensions, subjective and objective, each dimension deals with a different number of factors that vary from one index to another, yet they deal with almost the same issues. The objective dimension of quality of life is related to the economy, health, politics, and physical components of urbanization, while the subjective dimension focuses more on people’s perception and their acceptance of current conditions and their desire to create those conditions if the goal is to improve the quality of urban life. Therefore, it is important to deal with the urban challenges that communities are facing.

Introduction :

Understanding the role of financial development is very important because it allows the policymakers of a country to increase the economic efficiency of the country’s financial system by promoting banking and stock market and attracting foreign direct investment, since with this correct policy, they can affect economic activities and energy demand [1]. Different views consider financial development as the result of economic growth [2-4]. Countries are always trying to expand their necessary institutions, especially their financial institutions, to increase their economic growth. On the other hand, the expansion of financial institutions causes energy demand growth. Recently, there has been a consensus about the vital role of financial development on economic growth[5-8]. On the other hand, the results of some studies show that economic growth has increased energy demand in the United States during the years 1974-1947 [9]. According to studies [10-13], the increase in energy demand in emerging countries is due to the increase in their income. Emerging countries need more production to meet the growing needs of their people, which leads to more energy consumption. So it can be acknowledged that the results of the studies in line with the relationship between energy consumption and financial development with economic growth show the existence of a meaningful relationship between financial development and energy consumption. In economic literature, several control variables are applied to describe the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth. Population growth, urbanization, and industrialization are important factors affecting energy consumption. Rapid population growth leads to urbanization, which may cause more energy use. Industrialization can directly and indirectly affect energy consumption [14]. Urbanization means moving from rural areas to urban areas, which can affect energy consumption in various ways. With increasing urbanization and changing people’s consumption patterns, increasing production in line with increasing demand for goods and services, and increasing public transportation, energy consumption increases [15]. On the other hand, with increasing urbanization, it is impossible to avoid its economic and social consequences, like changing the consumption pattern, intensifying the process of reducing non-renewable resources, and increasing the emission of pollutants. [16]. Due to the discussion of resource limitations and the exhaustion of energy reserves, energy consumption management is very important, and economic policymakers around the world are looking for a way to manage urban growth to reduce the effects of urbanization processes on energy consumption.
According to the above-mentioned materials, this study examines whether the empirical evidence of Iran’s economy also indicates the existence of a relationship between energy consumption and the components of financial development, urbanization, andindustrialization. Also, if there was a relationship between these variables, from 1991 to 2021, how has been their effect? Therefore, the hypotheses of this research are presented as follows:1- Financial development has a positive and significant effect on energy consumption. 2- Industrialization has a positive and significant effect on energy consumption. 3- Urbanization has a positive and significant effect on energy consumption. In many domestic and foreign studies, the impact of financial development, as the main variable, on energy consumption has been investigated, and in some of them, the urbanization or industrialization variable has also been included as a control variable in the estimation of the model. Besides, in some studies, the effect of urbanization or industrialization on energy consumption has been investigated independently. In the upcoming article, the joint effect of financial development, industrialization, and urbanization variables on energy consumption is investigated. According to the surveys conducted by the Statistics Center, Iran has been facing an increasing increase in urbanization in recent years. Currently, 74% of Iran’s population is urban. Therefore, the findings of this research can be effective to help economic policymakers in applying appropriate financial development policies and managing industrialization and urbanization to control energy consumption. In the rest of this article, the theoretical foundations and background of the research will be reviewed, then the data and methodology of the research will be described. Finally, the results will be analyzed.

In this research, using EViews software and autoregression with distributed lag (ARDL) method, the influence of financial development, economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization on energy consumption in Iran during the period of 1991-2021 has been investigated.

The model estimation results show that in the short and long term, the effect of industrial value-added variables and urban population on energy consumption is positive and significant, while the variables of financial development and economic growth have a negative effect on energy consumption. Therefore, in the period studied in this research, the effect of financial development on energy consumption in Iran is negative, but industrialization and urbanization have a positive relationship with energy consumption.

The empirical evidence of this research shows that industrialization and urbanization in Iran increase energy consumption in the long term. Financial development and economic growth also reduce energy consumption in Iran in the long term. Therefore, in line with policies to reduce energy consumption in the country, the creation of a healthy and developed financial system that can attract investors, boost the stock market, and improve the efficiency of economic activities should be encouraged. On the other hand, sustainable economic growth creates more demand for financial services and leads to the development of the financial sector. Therefore, appropriate measures to achieve this sustainable economic growth will help to reduce energy consumption in the country. Although industrialization and urbanization cause an increase in energy consumption in Iran, attention and efforts for their prosperity are very important, as they are important components of economic development, and should never be left out of the development process, the government can control the rapid growth of urbanization by granting energy facilities in rural areas and prevent the increase in energy consumption in the country. Otherwise, to respond to the increasing demand for energy, one must seek to discover new sources and increase the supply, which will result in much higher costs.

Introduction :

In recent times, the mounting debt of municipalities in various countries, including the United States, China, Japan, Spain, and Mexico, has become a pressing concern for policymakers and researchers. The unrestricted expansion of debt in these countries has imposed significant repayment pressure on municipalities, raising the specter of a potential debt crisis. While local borrowing plays a central role in decentralized financial systems, the imprudent use of local debt can disrupt the provision of essential public services at the local level and, more critically, exert adverse effects on macroeconomic stability. Evidence from public and social media indicates that the escalating scale of municipal debt in Tehran has garnered the attention and concern of policymakers, researchers, and various segments of society due to the potential consequences associated with this issue. At present, the total accumulated debt of Tehran municipality stands at 85 thousand billion tomans, and there are apprehensions that if the current trend of debt accumulation persists, Tehran municipality may face default, leading not only to a downgrade in its credit rating but also to difficulties in obtaining financing from the capital or money markets. The substantial level of debt held by Tehran municipality, coupled with its annual profits, and the lack of clarity regarding the precise amount of debt and a high number of unrecorded debts, have led to different figures being reported by the media and other institutions while estimating the overall debt amount. In this context, the implementation of an effective debt management system within Tehran municipality can play a vital role in enhancing financial management and improving the debt situation. The key challenge lies in devising a legal and practical framework that allows Tehran municipality to maintain the necessary flexibility in delivering optimal services while ensuring financial discipline during both economic stability and times of crisis. To address these concerns, this study aims to answer the following questions:What is the current status of debt management in Tehran municipality?What constitutes an appropriate model for debt management in Tehran municipality?What are the dimensions, components, and indicators involved in debt management within Tehran municipality?To achieve this, we examine debt management mechanisms within the framework of public financial management systems adopted by municipalities worldwide and, based on that, propose a comprehensive framework for debt management specifically tailored to Tehran municipality.

The present study adopts a descriptive and survey research design, focusing on applied research objectives. The initial research framework was developed through an extensive literature review, encompassing municipal experiences, relevant institutions, books, articles, and scientific publications. Subsequently, the researchers adapted the initial model, considering Iranian municipalities’ activities and specific environmental and control characteristics. The final model was established following consultation with experts, and a research questionnaire was then prepared. The quantitative stage targeted a statistical population comprising managers with extensive experience in finance, accounting, and budget departments at Tehran Municipality. Priority was given to experts with educational backgrounds in finance, accounting, or related fields, and participants were predominantly managers and deputies ranked between 5 to 15 or higher, with over a decade of experience in their respective positions, particularly in finance, accounting, and treasury roles. The questionnaire was distributed online through the snowball method, employing a five-point Likert scale, and respondents were also invited to complete the questionnaire via telephone calls. A total of 103 valid questionnaires were collected. The face and content validity of the questionnaire were assessed through input from professors and subject matter experts. Additionally, the researchers utilized the PLS software to assess construct validity, determining factor loadings. The questionnaire’s reliability was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, confirming the reliability values, combined reliability, and extracted variance of the research constructs. Furthermore, divergent validity was evaluated following Fornell and Larcker’s approach, supporting the confirmation of the research model.

The data analysis in this study encompasses two primary phases: descriptive and inferential. In the descriptive phase, mean and standard deviation were computed for interval variables. In the inferential analysis, the distribution of variables was first examined using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Due to the non-normality of the data, the Wilcoxon test was employed to compare the current and desired situations. Furthermore, structural equation modeling using smartPLS software was utilized to test the research hypotheses. The results of these tests indicated that the investigated variables had a significant value (sig) below 0.05, confirming the non-normality of the data. The Wilcoxon test was also employed to compare the existing state of debt management in Tehran Municipality with the desired state. The findings revealed a significant difference between the current and desirable situations of debt management, highlighting a gap between the two. Subsequently, the model derived from the qualitative phase was examined to fit. In this regard, the standard beta values (factor loadings) of each extracted category were individually assessed using PLS software. Weak factor loadings (below 0.7) were eliminated to finalize the model. In this study, all factor loadings exceeded 0.9, indicating strong relationships between the variables. Moreover, the coefficients representing the main paths demonstrated the high intensity of the relationship between each component and the endogenous variable (debt management), with values above 0.9 for all paths. The developed model underscores that debt management is a multifaceted issue intertwined with various departments and operations within the organization, like planning and budgeting, auditing, finance, treasury, and legal affairs. Its effectiveness relies on the integration and coordination of organizational policies and strategies.

The aim of this study was to propose a debt management framework for Tehran Municipality. To achieve this, the debt governance systems and frameworks employed by municipalities worldwide were examined, leading to the development of an initial framework. A questionnaire was subsequently administered to financial managers within Tehran Municipality to assess the current and desired state of debt management. The analysis of the results revealed a significant gap between the existing debt management system in Tehran municipality and the desired ideal state. In order to bridge this gap, a comprehensive framework for debt management was proposed. This model encompasses five key dimensions, namely the formulation of laws and regulations, financial and budgetary policy formulation, strategic planning formulation and implementation, accounting and financial reporting, and financial and budgetary supervision. Each dimension includes various components that play a vital role in effective debt management. In terms of legislation, incorporating global experiences, the necessary legal provisions were identified to restrict and systematize urban debts. These provisions encompass requirements related to debt creation, utilization, settlement, and financing structure. Another crucial dimension is financial and budgetary policy, which involves policies to prevent budget deficits through debt, defining financial crisis situations, credit risk management, transparency in financial operations, and coordination of financial and budgetary policies. Furthermore, the formulation and implementation of a strategic debt management plan are essential aspects affecting municipal debt management. This requires the development of long-term financial plans and investment plans, along with the implementation of debt management strategies. In terms of accounting, establishing a debt management database utilizing information technology, cash flow forecasting, cash management, reporting, debt record-keeping, and debt forecasting are crucial considerations. Lastly, functional monitoring of municipal debts, including financial and budgetary monitoring, forms another important aspect of debt management requirements. Drawing on the successful experiences of the World Bank (2013) in municipal debt management, it is evident that effective debt governance goes beyond restrictive laws and regulations and entails a well-balanced decentralized financial design that encompasses various aspects, including long-term planning, administrative and organizational structures, accounting and reporting mechanisms, and monitoring mechanisms. In conclusion, the approach adopted in this study aligns with the comprehensive approach advocated by the World Bank, emphasizing the need for a holistic and integrated framework for debt management in municipalities.

Introduction :

Modern developments in many societies have affected all structures and pushed them towards global imperialism in such a way that the most basic dimensions of people such as culture, identity, and ethnicity have undergone changes. In analyzing the role of the media in urban planning, most experts and analysts point to the dual role and function of the media in this category: that is, on the one hand, the media can keep pace with the system and logically defend macro-policies, with valuation and value creation, message induction, and highlighting. To legitimize the policies of the system, they should take a step towards establishing harmony and ethnic integration. In such a situation, due to the special role that the media play in the transmission of information and communication in all political, cultural, urban, social, and economic fields, they can influence the degree of ethnic convergence in the circulation of information and the amount of information injected into the society to increase the ultimate national unity. Therefore, in countries like Iran, which has a diverse ethnic structure, ethnicity can be considered as one of the indicators of introducing people. Smith believes: ethnic ties, like other social ties, are exposed to social, economic, and political forces, and therefore they change and fluctuate according to different social situations and conditions. The main issue of this research is how the national media can communicate with Iranian ethnic groups with the help of urban planning so that no ethnic group is separated from the national media and is equated with the national media. The purpose of this research is to the role of urban planning in designing the ideal model of national media with an emphasis on ethnic culture.

The method of conducting this research is qualitative and grounded theory. Grounding theory is the process of generalizing the results of a particular observation to a more comprehensive theory. During this method, a theory is extracted from daily experiences, interactions, documents, literature, and observations by inductive method. The researcher does not start his work with a theory that he wants to prove, but he starts with a study in the field and allows things related to that field to reveal themselves. The statistical population of this research is professors and experts in the field of media management, social communication sciences, and senior managers and deputies of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Organization and the municipality. To interview the experts, in consultation with the supervisor, an open and in-depth interview was conducted with 30 people for a complete and comprehensive analysis of the field of managing national media relations with Iranian ethnic groups. Research data has been collected and processed by two library methods and field studies. Library studies: In this method, by reviewing the research conducted in libraries and databases, internal and external theses, and articles, it was brought to the researcher’s attention through an internet search to receive information. Using the grounded theory method and analyzing the information obtained from the interviews with the experts, and as a result, the research-based theory is formulated.

In response to the question, what are the methods of Sedavasima [national media] to contribute to urban planning? They have stated cases that after summarization and analysis were categorized into 4 categories including “media productions, the role of urban planning with a focus on needs assessment, ethnic culture, the introduction of ethnic-media patterns”. Media production in the national media is one of the most central areas of media activity. So, it monitors the whole process of media activities and efforts. Considering the audience’s role in the communication process and paying attention to the audience’s wishes, desires, and needs, sensitivity in the production of media programs is necessary in assessing the needs of the audience. It is necessary to provide the context of using urban planning with the purpose of needs assessment, which is important in creating urban management. Experts have pointed out the capacity of ethnic culture, strengthening and development of festivals and specialized exhibitions on the topic of ethnic groups, showing the development of the province using the economic participation of ethnic groups. By properly identifying reference groups such as scholars and athletes, and strengthening them, the national media provides a suitable platform for the trust of different ethnic groups in the media.

The research results showed that the role of urban planning is possible by focusing on audience needs assessment. It also mentioned the media productions derived from the needs assessment, the culture of the ethnic groups in the cultural weeks, and the introduction of ethnic-media patterns. The solutions obtained from this research were placed in two provincial and national categories and three urban, economic, and political areas. In the end, the following model can be obtained. Moreover, it has a significant relationship with the research results of Ramin Rouholahi. According to experts, urban planning is created through maximizing solidarity. The most important and main idea of the theory of audience dependence is the need and dependence of the audience on mass media information sources for knowing and orientation towards social events. In the situation where we are faced with a variety of mass media, a successful media can meet the needs of its audience. The existence of various ethnicities and religions living in Iran causes the national media to face a variety of needs and demands, and this makes the task of network operators more complicated in meeting their demands. On the other hand, broadcasting aims to promote the native culture of each region and to introduce and advocate the ethnic culture while protecting the sub-cultures to bring about the convergence of ethnic groups and increase national unity and cohesion.

Introduction :

Urmia City is one of the historical and cultural cities of Iran. Like many other cities, the historical-cultural contexts in this city have been worn out and are facing many problems. In the historical-cultural context of Urmia city, the per capita income of the residents is lower than the urban average and the unemployment rate is higher than other urban areas. The residential units are not durable and the density of people in the residential unit is higher than the average of the city. This part of the city of Urmia has many environmental problems and the residents’ access to urban services and the state of urban infrastructure are inadequate. The high level of social anomalies and the context of their occurrence is evident compared to the urban average. Finally, the historical and cultural identity in this part of the city has been neglected and the social dignity in these areas has been greatly reduced, which has led to the replacement of social strata. This research seeks to answer the question that to what extent does the reconstruction of the historical-cultural context of Urmia City help to achieve sustainability in the studied context? Therefore, in the current research, the most important concern and problem of the researcher is to deal with the regeneration of the historical and cultural fabric of the city of Urmia, to identify the deprived and inefficient areas of this part of the city through an analysis of the role of urban regeneration and the realization of the principles of sustainable urban development in these areas.

The current research is descriptive and survey in terms of its nature and work content. On the other hand, this research is practical in terms of its purpose, because the principles and techniques developed in the research can be used to solve practical and real problems and have practical applications. In terms of time, it is cross-sectional. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. The statistical population of the research includes the population living in the historical and cultural context of Urmia city, which is 31811 people, and the sample size was 380 people based on Cochran’s formula. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to measure the reconstruction of the historical-cultural context. The questionnaire is arranged on a 5-point Likert scale. The content validity of the questionnaire was checked using the opinions of professors in this field. In addition, construct validity was used. Composite reliability was used to check the reliability of the questions. First, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine the normality of the data. The test of the research questions was examined and after confirming the normality of the data, Pearson’s correlation and confirmatory factor analysis of the second order were used. Calculations were done in SPSS, Amos, and Smart Pls software environment.

The second-order factor analysis shows that the factor loadings of all indicators of sustainable urban regeneration are greater than 0.4 and are significant at the 95% probability level. Social dimensions with a factor load of 0.91 have the greatest impact on sustainable urban regeneration in the central context of Urmia City. After that, cultural dimensions with a factor load of 0.88, economic dimensions with a factor load of 0.83, physical dimensions with a factor load of 0.79, management dimensions with a factor load of 75, and environmental dimensions with a factor load of 0.68 in the next row are located based on the findings of the present research. All the physical, economic, social, cultural, environmental, and management indicators have a significant relationship with the dependent variable of re-creating the historical-cultural context of Urmia city, and respectively indicators of social (0.609), cultural (0.553), economic (0.525), physical (0.411), managerial (0.382), and environmental (0.335) have the most to least effect on the dependent variable. Therefore, all stability indicators have an effect on the dependent variable according to the coefficient of determination (2R). It can be concluded that the most direct and indirect impact is related to the social index with a direct effect of 0.609 and an indirect effect of 0.402, followed by a cultural index with a direct effect of 0.553 and an indirect effect of 0.375.

The main reason for conducting a significant amount of studies in the field of urban regeneration by researchers and urban planners around the world is that this phenomenon will be able to integrate all economic, cultural, social, environmental, and physical aspects of the structure. Consider and integrate the city. There is a lot of cultural diversity in Iranian cities, and this has led to the launch of a new process of urban regeneration, which is to motivate and improve urban sustainability. The indicators that were examined in this research. They should be significantly prioritized in the future urban reconstruction projects in Urmia city, especially in the historical-cultural section. Urmia City has its own specific cultural movement or trend in the field of sustainable urban regeneration through cultural groups. But the cities of Iran in general and Urmia, while benefiting from different ethnic groups, are still far from sustainable regeneration, because they do not have the necessary infrastructure for that process, including socio-cultural functions. These roles come from a diversity of people with different ideas, desires, occupations, and innovative influences. In the city of Urmia, residents are not serious factors or human resources in planning, implementation, and changes. Therefore, the cultural capitals that are the result of the sustainable urban regeneration process have not been formed in this city (historical-cultural context). Also, different ethnic groups in the culturally homogeneous neighborhoods of Urmia still do not have relevant effects on spatial changes in them. Therefore, pluralistic public cultures, like those created in other countries, have not been formed and stable public spaces have not been created in cities, especially Urmia. The findings of this research can provide important social facts for the development of regeneration planning to the urban policy makers of Iran and Urmia city, which helps to improve the social capital of cultural-ethnic groups.

Introduction :

Municipalities, as institutions responsible for providing public services and developing cities, need strong and stable financial resources to finance and operate. Municipalities’ financing approaches are considered one of the basic factors in providing the income of municipalities and affecting their performance. Municipalities are financed in two ways, direct and indirect. Direct municipal financing approaches include public revenues such as taxes, tolls, municipal service fees, and other sources of income that are directly funded by citizens’ contributions and taxes. This approach is used as one of the main methods of financing municipalities, and the amount of income of municipalities depends on the needs and micropower of the population and the financial power of the citizens. Indirect financing approaches of municipalities also include non-public and non-governmental financial sources such as cooperation with the private sector, urban investments, investment in development projects, and investment in the stock exchange. This approach is used as a supplementary source for financing municipalities and can increase the municipality’s income and be developed according to the urban needs and capacities of the region. The impact of municipal financing approaches on the income of municipalities is very important. Using appropriate approaches to finance municipalities can lead to an increase in the income of municipalities and provide the possibility of providing better services and improving the living conditions of citizens. Moreover, choosing appropriate financial approaches and their optimal implementation can help increase investment, urban development and create economic growth in cities. Therefore, according to the importance of the subject, the purpose of the present research is to evaluate the financing methods in municipalities. By examining this issue, it is possible to help make better decisions about choosing appropriate financial approaches for municipalities and facilitate the improvement of their performance and income, since the financial resources of the municipality are the driving engine of the provision of municipal services, and the lack of sufficient resources or the lack of proper planning and forecasting to provide them, make the municipal activities difficult.

In line with the purpose of this article, using available information for three different samples, including a time series sample based on the financial statements of Tehran Municipality in the period 1387-1400 (as an internal sample) and panel samples based on data from the state of British Columbia with 15 municipalities and also, in Canada, with 12 municipalities for the period of 2010-2020 (foreign samples), the impact of financing approaches on the income of municipalities was investigated. According to the type of time series information and panel data used for the aforementioned samples, Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) have been used as estimation methods for the research model. It should be noted that for the above statistical approaches, reliability, co-accumulation, and Sargan pre-tests have been performed.

Based on the findings of the research, 10 types of financing methods were determined which include partnership financing, investment, bonds, contracts, income from tolls, income from the price of urban services, income from municipal funds and property, grants from the government and government organizations, and other sources. In order to create a statistical research model for the three investigated samples, these methods were defined in the form of five variables, and their effect on the municipal revenues was evaluated. Thus, in the research model, the impact of revenues from tolls, the price of services and revenues of municipal for-profit institutions, revenues from municipal funds and property, grants, grants and gifts, and assets, as well as revenues collected in the field of city protection, on the municipality’s income was investigated. According to the findings of the research, all the methods of providing income, except for the income collected in the protection zone of the cities, have a positive and significant effect on the income of Tehran municipality. Among the effective factors, the income from tolls has a greater effect and was introduced as a sustainable source of income for municipalities in all three stages of the research. According to the coefficient of the importance of the financing method based on collective investment with a positive effect on the income of the municipality of the state of British Columbia (1.468), this method was also identified as a new and sustainable method for municipalities; However, it has not been taken into account in the approaches of financing municipalities in Iran, because basically, there is no figure for it in the financial statements of the municipality.

The results of this research show that tolls, as one of the financing sources of municipalities, play a very important role in providing income and performance to, municipalities. Toll refers to financial amounts e collected from individuals and organizations for using services and public benefits. These duties can be considered taxes, urban development duties, transfer duties, and local taxes. The effect of tolls on municipal income is very important. Receiving tolls as a source of financing can enable municipalities to provide better public services to their citizens and benefit from the development and improvement of urban infrastructure and services. Moreover, the income from tolls can be used to cover the costs of municipalities for the implementation of construction projects and urban development. With the increase in population and urban needs, financing municipalities has become an important challenge. In this context, tolls are considered one of the main means of financing municipalities. However, the direct impact of tolls on the revenue of municipalities depends on the amount and type of tolls, the needs and micropower of the population, and the financial ability of citizens. On the other hand, the methods based on collective participation as one of the new and effective methods of financing municipalities have been widely noticed and used in recent years. These methods aim to collect financial resources through the participation and cooperation of citizens and organizations in urban activities, allowing municipalities to provide the best services to their citizens and advance development projects. Methods based on collective participation include different types of activities and mechanisms. These methods can include direct financial support from citizens and organizations, creating public-private partnerships, forming cooperative funds, creating online platforms for collecting and transferring financial funds, and creating financial systems based on energy consumption units. The effect of methods based on collective participation in financing municipalities is very important. The use of these methods can lead to an increase in the income of municipalities and provide the possibility of providing better services and improving the living conditions of citizens. Furthermore, choosing methods based on appropriate collective participation and their optimal implementation can help increase investment, urban development and create economic growth in cities. Meanwhile, in Iran, this approach and its encouragement and efforts to strengthen and develop it have not received enough attention. Although participation can be hidden in other methods such as collecting fees and providing services, it has a high potential for effective and significant benefits.

Introduction :

Housing is one of the important parts of development in a society. This sector with its multifaceted dimensions has many effects in presenting the features of the society. Planning in this sector, on the one hand, has economic and social importance, and on the other hand, due to the employment generation of this sector and its connection with other economic sectors, it is considered a suitable tool for the realization of economic policies. At present, when the depth of the financial market is very low and it has little capacity to absorb a large amount of liquidity in the country, there are few options for keeping people’s savings. These options include bank investment deposits, stocks, currency, gold, coins, and real estate. Since housing is only one form of asset storage, the demand for housing will be affected by the demand for other markets. Fluctuations in the markets of other assets affect the housing market. In this study, an attempt has been made to determine the effect of the presence of housing and its share of investment in Iran by emphasizing the role of substitute assets such as (the gold market, exchange rate, stock price, and interest rate of bank deposits) in the period of prosperity and recession.

In terms of its nature, the current research is descriptive-analytical, and its purpose is considered applied research. In this research, the data used were collected quarterly from the central bank’s balance sheet, economic indicators, and statistics of private sector construction activities. The Delphi method was used to survey and receive the opinions of experts and specialists. In this case, 20 experts and specialists in the housing and urban planning field were selected and their opinions were asked through a virtual questionnaire about the research topics. For data analysis, a multivariate covariance test, mean-variance model, and self-explanation method with distribution intervals (ARDL) were used to analyze data covariance.

Based on research findings, there is a significant relationship between housing and parallel markets. So the housing yield has the highest correlation coefficient with the exchange rate and the lowest correlation coefficient with the interest rate of bank deposits. The non-significance of the interest rate of bank deposits indicates that this asset has not been able to play an effective role in the amount of housing investment as a housing competitor. Exchange rate variables and stocks have negative returns with housing, which means that housing has a substitution relationship with these two assets in the asset portfolio. Stocks with a yield of 40.43 and a risk of 58.09 have been volatile assets in recent decades, which have gone through many ups and downs. The estimation of the short-term model shows that the coefficients of the stock price index variables have a negative and significant effect on the investment of the housing sector at the confidence level of 95 and with 2 intervals. The effect of the exchange rate is at a meaningless level with 4 positive and significant intervals. The effect of coin price on residential investment is significant at the level of 5 intervals and with a coefficient of 2.03 In the short term, the interest variable of bank deposits does not have a significant effect on residential investment, but it has a significant effect with a break. According to the long-term equilibrium relationship between research variables, the results show that the elasticity of housing investment to the exchange rate is 28. The elasticity of housing investment to the stock price index is 0.21 The indices of coin price and interest rate of bank deposits affect residential investment with coefficients of 0.11 and 0.9, respectively.

The results of the research show that people with low income levels and risk aversion allocate more of their investments to bank deposits. The analysis of the results shows that the yield of the stock market is higher than other markets, but the risk of this type of asset is also higher than other assets. That is, housing has a substitution relationship with stocks in the portfolio of assets in two investment periods. During the housing recession season, people tend to invest in the stock market, and during the stock market decline, investments tend toward housing. On the other hand, with the prosperity of the housing market, the capital motivation of the housing market also increases and the funds are attracted to this market, which shows the positive and significant relationship between the exchange rate variable and residential investment. The non-significance of coin price in long-term and short-term patterns indicates that coin has not been a significant competitor for housing during the last decade due to price stability and low profitability, and its increase or decrease has not had a significant impact on housing investment. Due to their almost constant rate, long-term bank deposits have not been able to play a significant role as a housing competitor in housing investment fluctuations. The coefficient of the exchange rate has also been significant and has a positive sign in all the fulfilled models, although in the short term, this result may be defensible due to the existence of speculative motives, but in the long term based on the asset portfolio theory and considering the relationship between housing and currency substitution, the economic justification of this relationship is difficult.

Introduction :

Today, on the one hand, rapid changes in work and life environments, and on the other hand, the requirement of capital infrastructure have led to significant economic urban development (multidimensional flow). What’s more, the main basis of economic development and being in the flow of sustainable development (for cities) are based on innovations, which is a city-oriented capital and catalyst of economic development. “Innovation Area” creates a suitable environment for innovative centers, makes society more dynamic at the heart of sustainable development, and brings about a knowledge-based and innovative economy. This is an environment aiming to create value for increasing standards, quality of life, and entrepreneurship; that is, it leads to the economic development of neighborhoods. Modares Innovation District (MID) sets out to create a correlation circle between the business world and the academic world(universities). It is planning and developing to accelerate and fasten the process of making a knowledge-based economy, growth of innovations, training skills, and increasing the quality of people’s lives (neighborhoods). In other words, one of the most critical properties of Modares innovation district is the connection between anchor pioneering institutes, that are in clusters of start-ups, growth centers, businesses, and accelerators alongside the innovation hubs. It seems to be true to say that these areas try to create economic, social, and physical networks in a growing context where start-ups and different economic firms in the context of knowledge, technology, and innovation hub (Tarbiat Modares University) have moved on. Also, Modares innovation area, with h knowledge-based economy, using social innovation, overcomes two challenges in sustainable development: socio-physical redevelopment and balancing job and housing issues. 

This project sets up to answer the challenges and goals of innovation districts by choosing some information based on case studies and the framework of concepts analyzed in the area of innovations. The data of this research have been collected in library methods. Also, cluster analysis and questionnaires (specialists in urbanism, economic, and social spheres) have been applied to recognize and evaluate the process of the innovation district. Moreover, the combination of AHP technic with GIS through Marinoni program in GIS, has been used by means of resultant coefficients of analyzing of specialists.

One of the most important strides of this project is to achieve the concepts of innovation districts, their resultant experiences of recent years, and the way to respond to people’s needs, especially social ones. In this research, deep recognition of the theoretical framework of innovation districts and identifying of main parts of these areas have been done. Moreover, the function of these areas has been evaluated to lead the impacts of development to the right path by means of the last experiences of policy-making patterns of innovation districts. Evaluations in this project are carried out in three steps: 1- indicator-making, 2- introducing physical and spatial structure and networking, and 3- analyzing the probable impacts of elements of the innovation district. In the first step, this project recognizes and analyzes the innovation district by means of recognition layers of the innovation area. The second step evaluates possible and actual networks and impressive and impressionable elements like physical and spatial structure, and the third step evaluates the influence of elements in the Modares innovation district.

This project tries to recognize various impacts of MID development so that it can provide a specific pattern for controlling, leading, and making balance among actors of this district. The results of the analysis have emerged as “the pattern of policy-making for Modares innovation district development” showing MID needs a local policy-making system. Eventually, the results of this project are presented in 3 phases. Firstly, development impacts on assets of the innovation district have been evaluated, then controlling levers for these impacts have been introduced, and finally, patterns of policy-making and solutions for controlling and leading the development effects on the innovation district have been shown. Lastly, creating enterprise networks to develop businesses in a knowledge-based economy context is the most important goal of this project. To achieve success of this area, some user-based policies with collaborative leadership have been considered as essential results. On one hand, recognizing and introducing some catalysts for creating and leading a growing context, and on the other hand considering some levers for controlling the impacts of development are the most important factors of policymaking in innovation areas. Some solutions have been considered as private and public collaborative tools. Results show that the most important and influential element of Modare’s innovation area is enterprise. Modares University and Modares Science and Technology Park play a key role as the hub and main anchor of this innovation area.

Introduction :

Urban regeneration plans aim to transform ruined and abandoned areas into new active and attractive centers. However, these ambitious projects, initiated to improve living standards and physical conditions, generally result in gentrification and spatial inequality intensifying, weakening local identity, and reducing social capital by displacement, homelessness, and segregation. Gentrification, viewed by some policymakers as a measure of success against urban decay and poverty, with the problems it creates concerning housing and its affordability, is always one of the challenging and conflicting issues in contemporary urban planning. Consequently, there is a growing debate focusing on the adverse effects of gentrification, particularly when urban regeneration plans cause it. This attention has been concentrated on broader neighborhood and city-level outcomes and impacts, including the invisible increase in homelessness and displacement driven by market mechanisms, neighborhood unaffordability regarding consumption, services, and housing, and social injustice processes. Hence, this research explores affordable housing in urban regeneration plans, considering the realities of the Hemmatabad neighborhood of Isfahan.

Firstly, the theoretical aspects concerning the right to housing and the provision of affordable housing in urban regeneration are explained, drawing upon various views, theories, and experiences in this field. Then, while explaining the research area and methodology, objective examples derived from the Grounded Theory-based analysis of semi-structured interviews are discussed and concluded. These interviews were conducted with individuals directly involved in planning and implementing the Hemmatabad neighborhood regeneration project, identified through snowball or chain sampling. Hemmatabad is one of the neighborhoods of District 6 in the south of Isfahan, previously located outside the legal limits. With the gradual development of the city in the south of the Zayandehrud River, it became the residence of workers and the low-income class. Over the last two decades, several plans and programs have been prepared for the Hemmatabad neighborhood. However, these interventions, conflicting with the interests of local inhabitants, have encountered public opposition, impeding any regeneration operations. Following the realization of the theoretical saturation, 11 interviews were conducted and analyzed using the Grounded Theory approach. Accordingly, the interviewees’ experiences regarding affordable housing in the regeneration of the Hemmatabad neighborhood were scrutinized through initial coding, memoing, and focused coding.

According to the Grounded Theory-based analysis of the interviews and the corresponding focused codes, it was found that there was no requirement to provide affordable housing during the regeneration of the Hemmatabad neighborhood, at least in the early phases or initial proposals, and housing provision is actually treated as a separate matter from urban regeneration. However, the concept of affordability began to emerge, primarily by emphasizing the permanence, empowerment, and integration of the local community, which only encompasses the owners and excludes tenant groups who relied on rental housing. Based on the facts observed in the Hemmatabad neighborhood, in providing affordable housing in urban regeneration plans, the social aspects, including public participation, trust-building, negotiation with the local inhabitants, and addressing their needs and desires, and technical dimensions, predominantly of an economic nature, such as estimating project costs, allocating service share, land redistribution, economic justification of proposals, registration issues, project management, and establishing implementation schedule, are among the key and influential factors. Overall, the results indicate that there is no specific place for affordable housing within urban regeneration plans, and this relationship is not clear despite targeting the realization of the right to housing. There is no necessity for housing affordability and guaranteeing the permanence of former local inhabitants, particularly tenants, in the policies and guidelines for developing urban regeneration plans and subsequently preventing the occurrence of gentrification and segregation. 

Affordable housing in urban regeneration is a critical issue in Iran that requires attention in both the theory and practice of urban planning. The initiative in regenerating inefficient urban areas is often in the hands of the public sector and limited to information dissemination, establishment of facilitation offices, and provision of housing deposits and renovation loans. However, multilateral stakeholder participation, trust-building, convergence, and a balance between the needs and expectations of all actors are fundamental factors in urban regeneration projects. It is necessary to adopt flexible approaches that can enhance efficiency based on the unique characteristics and cultural, social, and economic conditions of each urban regeneration project beyond its physical dimensions. Changing the attitude and formulating more flexible and collaborative policies are essential, particularly in providing service share from public sector resources and defining various investment mechanisms in urban regeneration plans. Meanwhile, it is inevitable to review the resolution of the challenges related to small ownership, land registration, and land acquisition, as complex issues with possible and probable opportunities and threats, toward advancing urban regeneration projects. Besides, in preparing physical proposals, economic justification is vital alongside considering their physical-spatial effects, including population dynamics and quality of life. Finally, ensuring the sustainability of affordable solutions for the post-implementation period through sensitivity and proper understanding of the local context will be critical to the success of housing-led urban regeneration. Given the broad and challenging nature of urban regeneration, especially with a focus on housing affordability, integrating national housing programs for low-income groups with urban regeneration plans, emphasizing qualitative and non-physical aspects, and conducting comprehensive evaluations before, during, and after the implementation of these plans, are among issues suggested for future research in this field.

Introduction :

Smart cities form the future of cities and the age of information revolution will sooner or later lead cities to become smart. The smart city has become very important in today’s technological world and is followed as an important model in advanced countries, but in order to realize the smart city, there are requirements and essentials, as well as components, which their realization is inevitable. Therefore, cities should have the technical preparation to become smart or provide the necessary platform. Therefore, two questions are raised what are the technical factors that are effective for the implementation of urban smart projects and what is the relationship between these factors?

The current research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of data collection. The type of research is a mixed qualitative and quantitative type. Data collection is done at both field and library levels. In order to investigate the research gap and discover innovation, the library method is used, while using this method, theoretical foundations, and research background are extracted, but to identify the technical factors affecting the implementation of the smart city, interviews with experts are used. In addition, to extract data, governmental and archival databases are used. The data collection tool in the current research includes an interview and a Delphi questionnaire with a scale of 20, and each of the factors extracted in the previous step is included as an item in this question. The validity of this questionnaire is checked using the opinion of professors and its reliability is checked using Cronbach’s alpha test. The statistical population of this research includes all experts and activists in the field of smart city, who must have been working in the relevant field for at least 10 years, and the sampling method is snowball. Excel software was used in the Delphi and classification stage, and MATLAB software was used in the feature selection section.

By using the content analysis technique, factors affecting the smart city are extracted. These factors were extracted by using interviews with experts. After determining the factors, the extracted technical factors were reviewed and refined in the Delphi stage, and the factors that were not agreed upon in the first three stages were eliminated. Out of 22 technical factors, 4 factors were removed due to the lack of consensus and the existence of discrepancies in the three Delphi steps. Cronbach’s alpha test statistic for all variables is higher than 0.6, which shows that all variables are at the desired level of reliability, and therefore the reliability of the questionnaire is confirmed. Then, using the genetic meta-heuristic algorithm technique, which is one of the feature selection methods, the final screening of the input variables was done. The classification stage is considered the final stage of the current analysis. In the previous stages, variables were identified, screened, and refined. However, at this stage, using the interpretive structural modeling method, the leveling of the criteria derived from Delphi methods and the selection of characteristics based on effectiveness and affectability are discussed, and according to the final model of the research, the sixth level, i.e. digital infrastructure criteria, is the most effective. It is a criterion that directly affects the fifth level criterion, which is the development of Internet infrastructure. The first level, which includes the criterion of intelligent driver assistance systems and building warning systems, is the most effective criteria.

In the near future, the smart city will emerge as an important paradigm in the field of urban management and urban planning, while in the developed world this concept is more institutionalized than in the developing world, so research in this field and identifying the factors affecting it It is considered an inevitable necessity. The final model of technical factors includes six levels. The sixth level, i.e. the digital infrastructure criterion, is the most influential criterion, which directly affects the fifth level criterion, i.e. the development of the Internet infrastructure. Also, technical factors were investigated in terms of influence and dependence, based on which, digital infrastructure criteria and Internet infrastructure development are independent. These variables have low dependence and high directivity, in other words, high influence and low influence are the characteristics of these variables. The criteria of intelligent driver assistance systems and building warning systems are also of the dependent type, which have strong dependence and weak guidance. These variables have high influence and little influence on the system. The rest of the criteria are of the interface type, these variables have high dependence and high guiding power, in other words, the effectiveness and affectability of these criteria are very high, and any small change in these variables causes fundamental changes in the system. Therefore, the results of this research show that digital infrastructure is the most effective technical factor in the implementation of smart city plans, and investing in this sector is very important in the development of smart city plans, which will have a significant impact on the lives of citizens and the urban economy.

Today, sustainable urban development is one of the most important issues in city management. Therefore, urban management policies in the field of housing planning, considering its priority and abundance in cities, will have a significant impact on livability and quality of urban life. Humanism is one of the sustainable housing design approaches. The gap in the past researches is that most of the issues related to humanistic housing design features have been investigated case by case with emphasis on one or more factors. In none of them, a comprehensive model for sustainable humanistic housing design has been presented. Therefore, in this research, the ideal model of humanism has been investigated in the design of sustainable housing today, with a special look at social housing in Mehr Qazvin. The distinguishing feature of this research is that it deals with human needs in space with a new approach and examines criteria, which were not comprehensively addressed in previous researches.

The current research is an applied research using the mixed research method including the following sections, which can be used in the field of urban design and architecture in the contemporary period. The first part includes interviews with experts and field surveys of some contemporary houses, whose information has been collected through documents. The results of this section lead to the presentation of two general comparative conceptual models in which the main qualitative indicators of humanistic sustainable housing, their characteristics, and relationships in relation to each other are briefly described from the perspective of experts. In the second part, a preliminary questionnaire with a Likert scale was prepared and the adequacy of the content of the study was obtained by interviewing the experts. Then the questionnaires were tested and revised to determine their face validity. Finally, by interviewing professors and experts, the number and title of the questions in the questionnaire were adjusted. The final questionnaire in this research is designed with 4 descriptive questions (age, gender, education, and occupation) and 16 analytical questions in the form of a Likert scale (five options). In this part of the research, we reached theoretical saturation through random interviews with 50 residents of Mehr Qazvin housing. The research area is Mehrgan town of Qazvin.

In the first part of the research, based on the conducted studies and interviews with professors and experts, we arrived at two conceptual models related to humanistic sustainable housing design. The first model briefly includes six main categories of security, interaction, belonging, creativity, beauty, interior, and the factors affecting them. The output of this model is the factors affecting each of the categories in the order of the degree of sharing with each other. In this model, for the interaction category (with eight effective factors), the most practical design solutions are mentioned. After that, effective practical solutions are mentioned for the categories of belonging, creativity, and beauty (with seven effective factors), for the security category (with six effective factors), and for the interior design category (with five effective factors). It is obvious that the share of effective factors in each of the categories shows the importance of that factor and the multi-faceted impact in humanistic sustainable housing design. Therefore, the most important solution in the humanistic design of sustainable housing can be considered the effective factor of creating diversity in the housing space with its common features in four of the main categories. In the second conceptual model, due to its greater importance, only common effective factors in the categories have been examined in reverse. In examining this model, it is obvious that the number of arrows connected to each of the six main categories of factors affecting design shows the importance of that factor. Therefore, the examination of this model also shows the greatest impact of the common factor of diversity (affecting four categories) in the first degree, followed by the factors of attention to scale and cumulative spaces in the design (affecting three categories) in the second degree, and finally, the factors of paying attention to the light in the space, the facilities needed for each space, and the sense of identity (affecting two categories) are in the third degree of importance. The findings of the second part of the research, which was formed through a questionnaire and then an interview with the same people who were questioned and researched. After collecting the data, the analysis process has been done for each of the interviews separately. Finally, according to the field studies, the main and sub-categories corresponding to each other, which are based on the interpretation of the text of the interviews using the research method and the criteria and their importance, are presented in tables.

By summarizing the conceptual content of the set of obtained categories, it seems that the understanding and experience of the residents of Mehrgan town are unfavorable from various aspects. This interpretation can be attributed to the mentioned interactive categories. Such an understanding and experience has been said to be caused by the causal categories of conditions and it takes place in their context, the conditions that in the current research lead to a sense of uncertainty and instability and a lack of attention to human needs in relation to future events for the residents of this region, and such understanding and experience also have consequences. Therefore, to change the shape of today’s houses and pay attention to “understanding and paying attention to human needs” as a core phenomenon or category, measures can be taken in the form of an initial framework for the formation of contemporary housing, especially social housing for low-income groups based on anthropology. It is presented as a result of our attention to the theoretical foundations and especially the field studies carried out in this article. Some of these things include: trying to create open and semi-open spaces, connecting nature with architecture, using plants, creating privacy at the entrance of residential units, creating privacy, allocating spaces for women and allocating spaces for family gatherings,  creating transportation stations and urban transfer, distribution of different cultural zones in different parts of residential settlements, definition of entrances, and definition of walls. In order to propose future research, the selected statistical population can be examined at the regional and urban scales. It is also possible to examine the impact of the different geography and climate of different cities in Iran and the world on humanism in housing or examine this issue in repetitive urban buildings with other functions, including offices.

Introduction :

The urban landscape, whether as the internal or external constituent elements of the city façade, is considered one of the indicators based on which the quality of the city is assessed and judged. The visual and physical qualities of the urban space, as a place where citizens attend, play a significant role in promoting vitality and belongingness in the environment. Among various items, the order and proportions of the constituent components of urban walls and facades increase the abovementioned qualities in urban squares. Order and harmony, in addition to structural diversity, can be effective in forming visual and physical identities of urban walls. Their influence is enhanced by the repetition of design principles and the ingrained rules like proportions and geometry used in the historical buildings in the context. In other words, to connect the appearance of the newly built spaces in contemporary cities to the physical identity in the historical body of authentic places, it is required to read and perceive effective and appropriate physical rules, measures, and orders applied in authentic places. Associating and repeating the proportions used in authentic facades and walls in newly built ones can help to create legible, diverse, and beautiful platforms. As an example, one can refer to Imam Khomeini (RAH) Square (Tūpkhāneh Square), as one of the most important and oldest urban government squares in Tehran, where, despite many changes made during its historical course (from the Nasseri period to the Pahlavi II period), many commonalities have been used in its design. Therefore, the present research compares the geometric patterns and proportions used in the walls of this square in three periods (the Nasseri, Pahlavi I, and Pahlavi II periods) with emphasis on the architectural changes and developments that occurred in Iran from the Nasseri period to the present era. In addition to the identification of common and repeatable elements in the physical evolution of the square body, this comparison can also present solutions for contemporary designs.

The present study is applied-developmental mixed-method research carried out using an interpretive-historical approach. In the quantitative part, the quantitative characteristics of the length and proportions are investigated and the qualitative addresses the content affecting the façade. For this reason, the present research has a mixed nature, whose quantitative aspect is preferred to its qualitative aspect due to its emphasis on the proportions more than other main effective factors. Through the interpretive-historical approach applied, the required data were collected from pictorial documents on the case study, as indicative and inferential evidence, and then, from secondary documents and through observations to strengthen the validity of the research. So, drawing methods were applied to show the geometric proportions applied in the square in all three historical periods studied, and analyze the obtained data and calculated aspect ratios. To this end, the facades and walls were drawn, the aspect ratios of the components of the facades and walls were compared with those known as Iranian-Islamic aspect ratios, and the frequency of each was shown.

In the first period studied (Nasseri period), the most widely used aspect ratios in the main geometry of the facades as well as the openings in them were √1, √5, and √7, respectively. Regarding the aspect ratios used in the outstanding buildings on each facade, such as the entrances of Bab Homayoon Street and Nasseri Street on the southern facade of the square, the aspect ratio of √2 or 1.414 is the most frequent one. In addition, the facade of the Imperial Bank of Persia on the eastern side shows an aspect ratio of √3, which is one of the Iranian-Islamic aspect ratios. In the second period studied (Pahlavi I period), the application of golden ratios of Iranian architecture, i.e., √3 and √2, has increased significantly, which is obvious in the changes in the buildings constructed around the square during the transition from the Qajar period to the Pahlavi I period. Although one can see some features of Western architecture and culture dominating the external structure of the walls of the square, including municipal and telecommunications buildings in the north and south walls, and the Imperial Bank of Persia in the east wall, the geometric principles and Iranian-Islamic aspect ratios have been preserved as the representatives of the identity and originality of the square. It should be noted that the aspect ratios of √1 and √5 are observed in the Nazmiyah building, and the Imperial Bank of Persia, the aspect ratio applied in the previous period, i.e., √5, was preserved, despite major physical and formal changes in it. Also, in the telecommunications building, the aspect ratio of √7 is dominant, according to which one can explain that in the Pahlavi I period, the aspect ratios applied in the facades of the buildings around the square were all influenced by Iranian-Islamic aspect ratios and based on irrational numbers. In the third period studied (Pahlavi II period), most lines and elements used in the facade appeared without any specific aspect ratio and logical reason, and sometimes accidentally, indicating the arrival of a pattern with no identity and cultural validity into the square’s architecture. Looking at the architecture of the Tūpkhāneh Square in the studied third period, which coincides with the end of the Pahlavi II period and the beginning of the Iranian Revolution period (the present era), one can find that due to the arrival of modernism and its consequences, the importance of proportions and geometric relationships in the architecture of buildings has been gradually reduced. However, the existence of the buildings from the previous eras shows the aspect ratios applied in buildings during them to some extent.

According to the abovementioned, it is clear that proportions and geometric relationships are considered among the most important factors forming the facades and walls of urban squares. In addition to defining the identity and originality of urban spaces, they influenced their environment and visual quality. Therefore, the physical identity of Imam Khomeini (RAH) Square can be read and perceived only by relying on the physical order and harmony in its walls. The order and proportions (aspect ratios) used in the facades of the surrounding buildings represent the evolution of the square during various periods. Although the walls and façade of the studied square have experienced many functional and temporal changes during historical periods, the historical continuity of the durability of the buildings has shown a remarkable and significant effect of the studied indicator, which would continue for several decades. The structure of the walls of the buildings around the square in the first (Nasseri) and second (Pahlavi I) periods indicates the existence of a specific proportional system in all parts of the facade. The origin of such order and coherence in the buildings constituting the facades of urban squares can be found in the mental structure of the architects and masters of those times. It is a factor that was gradually forgotten in the architecture of the buildings around the squares in the subsequent periods.The results show the various and scattered presence of Iranian-Islamic aspect ratios of √1 (square), √2, √3, and √5 in the components and overall structure of the façade of Imam Khomeini (RAH) Square on its four sides in all three historical periods studied. Such order and harmony were associated with the greatest and most diverse compositions in the first and second periods studied, respectively, while in the third period studied, they gradually decreased due to the “change in the construction pattern” and “increased height of the surrounding walls”.