Landscape Approach in Creating Vitality in Valiasr Avenue An Emphasis on Creating the Sense of Place

Domination of modernism and non-holistic thinking in the past decades has caused the cities to lose their vitality and vivacity. Consequently, streets as the main constituent of the cities structure, the destination and the promenade of the people during the last decade have turned into smoked- filled route congested with traffic. Tehran as a metropolis has been no exception. The physical and bipolar look (Cartesian dualism) have made it impossible to create a sense of place and vibrant community spaces. Unfortunately, in contemporary urbanization, the sense of place has received less attention. The available studies have considered it as an object; an object which is lying in front of the human, but has not been standing by the human. This qualitative-deductive study draws upon landscape approach to identify the vitality components and their relationship with the sense of place. To this end, we have chosen the Valiasr Avenue as a case study because it is popular with people for its historical identity and collective memories.
Data were collected using Behavioral mapping and a questionnaire and the relation between the quality of spatial, semantic and physical aspects of Valiasr Avenue and the vitality rate were investigated. Friedman test formula and SPSS software were used to weigh the components of the vitality. As a result, a series of strategies and solutions have been proposed to revive the historical-recreational landscape of Valiasr and to increase its vitality, strengthening social activities and emphasis on collective memories were recommended.