نشریه مطالعات شهری
پیاپی 9 (زمستان 1392)

The central historic area of the city has the highest social, economic, cultural and religious interactions. Over time, with the development of the city and the growing use of cars in urban areas, problems have emerged in pedestrian and driver circulation systems. In this regard, New Urbanism movement is the answer to suburban sprawl and inner – city decline. Based on new urbanism principles, street network connectivity is a key characteristic of a sustainable street network. The objective of this research is to develop a method for understanding and analyzing the structure of street networks with the connectivity principle of New Urbanism movement and the use of Space Syntax method. For the analysis, GIS software was used. In this research, central historic area of the city of Kashmar was selected as a case study. Over time, traffic problems in pedestrian and driver circulation systems in this area have emerged leading to congestion and disorder on city streets at peak hours. Spatial structure and street network of the city was identified and analyzed with space syntax technique. The results indicate that the inner neighborhoods of the central historic area of Kashmar, despite their proximity to the most integrated and accessible streets, has failed to connect with the new structure of the city. In other words, the connectivity of local streets with the entire street network in central neighborhoods is low and accessibility and permeability into central historic neighborhood of the city is not easy. Moreover, based on new urbanism approach and previous research, a wide range of measures of street network connectivity is defined and described. Evaluating street network connectivity of the study area of Kashmar indicates that connectivity is relatively good but driver connectivity is lower. A comparative analysis of connectivity results based on the results of space syntax technique on the one hand and local field observations on the other show that considering street network as the entire spatial structure of the city using the space syntax technique will produce results closer to reality. In other words, it is important to consider the old and historical areas with the entire urban system. Finally, in regards to the traffic problems in the central area of Kashmar, we can conclude that connectivity is only one factor affecting network performance and efficiency for pedestrians and drivers; other factors such as promoting walking are also effective and should be incorporated into the quantitative measures of connectivity.

This paper investigates the evolution of development approaches from “Urban Reconstruction” to “Sustainable Urban Regeneration” emphasizing “social sustainability” (the most recent approach).The decline of environmental quality, social status and economic vitality have been amongst the most fundamental problems in the concept of urban development. In recent decades, various policies have been implemented in cities, especially in inner cities, to address this critical situation. Developed countries have examined different approaches for solving in theory and practice such issues as the post-industrial shift from manufacturing to service industries, Fordism to post-Fordism, natural or non-natural disasters (earthquakes, war…), globalization and social change. Developing countries have also been confronted by such problems as a result of rapid growth and its consequences. By looking at these policies from an analytical and historical perspective, distinct stages from “Urban Reconstruction” to “Urban Regeneration” can be defined based on prominent attributes, political approaches and institutional frameworks. “Sustainable Urban Regeneration” has been propounded in recent years, introducing sustainability and sustainable development in the field of urban development. The question and the objective of this research are forged explicating this approach, its aspects and components; exploring “what the components and aspects of “Sustainable Urban Regeneration” are and how they could be defined under the recent approach of “Social Sustainability”. The research method is a "documentary" one based on "Content Analysis" and "Logical Argumentation". This paper seeks to summarize the approaches that have affected change since the mid- twentieth century and to define the components and dimensions of sustainable urban regeneration taking into account the most recent approach of social sustainability.

Land use planning and determination of developmental priorities based on regional conditions and characteristics are considered as one of the major aspects of planning on a regional scale. One approach in this field is the determination of land use types. The common point in all applied methods of ecological potential assessment is to consider development as the assessment goal in the research process. This occurs when in the allocation of types of uses under equal condition, different types of development can be studied and the most appropriate one selected according to conditions. Therefore, this study tries to apply a model which enables the assessment of land use with different types of development. Since taking into account all types of development simultaneously causes prioritization conflicts (one or more types of development might have the same priority level at one point when different developmental priorities overlap), the major challenge would be to resolve the inter-developmental conflicts. Therefore, the proposed model must be able to resolve such spatial conflict. This study, based on conducted research on assessment of ecological potential and using multi-objective assessment methods, evaluates the ecological potential of Noushahr County in four types of urban, agricultural, industrial, and natural development using a new concept known as “verbal logic”. It tends to offer an integral model for simultaneous analysis of different types of development. On this basis, the method employed in this study has two main sections: the first section deals with ecological assessment based on multi- objective assessment model. In this section, a model of appropriate locations for all the four developments is distinctively identified which results in the recommendation of location priorities for each type of land use development. In the second section, the verbal logic is used to present the integral prioritization areas which cover all the priorities simultaneously. The logic combines the priorities of all types of development employing quantitative approaches and ultimately resolves the conflicts arising from overlapping of priorities of different development types using the conditional rules obtained from the major goal of assessment. On this basis, this model offers priority zoning of integral land capacity in regards to developmental priorities; the major goal of assessment is" zoning the land for optimum allocation of agricultural, urban, and industrial development while protecting environmental values". The model results demonstrate that in integral assessment of a variety of development, only 1% of the region is not suffering inter-developmental conflict while a large part of the region is suffering conflict between assessment priorities of two or more types of development. Only 1 % of all conflict types in the region is dedicated to top priority conflicts in all development types. Nearly 73% of conflicts are devoted to the conflict amongst the three lower priorities. Taking into consideration that the decision-making process of the model is based on the major goal of assessment, the model allocates the desired land to natural development and prevents the expansion of other developments in these areas to resolve the conflict among all priorities. Meanwhile, the study of spatial distribution of various developments in the city and its comparison with land use show that much of the central and southern parts are dedicated to natural development as a first priority while the industrial, urban and agricultural developments are largely linked to each other and are located in the central and northern parts of the city mostly near lowlands at low altitudes.

There is a lot of evidence that political boundaries have lost a large part of its function as a barrier, and cross-border interactions and cooperation will increasingly become more important over time. In this case, the border operates as a contact area which is a functional space for exchange and socio-economic interactions; the border spreads its positive effects in its vicinity. The impact of borders is the key agent in the development of cities on or near them. Borders can either block or bridge the development and integration of different border areas. Understanding this barrier or opportunity affects how we conceptualize borders and their functions. This research studies the correlation between transforming border function and improving peripheral status of the border cities of Baneh and Saghez. Quantitative-survey methods were used to achieve the above aim. Using questionnaires data was collected from cross-border traders and prominent local figures and experts. To test the hypothesis, the result of 131 questionnaires of the cross-border traders and 49 questionnaires of the prominent local figures and experts were analyzed through Comparison of averages, One sample T-Test, Regression analysis, and Nonparametric Friedman's Test. In addition, the sample size of the research was selected using snowball sampling and targeted methods. The results show that border function has changed from the perspective of the cross-border traders and prominent local figures and experts. According to the descriptive results, score for the changing role of border variability is higher than the theoretical median and the scores for constituent indicator of transforming border function that include reinforcement of legal-institutional capacity, development of transport infrastructures, facilitating the flow of cross-border exchange and decreasing socio-cultural distance are 3.06, 3.30, 2.56, and 3.07 respectively. The results also indicated that the peripheral status of the border cities has improved. According to the results, employment and income status, economic well-being, social security, political and social collaboration amongst people have improved. Furthermore, there is a significant correlation between transforming border function and peripheral status based on the Regression’s Test. This correlation is at medium level (0.50 and o.51 for cross-border trader and local elites and experts respectively). In addition, the results indicate that the constituent indicator of transforming border function have a different proportion in transforming border function. The results of the Nonparametric Friedman's Test show that the development of transport infrastructures and the lessening socio-cultural distance has had a greater effect on transforming border function. Thus, as noted in the theoretical principles, improvement of the peripheral status of border cities and development of the border city area need border function (or border role) to be redefined and governments to alter their viewpoints – people in border regions adapt to local conditions. Elimination of long bureaucratic process in cross-border trade and traffic, stability and transparency of business rules, development of information and communication infrastructure will have positive ramifications in adjacent regions. Finally, based on the results, lower inhibitory effects at borders is a key factor in the development of border cities and regions.

Today, with increasing development of small towns and large urban areas lacking desirable urban spaces, compatibility of urban areas with the needs of residents is the focus of experts. Metropolitan areas have a unique role in fulfilling the personal and social needs of children and adolescents. These spaces account for a great deal of time and daily life residents, including children and adolescents and from a human sciences engineering viewpoint the enhancement of these spaces can be effective in improving the quality of health and physical strength, strengthening social interaction and group cohesion, and fostering creativity in children and adolescents. Ideally, neighborhoods and communities must have social spaces in order to easily express social and cultural principles and their exchanges for children. Usually, in urban planning, despite the human, social, economic and natural justifications for the city and its future, not much attaention is paid to factors affecting population structures, one of which is children. Studies have shown that Qazvin is taking the first steps toward the “child-friendly city”. However, taking into account the historical, cultural and natural features of Qazvin, more efforts need to be made to achieve this important aim. Analysis of children’s opinions in order to fulfill their needs and desires has encouraged effective organizations, especially the Municipality of Qazvin, to adopt strategies and take further action. The research method used in this paper is based on cross-sectional and library studies, documents and field surveys, and has an applied aspect. This paper answers the questions of what the ideal city is from a child’s perspective and how the urban environment can instil a strong sense of belonging in a child using participatory methods such as questionnaires, drawings, essays and interviews of 130 children regarding the city, urban spaces and their activities were collected. Firstly, comprehensive information concerning places of interest and places where children had less interest was collected. Results showed that children are more interested in the "home" (25/4%) and "play ground" (18%) than any other urban spaces. In addition, children viewed the "street" as having an unpleasant atmosphere. Secondly, favorite activities of children were studied. This study showed that "physical activity" (18 percent) and "playing with others" (13%) were activities that children paid most attention to. Thirdly, the features of the ideal city from a child’s perspective were looked at. Children’s paintings showed that "nature" (20/86%) and "spaces for children, such as children's cinema and children’s play time" (13/91%), were spaces that children referred to in their ideal city. In conclusion, some recommendations are made for realizing the ideal city from the child’s perspective.

Land is the most crucial factor for physical growth and development of cities.Currently, land management has become one of the most important concerns and subjectsunder discussion for local governments.Moreover, growth and scattered development of cities has led to the destruction of the environment and natural resources of the suburbs. It is well known that urban sprawl is manifestwhen the growth of population is less than the growth in physical development.In fact, the main factor in urban sprawl development is population growth in addition to the demand for land for the purpose of housing, buildings, public land-use and their facilities. Meanwhile, as a result ofinappropriate andhastydecisions, land capacity in and on the outskirts of cities for developmentorre-development, have been ignoredby city managers. Today, interior and infill development is an important issue in new urbanism. Infill development emphasizes the development of brown and gray lands, reformation, renovation and reconstruction of existing textures.Accordingly, in the past four decades, Gorgan city has rapidly expanded within the city and on its outskirts from 997 hectares in 1974 to 3560 hectares in 2004; this has caused the destruction of natural environment of the area. Therefore, the purpose of this studyis the discernment and identification of suitable landinGorgan city for infill and re-development. Thisis an applied research and the method used is descriptive-analytical. For this purpose, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) model was used for ranking, weighting and determination of the consistency ratio of the criteria. In addition, geographic information system (GIS), as a powerful instrumentation in environmentalplanning and management, was used for processing and overlaying of layers. Duration this process, 14 effective criteria and indexes including topography, slope, aspect of slope, landslide,fault vicinity, river limits, urbanland-use, size of parcels, floors of buildings, density of residential unit, zoning, density of population, price of lands and old texturewas identified, prepared and used in the form of environmental, physical and social indexes. Initially,criteriaandsub criteria(layers) was prepared by the formation ofa matrixusing hierarchical analysis, weighting andranking. Then, criteria and sub criteria (layers) was presented, geo-referenced, digitized, updated, standardized, edited, overlaid, processed, converted to raster and vector using geographic information system.Hence, the prepared layers (criteria and sub-criteria) with the extension of spatial analysis and raster calculator operator were overlapped ArcGIS software. Eventually, a final map of weightedcriteria and sub criteria (layers)was provided usingmathematical operation and weighted overlapping in ArcGIS software to identify suitable and compatible lands for interior and infill development of Gorgan city in response to the demandsof its citizens for buildings and housing. The final map suggests that the most suitable and compatible lands for infill and redevelopment are located in the north and north-eastern parts of the city; and the least suitable and compatible lands are situated south and south-western areas of the city and along river limits. Furthermore, it was determined that 51 percent ofinterior lands are completely compatible, 14.5 percent are compatible and 16.2 percent are relatively compatible, 12.2 percent are incompatible and 6 percent are totally incompatible for infill and redevelopmentin Gorgan city.

Finding a “research problem” is always considered the most difficult part in any scientific research process. What justifies a research’s significance and its necessity? Why is the invaluable factor in this research “walking” or “walkability”? The explanation is both straightforward and complicated. Walking is considered as the oldest form of human movement in space and the most interesting one while “lack of movement” is considered to pose a serious risk to public health and deteriorate contemporary human’s quality of life. Therefore, what has occurred is the misplacing of one of the fundamental values of life: the living experience of urban spaces! The present research aims to search for and assess efficient walking elements and criteria that were realized in the fourth Phase of Mehrshahr in two sections (phases). The first section reviewed related literature, theoretical principles, and global experiences where the combinations of deductive and inductive reasoning were employed. This means that walkability hypotheses and related accepted principles were firstly explored and then the conceptual model (the reference framework) as well as the operational models were designed and developed based on frequent and repetitive categories of diverse ideas and experiences. Description was the dominant strategy in this phase. After preliminary examination of the model, the limits of the study and its localization, the next stage was centered around the situation assessment on the basis of operational model criteria and sub-criteria. To do this, some questionnaires were designed using a likert scale with a 10% error margin in generalization of results and given to the inhabitants of the area; questionnaire items were developed based on the operational model sub-criteria and its statistical analysis provided the necessary background for making decisions on the strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats in realizing pedestrian-orientation in the region. Subsequently, the necessary background for SWOT matrices was developed with emphasis on innovative combination (triangulation), “place check” through visual perception in addition to investigation of resources and documents. The number of matrices depended on conceptual model categories and situation assessment was investigated on the basis of realization of criteria and sub-criteria in the area under study which is considered as the strength of the present research. The current study benefits from an applied nature as the consequent research results were presented in terms of executive objectives, strategies and policies. Research model validity and reliability were demonstrated and achieved through three phases of literature review, an opinion poll of instructors and specialists, the preliminary examination of the area under study and field research results. The results indicate that despite the importance of all the model categories in the 4th Phase of Mehrshahr, the role of factors like environmental qualities, security, and effective urban management were significantly important compared to other factors. Therefore, related strategies and executive policies based on these factors must be seriously considered.