Local squares; Policy implications; Residential satisfaction; Sense of place; Social survey; Urban development; Urbanization; Urban Studies
Abstract :
[en] Local squares function as open spaces where people can conduct many activities and where many social events take place. While squares in Iran have had a historical role in urban life, in recent years they have lost their place as social nodes of neighborhoods. They are losing their sustainability due to diminishing social roles in residential neighborhoods. The primary aim of this research was to investigate social sustainability dimensions in the squares of Narmak neighborhood located in the east of the metropolitan city of Tehran. The research method was descriptive, and 140 questions in seven dimensions were asked from 378 respondents aged 12+, who were selected randomly in 2018. The results showed that social sustainability variables differ in all five types of squares, particularly in terms of sense of place. However, equality was ranked on average as low in all types of squares. This study concluded that social sustainability in residential squares is very sensitive to a rapid urbanization process that has imposed mass apartment blocks, traffic flow, and lack of place identity. As a result, the process has led to social unsafety, low urban security, and weak maintenance of squares, particularly larger squares, as well as the transformation of their role as residential squares to mostly traffic squares and parking spaces. Additionally, this study concluded that small squares are socially more sustainable than larger ones because respondents felt that small squares were safer, more secure, and full of a sense of place. Urban policy-makers can use the results of the present study to evaluate the effects of their executive strategies on urban livability, social sustainability, and the satisfaction of residents.
Disciplines :
Agriculture & agronomy
Author, co-author :
Pazhuhan (Panahandeh Khah), Mousa; Geography and Urban Planning and Independent Researcher, Tehran, Iran
Azadi, Hossein ; Université de Liège - ULiège > TERRA Research Centre > Modélisation et développement ; Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic ; Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Lopez-Carr, David; Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, United States
Barbir, Jelena; Research and Transfer Centre “Sustainable Development & Climate Change Management” (FTZ-NK), Faculty of Life Sciences, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany
Shahzadi, Irum; Department of Business Administration, IQRA University Karachi, Pakistan ; Department of Production Engineering, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Bauru, Brazil
Fürst, Christine; Institute for Geosciences and Geography, Department of Sustainable Landscape Development, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany ; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany
Language :
English
Title :
Social sustainability of residential squares: Evidence from Narmak neighborhood, Tehran
The authors are sincerely grateful for the kind help of the Research and Planning Center of Tehran municipality(RPC). The broader research on Narmak squares revitalization was done before by the first authors for RPC.
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