فصلنامه شهر پایدار
سال سوم شماره 2 (پیاپی 10، تابستان 1399)

Introduction:

The increase in the population of cities, as well as social, cultural and economic issues, have led to the importance of paying attention to urban regeneration. he city of Zanjan, which has been following the process of urbanization in Iran from 1986 to 2011, has sought to recreate the city with an original and body-centered approach. In recent decades, this approach has diminished and the policies of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and city managers have led to the prosperity of creative cultural industries, which have manifested in central texture tourism, pedestrian-orientation and the prosperity of local handicrafts, etc. Accordingly, the present study tries to study the intervention forces by emphasizing the components of sustainability in four physical, environmental, economic and social fields and then using structural equation modeling to determine the sustainability effects of the study areas on the urban regeneration. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the following question in the study area:1. What is the status of the four areas of the central texture of Zanjan city in different dimensions of sustainability (physical, environmental, social and economic) from the perspective of urban regeneration?

Methodology:

The present research is applied in terms of type and descriptive-analytical in view point of nature, and the library and field method based on observation and questionnaire have been used to collect information. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire items was confirmed by experts and also via Cronbach's alpha (0.856), respectively. The statistical population of the study of households living in the central part of Zanjan is 75057 people that by using of the Cochran's formula, 382 heads of households were selected as the sample population via simple random sampling method. In order to analyze the data, statistical tests such as linear regression (path analysis), one sample t-test, VICOR technique and modeling of structural equations with AMOS software have been exploited.

Results and discussion:

"VICOR technique" has been exerted in order to evaluate and measure the level of sustainability by emphasizing the characteristics of the prosperity of creative cultural industries, four areas of the central texture of Zanjan city. Also; to measure the impact of sustainability indicators (physical, environmental, social and economic) on urban regeneration of the central context, structural equation modeling has been applied that the sustainability was assumed to be dependent variable and the environmental, physical quality, social and economic dimensions were considered to be independent variables. And the study of the effects of regression weight on the studied dimensions showed that the greatest effects of the relationship between the studied dimensions were related to the effect of physical dimension on urban regeneration with regression weight of 0.9188 and next, the economic dimension with regression weight of 0.596. Also, the least one was related to the impact of the social dimension of sustainability on the environmental one.

Conclusion:

Following the research, which based on modeling structural equations, explained the role of four factors and dimensions in the stability of the central texture and modeling the effects of the degree of stability on urban regeneration. The results indicated that the physical dimension (showing the originality and physical orientation approach) and the economic dimension were two dimensions of structural ones that effective on the stability of the studied central texture, which had the strongest relationship in urban regeneration and had greatest impact on the regeneration in the study areas. Therefore, due to the explanation of the situation of urban regeneration in the study area, suggestions are made in the direction of orientation towards sustainable regeneration and elimination of its gaps in the study area, which are:-Strengthening the economic dimension of sustainable urban regeneration in the central texture of four districts of Zanjan by emphasizing the prosperity of creative cultural industries (such as collective space, parks, libraries, cultural centers, holding festivals, strengthening handicrafts and historical textures tourism, museums and cinemas);- Implement incentive policies to strengthen economic and creative performance in fourth and third districts of the center texture of the study area;- Encouraging local residents of third and fourth districts of the study area to participate in public and collective spaces by using of street theater attractions, seasonal exhibitions, etc.;- Organizing the passages in the fourth and third central areas of Zanjan city with emphasis on pedestrian-orientation;- Creating the performance of artistic, cultural and innovative industries in third and fourth districts of the study area;- Adopt supportive and incentive policies, including tax breaks and risky investment support across the study area;-Plans to provide media and urban advertising for the new cultural and economic capacity building of the study area.

The central part is the identity of a city and due to multiple urban functions, it is the best representative of human culture. However, uncontrolled expansion of the cities has caused a number of issues and problems. In the past, urban centers were the residence hubs in addition to being a place for events and gatherings, spending time and civic interactions, but over time, some of these activities have moved from the centers to the periphery and subsequently, the population habitation in surrounding areas has gradually led to social, economic and physical decline in urban centers. As long as, Functionalist approaches business centers and efficient families leave the centers in favor of the suburbs and poorer households with weak social and economic bases and abandoned property migrants choose the centers for housing, many characteristics of decline and decline such as high unemployment, low skill level, poor housing conditions, poor and unusual social environment, high density and severe social damage, etc. are brought to the center. Positivist philosophy, modernist planning, geometric typology, hardware engineering all created the conditions for the pure economic, social, and physical characteristics of urban centers to disappear and the weakness of policies of reconstruction and habitation of residents, job opportunities and housing development priorities in other urban areas and the lack of attention to intermittent development exacerbated the decline in quality of life in urban centers. The central part of Tehran is no exception to this rule. The bazaar, which was once considered as the backbone of the city, after the period of modernization with the rapid growth of urbanization in the second Pahlavi period was neglected. District 12, with the area of ​​Tehran Bazaar and adjacent residential areas, has lost one third of its population during 1980-81. Various groups living in this area, especially higher-income families, have left the city center to live in better-equipped and modernized areas of north of the city, and immigrants and low-income families have replaced some of these families. The available data show that the northern part of Tehran bazaar belonged mostly to low-income groups of bazaar merchants and other urban groups. In recent years, one of the new approaches that has been considered in responding to this issue is the notion of quality of life, which in addition to objectivity and external manifestations, also attends mental and internal vision in planning. Although various studies have been conducted on quality of life, but due to 1) lack of comprehensive studies in all aspects of quality of life and 2) lack of causal relationships between variables affecting quality of life with emphasis on the commercial sector of the city, this study is necessary and it is also an innovative aspect of this research. Therefore, the purpose of this study is "analysis of causal relationships and identifying key factors affecting the reduction of quality of life around the city's commercial centers" in the study sample.

This research is applied one in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in view point of nature. The methods of data collection are quantitative. In this research, at the first, indicators were extracted from theoretical foundations, only repetitive indicators in relation to quality of life have been used. After determining the criteria and indicators that reduce the quality of life in the first stage of Delphi, these indicators were provided to a group of experts to confirm their validity according to the local conditions of Tehran's 12th district, on this basis a number of indicators were eliminated and some were added and in the continuation of the work for more validity in the form of a matrix of 27 x 27 were provided to 19 experts for the survey. Variables that can be used to analyze the disturbance of the balanced relationship and spatial dialectic in this part of the city and according to other sources and interviews with experts, the binary relation  of these variables is measured and analyzed during research.

In both direct and indirect relationships resulting from MIC MAK software, macro and institutional policies are at the first level, policies that stem only from macroeconomic trends and not the public utility, such as inappropriate gentrification and renovation policies. In worn-out textures, the development of the service sector and the decline of industrial and workshop activities, the inefficiency of the planning institution at the national level, unproductive capitalism, rapid population growth in recent decades, the uncontrolled expansion of Tehran, market trading land and rent in the northern and western regions of the city, inefficiency of the planning institution at the national level, inefficiency of land management policies, lack of services in urban plans, lack of accountability in Tehran, inappropriate housing policies at the national level and Local, lack of services in urban plans, rapid migration in recent decades and lack of accountability in Tehran lead to the disruption of balance and the emergence of inequalities and classification of society, and finally reduce quality of life.

The results show that according to the indirect relations matrix, the variables of "policy inefficiency", "unproductive capitalism" which are managerial and institutional indicators, are recognized as key variables to improve or reduce the quality of life in the city center. These policies should be given priority and the proposed solution to this issue is to pay attention to urban regeneration policies in the region, based on the comprehensiveness of the view of these policies and the use of the capacities and potentials of the region. Public oversight and inter-organizational communication should be considered in the planning and implementation of urban programs

Generally, the importance and necessity of housing preparation is not hidden from anyone. Especially in a country such as Iran, where the majority of the population is at middle and low-income levels, housing has always been a basic issue for households. It should be noted that the quality of housing is directly related to the quality of life and the social and economic development of different societies, so that the accommodation of families in unsuitable housing has caused social problems and anomalies that mutually will lead to negative economic effects on the communities. Therefore, proper housing does not only depend on its low price, but also other factors in the construction of housing, including security, tranquility, comfort, favorable environmental and health conditions and such factors will have a direct impact on appropriate housing. In this regard, over the recent years, the Mehr housing project was put on the agenda by Iran to provide housing for the middle and low-income levels of society; the observations indicate that the project, although the project partially elevated the access of the middle and low-income groups of society to housing, the lack of proper quality of the constructed housing caused dissatisfaction among the residents. Accordingly, the importance and necessity of the present study is that by identifying and evaluating the effective factors on the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life, the necessary knowledge is provided about the project’s problems and mechanisms are taken to reduce and solve them. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to investigate the effective factors on the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life of Qaen. Also, in this research, the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life of Qaen in relation to economic, security, leisure, satisfaction of housing, health and welfare, environmental, management, and participation factors has been investigated.

The general research approach is quantitative one and in terms of data collection method, it’s based on library and field data. In order to distribute the questionnaire, a sample of 250 people was examined. Data analysis were performed by using of descriptive statistical indicators such as frequency distribution and also Structural Equation Modeling Method with Partial Least Squares (PLS).

Overally, the results showed that economic factors, with a path coefficient of 0.633, and a security component with a path coefficient of 0.717, have a positive and significant effect on the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life. Also, the leisure component, with a path coefficient of 0.524, and the housing satisfaction component, with a path coefficient of 0.467, have a positive and significant effect on the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life. In addition, the health and comfort component, with a coefficient of 0.727, and the environmental component, with a coefficient of 0.747, have a positive and significant effect on the the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life. The results also indicate that managerial factors have a positive and significant effect on the quality of life of Mehr residents with a coefficient of 0.668; finally, the component of participation has a positive and significant effect on the the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life, with a coefficient of 0.678.

In this study, the effective factors on the Mehr housing residents’s quality of life of Qaen city were examined. Accordingly, as the economic situation of the residents improves, it will improve their quality of life. Also, as the security situation in the area improves, it can be expected that it will improve the residents’s quality of life. Providing the necessary conditions for families to spend their leisure time can also have a positive effect on their quality of life. The results express that by applying the housing applicants’s opinons and expectations in the design and construction of housing, will lead to their satisfaction with the quality of it that mutually will improve their quality of life. Also, the necessary conditions preparation to improve the comfort of residents will increase their satisfaction and can affect the quality of life. In addition, environmental conditions have always been among the effective factors on the residents’s satisfaction, so that by improving the environmental and health conditions of the place, the residents’s satisfaction can be increased, which in turn will improve their quality of life. Also, the training of the Mehr housing complexes residents in order to manage the various affairs of the building can bring the residents’s satisfaction. It should be noted that participation, by improving social solidarity among residents, will improve their responsibility for different commonalities and therefore will have a positive impact on their satisfaction and quality of life.

Since World War II, great changes have taken place in the structure of daily life, such as lifestyle change and the appearance of new alternatives such as flexible work, organized leisure time, and a return to inner city life. The concept of nightlife and 24 hour cities was introduced as an appropriate response to these changes. Similar to many concepts of urban design, nightlife has many criteria. Night-time Economy is a crucial criterion for revival urban centers at night. Undoubtedly, the lack of strong economic structures in urban centers has significantly reduced the quality of urban spaces, especially at night, and therefore the amount of use them. This paper seeks to address the following questions: How to improve the quality of urban spaces in Kamal Esmael St. at night by using of the Night-time Economy criterion?  And what are the characteristics of Night-time economy criterion to prepare a successful urban nightlife in this street? To answer these questions, the indicators of the urban Night-time economy criterion and their measurement methods have been examined.

The purpose of this study is to improve the quality of citizens’ nightlife by enhancing the criterion of the Night-time Economy. Thus, it is an applied research and focuses more on the results of measures and the practical application of the findings. In the theoretical foundations section, exploratory, descriptive and analytical research methods have been used and library study methods to collect information and analyze their content have been discussed. In the case study section, in order to identify and analyze the desired urban space, a combined-exploratory method has been used, which includes experimental approaches to quantitative indicators as well as phenomenological approach to qualitative index data. In this section, field method (field measurement, observation, interview and rhythm analysis technique) have been utilized to collect information. Finally, the findings of the theoretical foundations section were divided into three sub-criteria of diversity, presence and safety and twelve indicators of diversity of economic activities at different levels, diversity of potential events at night, diversity of nightlife activities, existence of identical places, existence of third place, time range uses, plaque flexibility, positive mental image, active urban wall , permeation into urban spaces, lighting and the level of monitoring space by organs were extracted from them. These indicators have been evaluated by appropriate methods in Kamal Ismail street of Isfahan, and have been homogenized in order to summarize. The reliability by the test and retest method and the validity via formal and opinion polling methods from urban planning and urban design experts were confirmed.

Researches on the nightlife identify three main goals of this concept: Making urban spaces safer and increasing their attractions by reduction of antisocial behaviors and fear of crime occurrence. Development of night varied economy and improvement the image of the city to attract domestic capital. Therefore, the criterion of Night-time economy can be considered as the backbone of the concept of urban nightlife and connects all the other components. The sub-criteria of Night-time economy are: diversity, presence and safety which can be divided into twelve indicators that due to their diversity in terms of quantity and quality, appropriate methods were designed to measure each index, according to the research conducted or the opinion of experts. Also, all measurements were performed during the nightlife period (4 pm to 6 am). Due to the impossibility of comparing the scores with each other because of the essential differences, the obtained scores were homogenized. Finally, the sub-criteria of diversity, presence and safety were calculated 69.5, 30 and 39.5, respectively, which is not acceptable considering the potentials and background of the study area.

The Night-time economy criterion is one of the most important criteria of a successful urban nightlife that plays a major role in all three of its goals. Therefore, in the process of planning and designing the twenty-four hour cities, this criterion should be given sufficient consideration as the concept of nightlife. In the present study, by using of the findings and theories of various scholars, specifying the role of the urban Night-time economy in the concept of urban nightlife and its goals, a coherent model of relevant sub-criteria and indicators has been presented in an integrated aspect so that the model can be applied in the process of identifying, analyzing and evaluating nightlife. The creation of this structured model that has made it possible to evaluate of urban spaces' success in urban nightlife from the perspective of urban economics, is the most important feature of this study that makes it unique. The effective sub-criteria on the Night-time economy for creating a successful urban nightlife include: diversity, presence and safety. These sub-criteria themselves are separable to twelve indicators: diversity of economic activities at different levels, diversity of potential events at night, diversity of nightlife activities, existence of identical places, existence of third place, time range uses, plaque flexibility in time, positive mental image, active urban wall, permeation into urban spaces, lighting and the level of monitoring space by organs. The results on the case study showed that lack of third places, low time of land uses activity during the Night-time hours, weakness in the plaques flexibility, boring urban wall, low permeation of land use activities in small areas as well as lack of proper lighting have reduced the quality of night economy standards and, consequently, the quality of urban nightlife. This study can play a key role in setting priorities for achieving a dynamic Night-time economy and improving the quality of nightlife citizens.

Urban branding is a valuable tool for cities to effectively manage domestic and foreign opportunities and turn them into competitive advantages. In an increasingly globalized world, cities are increasingly competing to attract businessmen, investors and new citizens to their area, many of these areas use branding techniques to distinguish their identity from others. Or this method is used to have a unique offering. Urban brand is the city's stable reputation and nature, showing its special value and has a competitive advantage. Cities and countries need to take advantage of this process to survive in today's competitive world and stability of their competitive advantage. Urban branding is a new topic in the field of urban studies and the history of branding is about two or three decades ago. The present study seeks to identify the potentials and constraints that this city faces in utilizing its urban branding capabilities and to identify priorities for planning and orientation of urban branding. To this end, the research hypotheses are that: Maragheh is in a desirable position in terms of (economic, social, cultural and environmental) urban brand. And the second hypothesis is that there seems to be a significant difference between the components of the urban brand in Maragheh. Evaluating these hypotheses will determine not only the status of each component for urban branding, but also the components that are most strongly correlated with urban branding. Now, given the importance of this issue, one of the most important means of distinguishing and recognizing the city's reputation is to create urban branding. One of its most important goals is to capture factors contributing to economic growth such as purchasing power, investment, product capability and city-wide innovation. The results of the one-sample t-test for the first hypothesis show that the average social component in Maragheh is 2.718, which is smaller than the baseline (3.00), indicating an undesirable status of the components. Is a social brand; Also, the P-value obtained (1.00) is greater than the alpha at the significance level of 0.5 With 0.95 confidence, it can be concluded that the social component of the urban brand in Maragheh is not favorable. One of the main reasons for the poor status of the social component is the low level of cooperation of urban managers with the private sector, low participation of people in the implementation of urban plans, high poverty in some neighborhoods, etc. The calculated average for the economic component is 2.931 which is smaller than the base number (3.00). The P-value (0.998) was also greater than the alpha at the significant level of 0.7. It can be concluded with 0.95 confidence that the economic component of the urban brand in Maragheh is not favorable. One of the main reasons for the low economic component is the low level of domestic and foreign investment in the city, the low quality and quantity of business centers and Concerning cultural components, since the median value 3 is within the confidence interval (2.989–3.161 / 161), with respect to the P value (0.44) that is smaller than the alpha at the level of 0.7. As a result, the successor assumption is accepted. then, that the cultural components of the brand in Maragheh are in good standing. One of the main reasons for the desirability of the cultural component is the city's historical presence, the presence of 300 recorded monuments, and . The average environmental component of the brand is 3.505, which indicates a higher value than the baseline (3.000) and the condition is favorable and Null hypothesis is rejected. The obtained p-value (0.00) is also smaller than the alpha at the level of 0.5, thus the successor assumption is accepted. Therefore, it is concluded that the environmental component of the brand in Maragheh is in good condition. The main reasons for the high environmental footprint are: favorable climate and pollution, being a paleontological indicator of the world's fossil paradise, having many springs, being a city garden. The test results for the second hypothesis show that the p-value obtained is (0.000) which is lower than the alpha level of 0.05 which means that there is a significant difference between the brand components in Maragheh. Next, Tukey's test is used to examine the details of this difference. Which shows that the socio-economic components do not differ significantly. Environmental component and cultural component There is a significant difference between them and other components. he results of linear regression showed that social component has the highest affinity to urban brand and economic component is in the second place of correlation and cultural component is in the third stage and the environmental component is in the lowest position. This research is done based on descriptive-analytic and documentary-library studies, as well as field studies (questionnaire and interview), and the type of this research is applied. In this regard, for each of the studied components, the indicators and descriptors were designed and attended by experts in Delphi Method in the form of multi-stage questionnaires. The provided questionnaires were given to the statistical community by a panel consisting of 15 experts from Maragheh city in different specialties. The obtained data were analyzed by Mini-Tab software. Validity of the questionnaires was confirmed by the professors. Cronbach's alpha method was used to reliability evaluation of measure instrument, which indicates the data is reliable (0.93). One sample t-test was used to investigate the first hypothesis of research and to identify the status of the components of urban brand. One-way ANOVA and Tukey's test were used to examine the significance of differences between components of urban brand. Then, using linear regression, correlation between components and brand was obtained.

The concept of resilience is a new concept that is more commonly used in the face of unknowns and uncertainties. Therefore, awareness of the status of resilience and resilience of urban communities is of particular importance. Sohrabia is an informal settlement that dates back to 1943, under the influence of land reform. Awareness of the resilience status and vulnerability of such tissues makes it possible to manage well in times of crisis. Accordingly, the present study seeks to evaluate and prioritize resiliency components at the Sohrabiyeh informal settlement level. The research method in this study is descriptive-analytical based on preliminary data that the primary data gathering was done by documentary and survey method using questionnaire in a point-by-point manner. SPSS, Smart PLS and SPSS software were used for data analysis and resilience and prioritization of its components in Sohrabieh district and Arc GIS software for spatial analysis. Sohrabia's resilience is at a low level of 2.27 and is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. Based on the structural dimension modeling results, the economic dimension had the most and the physical dimension had the least impact on the resilience of Sohrabieh neighborhood. The results of spatial analysis also show the difference of resilience in different dimensions based on their conditions at different levels of the neighborhood. Only the central areas of the neighborhood are relatively better off, but the northern, southern, and western margins of the neighborhood are less resilient and more vulnerable. Awareness of resilience status in different dimensions as well as understanding of the spatial resilience status of Sohrabieh neighborhood can lead to better planning and management to make the neighborhood more resilient.

The city is an alive creature, requiring vibrant and freshness. The position of public spaces, in which social interaction of citizens is formed and promote the culture of society, is declining day by day in most of our cities. Moreover, the vibrant is considered differently in various fields and various components and indicators have been mentioned for that in related theoretical principles and vibrancy has been always noticed by urban designers and planners in the process of urban development as one of the macro- or micro-goals of most of programs and plans, regardless of the operational framework of its explaining factors. The attempts of planners in different fields for promoting the vibrant of urban spaces do not lead to desirable results due to lack of coordination, familiarity, and constructive participation with urban planning experts and implicit attention to spatial concepts. In most of studies so far, one or some limited dimensions of vibrant have been investigated and all related variables and dimensions to vibrant have not been studied yet. There is not also an appropriate theoretical support in most of such studies given extensive conceptual scope of vibrant. Due to this, the question of the current study is: what factors affect in vibrant of public space fundamentally, and how is the framework of the operational-conceptual model of making vibrant in public spaces? The main goal of the paper is to propose effective factors on vibrant based on extracted indicators from various resources in an appropriate and efficient framework that not only explains effective variables in this field but also proposes the process of creating and improving the vibrant in public spaces. Reviewing related scientific literature of vibrant of public spaces shows various indicators and components. Using exploratory factor analysis method in the current study, the various and different indicators were explained in some factors. Therefore, this study can be said to be fundamental in terms of goal. To collect and analyze data, questionnaires and interviews have been used and qualitative items have been quantified based on the Likert scale and analyzed using SPSS software. Hence, the methodological approach of the study is based on the mixed method (quantitative-qualitative). The vibrant indicators in public spaces have been extracted from different references and in order to investigate and field survey of data and explore effective factors on vibrant of public spaces, Valiasr crossroad, Tehran (intersection of Enghelab Street with Valiasr Street) has been chosen as the case study. That’s because the area has had proper vibrant in different conditions and so is suitable for investigating the data and explaining the effective factors in the field of study. Hence, sampling method can be said to be purposeful. To determine the study sample volume, given the principles of determining the number of required samples for exploratory factor analysis, 350 questionnaires have been used in this study. At least 3 to 5 samples have to be investigated for each indicator and the higher the number is, the greater the confidence will be in the result of the analysis. On this basis, for each indicator, seven samples have been considered for determining the sample volume which is more than the minimum amount. Exploratory factor analysis of research variables specified five factors of spatial-functional environmental qualities, social norms and necessary fields for sociability, suitable income, and promotion of economic activities, individual mood, interests, and psyche, state of perception and friendly interaction of citizens with each other on the vibrant of public space in the study area. The share of such factors in explaining the variance of whole variables is 70.3% each one of the mentioned factors explains the variance of whole research variables respectively 22.16%, 16.38%, 12.86%, 11.21%, and 7.76%. The findings of the current study showed that the effective factors on vibrant of public space are related to different fields and their explaining power of them is different from each other. Therefore, it can be concluded that if the subject and quality of vibrant is the main issue of studies in planning and designing public spaces process, the mentioned five factors shall be considered in the related policymaking. The nature of spatial-functional environmental qualities and necessary fields for sociability as well as the state of perception and friendly interaction of citizens with each other is noticeable in public space designing projects but the result of third and fourth factors manifested same as other factors in a public space, is less noticed in public space design projects because they are related to the urban and beyond urban macro policy-making fields in most cases. It indicates that to realize the vibrant of public spaces in urban management, not only the first, second, and fifth factors are noticed in the urban development system but also proper income and promotion of economic activities, individual mood, interest, and the psyche shall be also considered. Based on the variance explanation power of each final obtained factor in the current study, the priority of planning and designing effective various indicators on the vibrant of public spaces can be determined based on existing facilities and barriers and for appropriate accountability of vibrant of public spaces, the comprehensiveness of the variables of the mentioned factors shall be considered. Effective fundamental factors on vibrant of public spaces in Valiasr crossroad, Tehran (selected through purposeful approach) were extracted in this study. Analyzing the relations between mentioned factors and investigating the dimensions and factors of spaces, in which there is vibrant inappropriate or the attempts of urban management due to increase vibrant have failed, can be the subject of future studies.