International Journal of Architectural Engineering & Urban Planning
Volume:25 Issue: 1, Jun 2015

This paper deals with evaluating the thermal behavior of exterior walls in dwellings of a particular place. Today, there is a huge increase in constructing multi-storey apartment buildings and single-family houses in the city of Yazd, a city with hot dry climate and a rich historical architecture in Iran. Unfortunately, the new methods that are used nowadays to make the envelopes of these dwellings are not suitable for the climate of the city, so they are not sustainable. The aim of this study is to evaluate the thermal properties of all types of applicable walls and recommend suitable exterior walls that are constructed of common materials in the region to improve comfort and energy conservation. The procedure of the research includes two parts: at first the climatic characteristics of Yazd is Studied. At the second part, to define the most suitable wall, effective thermal properties of the walls are calculated in none steady-state conditions. These properties are calculated for the walls with different types and thicknesses of common material layers in various positions. At last, a comprehensive compare between thermal properties of the different walls is done and sustainable envelopes ─exterior walls that are suitable for both cold and hot seasons in Yazd─ are defined. In the result section, the types, thicknesses, and positions of the layers of the recommended walls in four directions of acceptable building orientation (that is +15 degree towards east-south) are defined, and the needed amount of mass and insulation as well as their relative positions is discussed. Furthermore, sun porch as a suitable passive heating system for cold seasons is suggested in some directions.

A review of findings shows that Persian gardens have attracted a wide area of interests between psychologists and environment designers. The main reasons behind the attraction of Persian gardens are natural content and particular landscape configuration. To study these features, overall organization examination is employed according to psychological pattern. One of the impressive psychological patterns to evaluate the natural landscape is preference matrix which has been developed by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan. In this study, characteristics of Persian gardens are reviewed and they are analyzed according to the Kaplan preference factors (coherence, legibility, mystery and complexity). Hence, four gardens namely, Fin, Shazdeh Mahan, Eram and El Goli, with different topographies are randomly selected and have been analyzed based on the four mentioned factors. Because of the inseparable relationship of human behavior and environment, the research methodology applies psychological approach based on a descriptive – analytical method and to implement this method library documents are used. As the discussion demonstrates, concepts created from the relationship between factors and Persian gardens'' characteristics are associated with coherence, legibility, mystery and complexity. It shows that elements shaping the Persian gardens have close relationship with these factors because they are important in perception of the natural environment. Based on analysis, the elements in Persian Gardens are used to provide the best psychological and aesthetic responses for viewers. Also, it can be concluded that, the quality of the material and semantic makes them more attractive.

Due to the change of lifestyle and improvement of public health the number of aged people has considerably increased. Considering the relationship of the environment and people, the built environment features could exacerbate or facilitate the elderly people’s vulnerability and social needs. Recently, a large number of studies have put emphasis on the relationship between the neighborhoods’ open spaces attributes and seniors’ social needs. This study seeks to investigate the impact of the built environment indicators on the time the elderly spent in urban spaces of Banafsheh neighborhood in Mashhad. In order to do this, through a cross-sectional survey research, 33 indicators were collected from recent studies and categorized in seven main urban design qualities based on perceived and self-report data collected by questionnaire. A regression analysis revealed the impact of each quality on the sociability of the elderly. Results demonstrate that in this context, “safety” is the most effective factor on the elderly presence in open spaces. “Attractiveness” and “all age presence” are at the next points.

Electronic cities result from the implication of information and communication technology (ICT) in the contemporary era. Significant ICT development and internet network expansion as well as the need of urban management to new ideas in managing cities lead us toward a new strategy called «electronic cities». The current study aims at investigating the Electronic Cities'' Strategic Planning Case Study: Uremia, Iran. The research method is documentary and survey research population consists of mangers and specialists working in Uremia''s urban planning and ICT, obtained from Morgan table. To collect data, Likert spectrum is employed. Findings indicate that the most important challenges in the way of establishing an electronic city include the lack of strategic document for urban development, high number of decision-making centers and administrative extra parallel works among them, the inclination of the urban managers toward traditional methods, low-speed, high-cost internet connection, the lack of infrastructures for ICT, the lack of digital literacy among citizens and so on. With respect to ANOVA results, findings indicate that some of the sub elements play a key role in the establishment of electronic cities. Concerning the inequality of the role of factors effective on the establishment of electronic cities, each factor''s sub elements has been ranked through multi-criteria decision making techniques and TOPSIS model. According to the findings, some strategies have been recommended, which need the serious care of urban managers and planners in the metropolitan Uremia.

The concept of redevelopment is accompanied by actions and forecasts to improve the quality of the physical-spatial environment inthe cities, that is by the emergence of new facilities and conditions, improving the spatial environment is achieved. This requirement occurs when the coherence, coordination and the performance of the urban area is diminishing and is not responsive to the requirements of that area. The brownfields are amongst the inefficient urban areas and require redevelopment, which mostly include Deteriorated buildings accompanied by environmental contamination. The main issue of the present study is the lack of a compiled and appropriate roadmap to redeveloping the brownfields in Iran. Accordingly this article is seeking to introduce and present the defining indicators of brownfields, adapt these indicators to Iran''s condition and achieve the redevelopment roadmap of these lands in Iran. In this regard, the codification of this article has been done by the descriptive-analytical method. Results of the study show that the main problem of Iran''s planning system is the lack of a regulatory and legal description of brownfields on one hand, and absence of a compiled roadmap to lead urban development into the zone and use the capable potentials and opportunities for redevelopment

The increasing rate of urbanization and rate of population growth over the 20th century has led to various problems such as traffic congestion, air pollution, and lack of open and green spaces that have affected the cities and their citizen''s life. This condition has led to increasing demands for more land use, homes, and work places, more public transport and mass transit systems and modern infrastructure, so new approaches must be found to better utilize space available. Considered use of underground space creates new methods for solving these challenges. The urban underground spaces have great untapped potentials. If these potentials are managed correctly, it would chip in considerably to the urban sustainable development. Nevertheless seeking of spaces and shelter within the earth is no new idea, man and animal alike have exploited the protective and insulative properties of the soil long before recorded history. During the history of communities have existed in areas all over the world including Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, China, North Africa, and the American Southwest, to name a few. Some of the best examples of man’s symbiotic relationship with nature are Nushabad in Kashan, Sāmen in Malayer and Kariz in Kish Island. These underground cities and Constructions offer many opportunities and lessons for underground development in contemporary cities. This study aims to discuss the ancient settlements of Nushabad, Sāmen and Kariz for their unique and creative underground space use and also explore the potential of developing underground spaces in order to achieving sustainable development. The basic hints of discussion are the physical geography and dominating forms of underground space use.

The Holy Shrine of Imam RezaAS is one of the most important places in Iran in terms of religious and public beliefs. Huge volumes of pilgrims travel to the mentioned place, so the appropriated environmental and furniture design to increase the visitors'' satisfaction is inevitable. In this regards, the main objective of this study is to identify an appropriated design for public water taps through the assessment of affecting factors in terms of the pilgrims’ satisfaction. In this survey, 400 volunteer pilgrims participated in our 5-scale Likert questionnaire. The gathered data were analysed by SPSSWin21 and Spearman test. This study shows that there is a significant association between user satisfaction and public water taps'' function (p = 0.00), however the participants were more satisfied with the technical aspects than the aesthetic ones. The users were not satisfied with the placing of water taps, pressure of water’s valve and local illumination in night time. This study confirms the importance of design considerations, construction and materials, location of public water fountains in the assessed courtyard of the Holy Shrine of Imam RezaAS to satisfy the pilgrims. Considering with Islamic architectural elements, appropriated form and style, color and material, perfect harmony affect on users. The modification of water fountain place in terms of dimension and local illumination are also important.