Explaining Urban Landscape in the Historical Context of Cities; aesthetics, sense of place, and functionality (Case Study: Sang-e-Siyah Neighborhood, Shiraz, Iran)
Subject Areas : Urban planning
Abolfazl Badahang
1
,
hossein kalantarikhalilabad
2
*
,
kermatolah ziari
3
1 - Ph. D. Student of Urban Planning, Amol Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran
2 - Professor at ACECR, Department of Urban Planning, Amol Branch, Islamic Azad University, Amol, Iran
3 - PhD in Urban Planning, Professor, Department of Geography and Urban Planning, University of Tehran
Keywords: landscape, urban landscape, historical context, Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood of Shiraz,
Abstract :
Extended Abstract
Introduction
In 2007, more than half of the world population lived in urban areas, and this has been projected to exceed two-thirds of the world population by 2050. Today, planning for improved urban landscape has become a major concern to urban managers. In the meantime, landscape of historical context of cities possesses paramount importance because of its high sensitivity. Cultural – historical core of Shiraz is a vast area of 360 hectares that has been developed through a gradual 1300-year process in the heart of Shiraz. Covering an area of about 80 hectares, Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood is located in the westernmost part of this historical context. This area is not only the earliest core of the preset-day city of Shiraz, but also hosts many commercial, religious, service-providing, administrative, and touristic centers of the city (Rabei and Falamaki, 2022:195). Throughout time, Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood of Shiraz has evolved extensively upon the growth in local population. These evolutions have led to physical and social worn-out of this precious historical context. In this respect, the present research evaluates the landscape sustainability in the historical context of Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood in Shiraz, Iran
Methodology
In terms of objective, the present study is applied research that is performed through a descriptive – analytic methodology. Statistical population of the study was made up of 6982 residents of Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood. Applying the Cochran formula for determining sample size, a sample of 360 individuals was selected out of the statistical population. Gathered data was analyzed in SPSS software by means of relevant tests.
Results and discussion
Findings indicated that all factors related to “aesthetic aspects of landscape in Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood” are in undesirable state, although the extent of undesirability was not the same for all variables - i.e., some variables exhibit a relatively better situation than the others. When it came to “diversity and rhythm (urban furniture, etc.” as a variable, more than 90% of respondents indicated very low and low satisfaction levels, with the highest relative satisfaction level being that with “scales and spatial appropriateness” with which about 23% of the respondents were either highly or very highly satisfied. Similar to the “aesthetic aspects of landscape”, variables related to the “sense of place of the landscape in Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood” were all evaluated as undesirable although the level of undesirability was not the same for all variables and some variables exhibited a better state than the others. Regarding the variables related to “attention to symbols incorporated into the landscape and significant visual and physical elements”, some 70% of the respondents expressed their very low or low satisfaction level, and the highest relative satisfaction level was associated with “attention to memorial monuments and tombs in the landscape” with which about 23% of the participants were either highly or very highly satisfied. Compared to other two dimensions, variables of the “functional dimensions of the landscape in Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood” were found to be in much more undesirable states.
Conclusion
Urban landscape is amongst the most important factors affecting the quality of citizens’ life. The quality of landscape is determined by natural and human factors, especially urban managers and policy makers’ performance. Development of a standard urban landscape that complies with local culture can not only encourage local people toward cooperating with urban mangers in improvement plans for urban landscape but also promotes the use of urban spaces, especially those like pedestrian streets, by citizens. Given that undesirability of the urban landscape in Sang-e-Siah Neighborhood of Shiraz was not the same in all dimensions, and the participants were most dissatisfied with the functional dimension followed by aesthetic dimension and sense of place, any planning to improve the quality of urban landscape must consider all three dimensions but rather specially focus on the functional dimension as it suffers from a more critical state compared to the aesthetic dimension and sense of place.
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