Assessing the realization rate of the components of human-centered approach in old and new urban neighborhoods (Case study: Nasar and Eram neighborhoods of Semnan)

The existence of cities and, on a smaller scale, urban neighborhoods has been a human achievement and a product of human needs throughout history. Neighborhood is a place where the experience of life should be formed and appropriate spaces and physical environment are prerequisites for the formation of such an experience. But the occurrence of events such as the Industrial Revolution, the penetration of modern thinking, the use of automotive planning instead of human-centered planning and the lack of attention of urban management to old neighborhoods and endogenous development and also due to disregard for human needs in neighborhoods, especially in Old neighborhoods that are very vulnerable have changed the attitude of residents towards their neighborhoods. Today, by creating approaches such as "human-centered neighborhood" or "human-centered urban planning", efforts have been made to create neighborhoods for human life with all human characteristics.This research is descriptive-analytical and based on quantitative methods and distribution of questionnaires among citizens, it has been done to evaluate the implementation of human-centered approach components in Nasar and Eram neighborhoods of Semnan as old and new urban neighborhoods. The results showed that there is a significant difference in the level of the two neighborhoods in the level of realization of the components of the human-centered approach. So that in Eram neighborhood, the level of residents' satisfaction is more desirable than Nassar neighborhood and Eram neighborhood is a more human-centered neighborhood than Nassar neighborhood, and this result is contrary to public perception. However, despite the disregard for physical and environmental qualities in such neighborhoods and the lack of proper planning to solve the problems of its residents, some components and indicators of human-centered approach in the old neighborhoods have been reduced. Assessing the level of human-centered approach indicators in the study areas, shows that in the old neighborhood of Nasar, the indicators of "social solidarity" and "safety against hazards" were ranked highest and lowest, respectively. In the new neighborhood of Eram, the index of "environmental cleanliness" was ranked first and the index of "suitable green space" was ranked last. The structural model of the research path using the PLS technique shows that the "security and safety" component has the greatest impact on the realization of the human-centered approach.According to the research results, it can be said that contrary to the existing mentality that the old neighborhoods are more human-centered and respond to the needs of its residents. However, due to problems such as physical exhaustion, lack of safety against dangers, etc., in addition to creating dissatisfaction among the residents of the old neighborhoods, it has damaged the identity and position of the traditional Iranian neighborhood as a human-centered neighborhood. Therefore, in order to improve the position of neighborhoods in cities and humanize them, a kind of balance and proportion in facilities, services, etc. should be created in neighborhoods with logical and flexible planning. In the end, solutions were presented to return the components of the human-centered approach and improve the situation of Nasar neighborhood.