The quality of Streetscape and its Relationship with the Citizens’ Activities in Tehran: Application of Jan Gehl’s theory

- Streets are where urban spaces and activities are connected and linked.
- Jan Gehl argues that activities performed in the public sphere are particularly important in the understanding of this space.
- Streets of Tehran do not provide favorable conditions for social activities.
- There is a kind of centralism in the quality of street scenes in the northern regions of Tehran.

Streets are a key part of our societies and human life. An abundance of theories have emphasized how streets and sidewalks can be utilized for social purposes, because street design is mainly treated as part of the general planning cycle component. This reflects the fact that people use the streets in front of their homes, those from their neighborhoods, and those around their workplaces, and the quality of streets and other public spaces thus affects their everyday lives and directly contributes to their sense of welfare.

Today, the human dimension of public spaces has been considered more than ever by urban planners and designers, because activities performed in public spaces can affect the quality and quantity of people’s encouragement to stop and interact in these spaces.
Streets are the sites where urban spaces and activities are connected and linked. In his well-known book Life between Buildings, Jan Gehl argues that activities performed in the public sphere are particularly important in the understanding of this space. According to Flower, people’s activity in public spaces can be classified into three categories. Firstly, there are necessary activities, which are only partly influenced by the physical quality of the environment, as it is essential to perform them to continue life. Secondly, there are optional activities, which occur only in optimal conditions and are thus regard as the direct means of measurement of the quality of public spaces. These activities also affect users’ perceptions of space. Thirdly, there are social activities, almost all of which arise from cross-fertilization activities.
Life between Buildings is the most important study by Jan Gehl, which belongs to the social context of urban design according to Carmona’s classification and has turned into a classic source in the field. The importance of Jan Gel’s studies lies in the observation that the relationship between the levels of activities and physical elements in public spaces has not been sufficiently considered, because social designers have usually paid attention to the forms rather than the activities of outdoor open spaces. Therefore, it can be stated that this book is of exceptional importance for those who seek a deeper understanding of social planning and architecture. The present study attempts to contribute to the theoretical development of the key concepts addressed by Jan Gehl in the context of Iranian urban studies.

Using an exploratory sequential mixed method in the first stage (qualitative part), observational and thematic analyses were made to analyze the data, and in the second stage (quantitative part), the survey method was carried out. In the qualitative part, five streets in Tehran were selected using purposive sampling with maximum variation, and 302 individuals were selected as the sample population in the quantitative part using sampling proportional to volume and simple random sampling. The research population involved all citizens of Tehran at the age of 15 years or higher. To analyze the data, SPSS 23 and PLS 3 were used.

The findings demonstrate the occurrence of a larger number of necessary activities than optional ones, which obscures the quality of the street scene of Tehran and indicates that the streets of Tehran do not provide favorable conditions for social activities; this is the very unfavorable situation that Jan Gehl has mentioned. Another notable result in this regard concerns the occurrence of optional activities among residents of northern Tehran and of necessary activities among residents of southern Tehran, which clearly indicates a kind of centralism in the quality of landscape of streets in the northern parts of Tehran.

Tehran, as a city that has experienced various manifestations of capitalist life since the 1920s, has also exhibited a variety of spatial inequality in the course of its social and historical development. This problem has created a different unequal space within the urban context, which involves a different demographic and class context in terms of quality and desirability. The existence of this form of inequality is evident on the surface level and in people’s daily life.
The better quality of streets in the northern parts of Tehran than in the southern parts and the occurrence of optional activities among the residents of Northern Tehran clearly indicate a kind of centralization in the northern areas of the metropolis. This should be considered more closely in the future urban development policies for the southern parts of Tehran (with the approach of spatial justice). It should be subject to the scientific, practical attention of urban planning officials, because the expansion of outdoor activities is greatly influenced by physical planning. Just as a certain design can be created in a city through the selection of materials and colors, better conditions can be provided for outdoor events that lead to urban vitality through decisions and planning.

This article is taken from the doctoral dissertation of the first author entitled " A Sociological Approach to the Impact of Street Scene Quality in Urban Ethics: Spatial Justice Analysis in Tehran " which was defended under the guidance of the second author at University of Mazandaran.