Author = Behzadfar, Mostafa
Number of Articles: 8
Explaining a conceptual framework of a healthy urban space based on smart city principles

Explaining a conceptual framework of a healthy urban space based on smart city principles

Volume 15, Issue 1, September 2024, Pages 141-160

https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2024.472846.2177

Anahita Tabaeian, Seyed Ali Nouri, Mostafa Behzadfar, Ahmad Khalili

Abstract Extended Abstract
Background and Objectives: In the modern world, urban spaces, on the one hand, and contemporary citizens, on the other hand, are heavily influenced by the effects of smart and virtual spaces and technologies. Hence, it is pivotal to establish spaces that would simultaneously meet the health needs of contemporary humans and pay special attention to the smart dimensions of contemporary life. The concepts of a healthy city and a smart city are emerging ideas that were introduced towards the end of the twentieth century, driven by the rapid growth of urban populations and the resulting challenges, along with economic and technological changes brought about by globalization. The concept of healthy cities was developed within an initiative framework by the World Health Organization and was introduced in the wake of the search for promoting health by a general entity of the international sphere (Taylor, 2010). The concept of smart cities was also initiated by technological companies in the private sector and refers to the utilization of innovations and technological sources in urban infrastructure and services. Accordingly, just as there are a large number of innovative approaches, there are common indicators used both in healthy cities and in smart cities. Assuming a general health priority, the subject of smartization in urban space is regarded as a strategic objective, causing the fatality of pandemic and non-pandemic diseases to be fewer and thus helping to create a prosperous and competitive economy. The present study aims to explain the components affecting a smart and healthy urban space and to provide a general conceptual framework in this connection.
Methods: From a goal perspective, the study was applied, and from the nature of information and its analytical perspective, it was qualitative, falling under documentary research. The present study was also considered a mixed research method. In this direction, the dimensions and components of a healthy and smart city, raised by professionals and experts, were first collected and were then coded by using content analysis, leading to the determination of a general healthy and smart city framework. Next, the determined indicators were firstly incorporated and then scored and ranked by ten experts by using the five criteria of urban space scales, health and smartization relevance, easiness of access to information, measurability, and spatial diversity changes via the Goeller scorecard method. Because the five criteria are not equally important, the AHP method and Expert Choice software were used to assign weights to the criteria. To calculate the final score, the score of each indicator was multiplied by the weight of the relevant criterion, and then all the scores resulting from the indicators were added up, leading to a final score of 10. The indicators that received a score of higher than 5 were selected and the “general conceptual framework of a healthy city with a smart city approach” was explained. Finally, to control the quality of the extracted framework, the Cohen’s Kappa Index was used to compare the researcher’s view with an expert’s to finally provide an ID of indicators.
Findings: The explained conceptual framework consisted of 5 economic, social, managerial, physical and environmental dimensions, encompassing 12 components and 52 indicators of a healthy and smart urban space. The economic dimension consists of the component of economic prosperity and the indicators of strengthening local markets, tourism, and business diversity. The social dimension consists of the component of social communications with the indicators of social engagement, social and ethnic plurality, participation in social life, the component of social facilities with the indicators of accessibility and the awareness-raising of cultural events, accessibility and the awareness-raising of recreational events, access to sports amenities, access to welfare services, access to high-speed Internet, wireless coverage, and finally the component of health with the indicators of access to healthy food, promoting bodily exercises, awareness-raising and training health principles, and access to healthcare services. The managerial dimension consists of the component of urban management that involves the indicators of cultural heritage preservation (regeneration), citizens’ satisfaction with urban management performance, administrating the effective programs of garbage collecting and recycling and traffic management. The physical dimension consists of five components titled as accessibility with the indicators of access to public transportation, access to pedestrian zones, access to cycling paths, access to places of rest, access to green spaces, access to clean public spaces, access to washrooms, access to parking lots, safety with the indicators of the safety of cycling paths, the safety of pedestrian zones, traffic safety, the quality of urban pathways, security with the indicators of lighting and illumination of urban spaces, 24-hour land uses, the new generation of rescue police, social monitoring (urban smart cameras), transportation with the indicators of various and diverse options of vehicles, providing the Internet in public transportation, timers indicating the time of arriving at the destination, the applications showing the position of the public vehicles, the quality of public transportation (using sensors to improve public mobility), non-motorized public transportation (EVs, hybrids, and scooters), and environmental design with the indictors of land use diversity, design proportionate to peoples’ needs, diverse greenery, the quality of urban furniture, and place attachment. The environmental dimension consists of two components of energy with the indicator of using renewable sources and the environmental quality with the indicators of air, sound, and visual quality, water quality, and surface water collection and disposal.
Conclusion: According to the scores calculated, the environmental dimension with a score of 9.4 held greater importance than other dimensions and should be paid special attention in urban planning and designing. As all indicators of environmental quality received a score of 9.9, a key requirement for creating a healthy urban space with a smart city approach is to focus on air and water quality, reduce sound and visual pollution, and manage and collect surface waters effectively. The physical dimension with a score of 8.6 ranked second, followed by the social dimension (a score of 8), and economic and managerial dimensions with scores of 7.6 and 6.9, respectively.

Explaining the relationship between land use mixing and urban stress; Case study: Zone 8, Municipal District 1, Tehran

Explaining the relationship between land use mixing and urban stress; Case study: Zone 8, Municipal District 1, Tehran

Volume 14, Issue 2, December 2023, Pages 385-397

https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2024.367384.2001

Khatereh Moghani Rahimi, Mostafa Behzadfar, Samaneh Jalilisadrabad

Abstract Extended Abstract
Background and Objectives: Urbanization is growing rapidly in this world (Evans et al., 2020a, 1). In 2007, half of the world’s population lived in cities (Chinomnso, 2014, 4). This ratio will reach 70% in 2050 (Adli & Schondorf, 2020, 2). Cities are exposed to many issues and problems due to the many advantages they have (Mahmoudzadeh and Harishchian, 2017, 60). For example, urban life affects mental health (Kyriakou & Resch, 2019, 1) and exposure to stress is the most important factor in increasing mental disorders in cities (Streit et al., 2014, 352). In fact, the stress of modern urban life or urban stress can be a basis for mental disorders (Kennedy & Adolphs, 2011, 452). Urban stress is one of the important causes of physical and mental diseases, moral anomalies, reduction of security and waste of human capital in cities. For this reason, it is necessary for urban planners and designers to pay special attention to this issue in their plans and projects. The location of land uses also has a great impact on the quality of life and the efficiency of related services, and one of the basic tasks of urban planners is to allocate land to different uses (Javadi et al., 2013, 23, 24). Today, with the expansion of new urbanism, smart growth and sustainable development approaches, the application of land use mixing as one of the important principles of these approaches in urban planning in advanced countries has increased (Pourmohammadi et al., 2014, 34) and land use mixing has become one of the important cases in the model Spatial planning has become. which includes many benefits such as reducing intra-city trips and reducing dependence on cars, increasing productivity in land use, strengthening the efficiency of land use and increasing social relations of citizens (Javadi et al., 2013, 25). Also, mixing of uses reduces the cost of providing infrastructure in the city (Zarafshan et al., 2019, 175) and improves the sense of belonging of citizens (Kotharkar & Bahadure, 2012, 1). But even though in recent years, many studies have separately dealt with urban stress and mixed use, no study has been done to explain the relationship between the two. For this purpose, this research has been conducted with the aim of explaining the relationship between urban stress and land use mix in district 8 of district 1 of Tehran municipality, which is the most stressful district of this district based on the conditions of Tehran city and the opinion of experts. Considering the importance of the subject, this research has been done with the aim of measuring the amount of mixed use and urban stress in the studied sample and explaining the relationship between these two subjects.
Methods: The research method in this research is descriptive-analytical and based on the purpose of applied research. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to collect data and regression analysis method was used to analyze them. First, in order to select the sample to be studied, Delphi method was used and by summarizing the opinions of a group of experts in district 8 of one district of Tehran municipality, it was selected as the sample to be studied. For the overall analysis of the research, 37 urban stress indicators have been identified, of which information on 15 cases has been collected through questionnaires and surveys from area residents, and others through quantitative methods such as field sampling, spatial analysis, and library studies. Also, the information related to the mix of uses has been obtained through the entropy coefficient method. According to the population of the area in the last census (59,429) and Cochran’s formula (with a confidence level of 95%, an error of 0.05% and a normal variable rate of 1.96), the minimum number of questionnaires was 381, and finally 413 questionnaires that provided information about It questions 20 measures, distributed in blocks as a simple random sampling. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to measure the reliability of the questionnaire, which was calculated as 0.73. Finally, in order to measure the relationship between mixed use and urban stress reported by citizens, regression analysis has been done. In fact, the analysis used in this article is a simple linear regression analysis. In this analysis, the degree of dependence and the direction of the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable are examined.
Findings: The findings of the research indicate that the value of the correlation coefficient between the independent and dependent variable is 0.738, which shows that there is a high correlation between mixed use and urban stress. Also, the adjusted or modified coefficient of determination shows that 54% of the total changes in the stressfulness of people’s living environment are related to the mix of uses of their living areas, and the remaining 46% of the changes are related to other variables. In other words, the mix of uses predicts 54% of the variance of the dependent variable. These two variables have an inverse relationship with each other, and the greater the mix of uses in a block, the less urban stress. In fact, it can be said that the user mix index is able to predict changes in citizens’ stress.
Conclusion: As a result, by improving the mix of uses in urban blocks, urban stress can be significantly reduced and the mental health of citizens can be improved. In order to improve the mix of users, effective solutions can be used such as: 24-hour users, or the placement of compatible users in floors, etc. Also, conducting this study in other study samples can be very effective. Considering that the measurement of mixed use and stress in this study was investigated in one area, it seems that conducting this study in other areas or at the city level will clarify the hidden aspects of the relationship between these two variables.

Analytical Study of Urban River Regeneration as a Sustainable Public Place and Explanation of its Conceptual Model; Case studies: Balgholi Chai (Ardabil), Zayandehrood (Isfahan), Karun (Ahvaz), Zarjoub (Rasht)‎

Analytical Study of Urban River Regeneration as a Sustainable Public Place and Explanation of its Conceptual Model; Case studies: Balgholi Chai (Ardabil), Zayandehrood (Isfahan), Karun (Ahvaz), Zarjoub (Rasht)‎

Volume 13, Issue 2, February 2022, Pages 89-110

https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2022.248179.1512

Seyed Mojtaba Safdarnejad, Seyed Abdolhadi Daneshpour, Mostafa Behzadfar

Abstract Extended Abstract
Background and Objectives: Urban rivers are public spaces whose relationship with humans has been the focus of renewed attention in the 2000s and are considered a suitable opportunity for local communities. The experiences of the cities such as Dezful, Isfahan, Shushtar, etc., show that rivers have played an effective role in locating and expanding cities, providing water and energy, ventilation and climate comfort, creating social spaces and spending leisure time, and have been a part of the residents’ lives. However, their current situation indicates oblivion and ignorance of the links between people, cities, and rivers. So, rivers have faced many challenges, such as instability, pollution, habitat destruction, and malfunctions with the rapid development of urbanization. In urban design, this situation has weakened the spatial quality and turned rivers into wetlands with various problems. Therefore, any effort to preserve and restore these water sources is very important. In this regard, urban design can play an important role by re-establishing the links between the city and the river. For this purpose, the current research seeks an integrated approach of “river regeneration as a sustainable public place”; A natural-urban area that brings the river from the peripheral regions to the urban context to be effective in the quality of urban life. The latter approach of “sustainable waterfront urban regeneration” seeks to revive them as “sustainable places” in balance with the category of ecological protection. The current research is trying to explain how to revive the river as a sustainable public place while investigating people’s assessment of the measures taken on rivers and their macro quality as public places.
Methods: The philosophical foundation of the research is pragmatism. Therefore, the research approach is combinational, and the research method is based on the case study of the rivers in Isfahan, Ahvaz, Ardabil, and Rasht. The concepts and methods of sustainable revitalization have been analyzed through literature review and similar experiences and have been completed through field surveys based on content analysis and contextual theory.
Findings: “Sustainable revitalization of the river as a sustainable public place” is a comprehensive and integrated approach and a strategic and synergistic program in the framework of sustainable development (with a priority on the environmental dimension) in line with connecting the river with the city’s life system and returning it to the context of citizens’ lives. So, this framework is introduced along with revitalizing the river and paying attention to its challenges, with minimal physical interventions and changing the instrumental view of humans, through the processes of bed creation, place-making, exploitation, place ownership, and place cultivation, as a “sustainable public place” focusing on the urban rivers to emerge, play a role in the social life of citizens and compete with other economic sectors. Using the latest aspect of sustainable urban regeneration, i.e., creating a “sustainable place” that relies on the dimension of social sustainability as a certainty of development, this approach has made the public space of urban rivers centered on the river a criterion of action and the relationship between the city and its residents. It establishes a close relationship with nature. In fact, the attraction and access of the city people to the river by relying on the social aspect of nature, such as spending leisure time, their common interest, the protection of the river in the minds of the citizens, etc., leads to a balance between economic interests and environmental goals and provides public access to the river. 
Conclusion: The geospatial information of the case studies shows that from people’s point of view, the quality of public places based on Karun and Zarjoub is at a medium to a low level, Balgholi Chai of Ardabil is at a medium level, and Zayandehrood of Isfahan is at a medium to a high level. Nevertheless, corrective measures have improved the condition of the rivers and their public places to some extent. The sustainable revitalization of urban rivers seeks to revive them in the form of a “sustainable public place”. The macro mechanisms of this approach include the balancing of the river dimensions, an active and comprehensive consideration, the facilitation of various functions, a holistic approach to the river, the priority of the river sanitation condition as an open biological system full of diversity, simultaneous focus on “input, process, output, qualities, effects”, river integration, grounding the human presence to experience the place, redefining the place of the river in macro-environmental, social, economic systems, balancing the process with the life cycle of the public place and relying on its formations, paying attention to the expectations of the citizens in the process and facilitating the communication of the city, the citizens, and the river.

Conceptual Model for Place in Concordance the Feature of Space and Time (Case Study: Imamzadeh Yahya Tehran)

Conceptual Model for Place in Concordance the Feature of Space and Time (Case Study: Imamzadeh Yahya Tehran)

Volume 12, Issue 2, December 2021, Pages 103-117

https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2021.231763.1423

Ghazal Goodarzi, Mostafa Behzadfar, Yousefali Ziari

Abstract Extended Abstract
 Background and Objectives: With the emergence of new urban planning ideas in the present century, thoughts about the construction and design of cities have returned to their complex nature, and urban paradigms have always invited people to think and reflect. Urban design is always considered an interdisciplinary science in four dimensions. The dimension of time as a fourth dimension, also emphasized by philosophers in the process of understanding the symmetry of different spatial dimensions, has often been ignored. Urban design based on the space-time paradigm has become one of the new paradigms of urban planning due to its complex concept and the ongoing nature of time. So that design has led to the preservation of time for citizens, and the liberation of space from time constraints has become one of the urban design principles. Also, the city is constantly changing, and the rate of change is different, and this difference is due to the time of change at different times in the city. Therefore, considering the comprehensive changes in the current urban spaces and places, it is important to get acquainted and pay attention to time features. Accordingly, attention to the space-time paradigm can be considered a missing link in urban design, and achieving a framework that clarifies the relationship between place and time and space seems necessary. With a phenomenological approach and a fundamental purpose, this paper introduces the features of place in spaces and urban places. As an example, religious spaces (for the purpose of research) will be considered the main concern. After stating the features of place, the relationship between the two features of time and space (directly) are introduced as the basic elements for understanding the general place and representing the mind (indirectly) for the meaning of spaces and events. Finally, these questions are answered: "What are the space-time indicators and components of the place?; In which order do they play a role in concordance with the place?"
Methods: Regarding the research purposes, it is necessary to collect and evaluate both quantitative and qualitative data and go through a reciprocal process in the research, so a mixed research method has been used in this study. First, to explain the place features, in the qualitative part of the research, in-depth and purposeful interviews were conducted in Imamzadeh Yahya in District 12 of Tehran. Therefore, the qualitative variables of the environment were discovered at different times. Then, the obtained indices were categorized by the exploratory factor analysis method and with SPSS software to quantify the data.
Findings: The research findings indicate that the space-time indicators in Imamzadeh Yahya, as a special urban place, are validated and prioritized in the form of three main components that are affected by the conformity and impact and interaction of the proposed indicators. These components include "sensory-personal," "behavioral-functional," and "physical-environmental" components. According to this classification, the three indicators of space, time, and mind interact with each other to interpret urban places in the cognitive perception cycle of the place. New concepts emerge when these indicators converge; each of which can carry a set of emotions in people at different times.
Conclusion: The results show that sensory sparks are representations or mediators of place that can add value to the place. Meanwhile, the representation of time creates a feeling in the person. The richness of this feeling is influenced by the amount of change in spatial and mental factors. The harmony of all the factors of place creation is very effective in building a thriving urban place. The effect of such harmony and sequence between the components of an urban place acts as a harmonious melody in the heart of the city. If these elements are correctly put together, a pleasant sound will be heard, and its sequence and back and forth cannot be distinguished and recognized. In this context, it seems that considering time as one of the main indicators of place will bring new capabilities in dealing with urban issues.

Demand for Pedestrian Flow Analysis, an Undeniable Necessity in the Planning of the Regeneration of Historical Contexts

Demand for Pedestrian Flow Analysis, an Undeniable Necessity in the Planning of the Regeneration of Historical Contexts

Volume 9, Issue 1, September 2018, Pages 149-173

https://doi.org/10.30475/isau.2018.68586

Farhangh Mozafar, Mostafa Behzadfar, Sajed Rastbin

Abstract Historic district regeneration process searches for sustainable physical, socio-cultural and economic development and therefore, its main principle is socio-economic revitalization. In this regard, intervention method in public spaces to gain socio-economic revitalization of historic district in compliance with realization of regeneration goals, has become the main challenge of modern urban regeneration knowledge. To answer this challenge, recent academic literature in the field of urban planning and design confirms the necessity of pedestrian flow analysis in urban districts to explain how much citizens benefit from environmental qualities, and also the role of appropriate flow distribution in socialization, reinforcing social capital and local economic growth of urban districts. Therefore, in this research, in compliance with historic district regeneration with focus on public urban spaces, the subject of pedestrian flow demand analysis is considered to assess the status-quo plans and also suggest efficient solutions for proper pedestrian flows distribution in historic district, by using the given results. Realizing this operative goal, firstly increases the amount of environmental qualities citizens benefit from, due to the implementation of regenerating plans. This results in the improvement of the district’s vitality, sociality of urban spaces, and reinforcement of social capital to retain local citizens. Secondly, correct pedestrian flow distribution in districts would lead to appropriate distribution of economic opportunities and hence create local economic growth and revitalization of the district’s economy. Therefore, in this research estimating pedestrian trip demand function, as the first step in the comprehensive study of pedestrian flow, is considered as an operative goal and which is a basis for appropriate pedestrian flow distribution in districts. This triggers the realization of socio-economic revitalization of districts and results in the regeneration of the district as the ultimate goal. This research, in terms of goal, is an applied research and in terms of method, is a correlation research. Researched indexes, as independent variables, are based on literature review. A part of the historic district of Tehran is selected as the case study of the proposed process, and as well as assessing the district maps, the raw data for modeling is gathered by using questionnaires. Finally, step by step regression is used to explain the relationship between independent and dependent variables, and also to estimate pedestrian trip demand with regards to demand goals. The results of regression, are tested in terms of meaningfulness of the whole regression and also every independent variable, and finally, the proposed relations to estimate pedestrian flow demand are provided. Based on quantitative relations given by regression and also suggestions of the legitimate elaborate plan of the district, it is determined that the suggestions of this detailed plan for the appropriate distribution of pedestrian flow, is not effective. Consequently, major reviews in the plan suggestions, as an upper-hand plan, is required in order to revitalize socio-economic life and achieve the regeneration goals of the studied district. Therefore, the proposed process could be highly effective and efficient in assessing and enriching the historic districts’ regeneration plans.