A new look at the function of the street: providing a conceptual model of High Streets for All approach (Case Study: comparing Imam Khomeini Street and Foroughi Street in Tabriz)

Subject Areas : environment planning

Mana  Vahidbafandeh ¹ (Master student of Urban design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Tabriz, Iran)
Javad  Imani Shamloo ² (Department of Urban Planning, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tabriz Islamic Art University)
Melika  Fadavi ³ (Master student of Urban design, Tabriz Islamic Art University, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Tabriz, Iran.)

Received: 2023-02-16 Accepted : 2023-04-27 Published : 2023-06-22

Keywords: Foroughi Street, Street function, High street for all, Imam Khomeini Street,

Abstract :

         The high and main streets of the city are the heart of cities nowadays. Today, these vital arteries are facing new social, environmental and economic challenges and must deal with the uncertainty of the city. Now the important question is how to design and plan the main streets of the city in such a way that it meets the different expectations of society and at the same time, it can be compatible with future developments. Many planners and urban designers in the world are thinking of creating strategies to restore the role of high streets to their original position as a place to serve visitors, businesses and stakeholders that all people can use. The high streets for all approach is a popular approach in urban studies in recent years. Nevertheless, so far, it has not been mentioned in the research field of Persian texts and sources in the specialized field of urban planning. Although this approach is successful in global experiences. The purpose of this research is to look at the function of the street by presenting a conceptual model of the high streets. In addition, to validate and better introduce this new approach, two critical streets of Tabriz City (Imam Khomeini Street and Foroughi Street) have been compared from the perspective of this approach. The general approach of this research is descriptive-analytical. Collecting information and field data through a questionnaire and the sample size based on Cochran's formula is 384 people. The research findings show that the essential components of the "High Street for All" approach are more vital in Imam Khomeini Street than in Foroughi Street, and only Foroughi Street has a higher priority in the two indicators of "personal branding, presence of famous commercial brands." To create a High Street for all streets, it should be a strength at the comprehensive level of spaces in all dimensions, including the relationship between humans and the environment.Extended AbstractIntroduction:The High Streets for All mission seeks to stitch the actual uses of the city back together following decades of dispersal and separation and invites us to rethink how we live and move around the city. High streets are the places most people can walk to or get the bus from; they provide common access points to the city’s cycle routes, bus and overground systems. High streets are essential places of employment. This research seeks to know whether the idea of High streets for all is applicable in the cities and streets of Iran and the world. So far, many cities worldwide, such as London, the founder of this concept, have succeeded in implementing it, and these streets have become public places for everyone. In the current research, the theoretical foundations are aimed at the functional revitalization of urban streets. For this purpose, the sources are based on creating a conceptual model according to the contextual-cultural conditions of the case examples. Then, an evaluation was done on Foroughi Street and Imam Khomeini Street in Tabriz, both of which are commercial and essential streets of the city. This comparison aims to find the best high street for basics close to the High Street for everyone.Methodology:The statistical population in this research includes the entire city of Tabriz (according to the definition of urban scale for High Streets) and the sampling is from different people of the city according to the context of the subject. The size of the statistical population of Cochran's formula according to the population of Tabriz city (1,727,476 people) and taking into account the error level of 5% is equal to 384 people. After collecting the field data, Spss software was used to analyze each component in case samples to analyze the mean using descriptive statistics methods. Considering the normality of the data in both samples, the standard deviation was used T-test for two independent models (independent two-sample t-test). Also, collecting information through document study and using the latest sources in the relevant field.Results and discussion:Based on the studies and tests conducted, most of the average data indicate the high potential and parameters of the "High Street for All" approach in Imam Khomeini Street. About 14 leading indicators had a high statistical average in this sample. Still, in contrast to Foroghi Street, due to the presence of a new context in the component of economic sustainability (personal branding, presence of commercial brands), it has a very high average, which indicates the strength of the element (sustainability Economic) on this street. In general, it can be said that the hypothesis of the research is confirmed according to the investigations carried out, and Imam Khomeini Street is considered a well-equipped street with a high average in most of the indicators and from this point of view, it has a lot of potential for the growth and design of businesses.Conclusion:High streets are social; they promote mutual friendship and cultural exchange. At once, global and local high streets offer everyday experiences and opportunities for social interaction worldwide. Designers tell us they particularly value this opportunity to be around other people. This opportunity is significant to socially vulnerable groups like older people or new neighbors looking to make friends. The streets of the "High street for all" are one of the modern city's most characteristic features and the city's most familiar public property. Well-equipped streets are places where most of the city's people from every class and income group can walk. Shared access points to bike and bus routes indicate high access to these streets. Paying attention to the economic dimensions of sustainable cities, including supporting creative businesses through cooperative work centers and holding start-ups, is also one of the new topics of this approach. According to the investigations and the successful experiences of the world, this example of streets can be very successful in promoting and improving presence in urban spaces. Based on this, this approach can act as a strong driver in the direction of balance and creating inclusive spaces in the streets of Iran. This research tried to introduce this functionally successful approach with sample evaluation. We hope that sufficient attention will be paid to it in future research.

References:

• Advisors, ‎. D. (2016). Global Street Design Guide 2nd None ed. Edition. Island Press; 2nd None ed. edition. Retrieved from: https://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Skye-Duncan-NACTO_Global-Street-Design-Guide-preview-sm.pdf


• Carmona, M. (2015). London's local high streets: The problems, potential and complexities of mixed street corridors. Progress in Planning, Volume 100, August 2015, Pages 1-84. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2014.03.001


• Cllr Georgia Gould, Greater London Authority,. (March 2021). The High Streets for All Challenge. London: Greater London Authority. Retrieved from: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/regeneration/funding-opportunities/high-streets-all-challenge


• Dawson, J. (1998). The Future of the High Street. London: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/633470


• Dobson, J. (August 2022). Community businesses and high streets: ‘taking back’ and leading forward. Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved from: https://www.powertochange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Community-businesses-and-high-streets-CRESR.pdf


• Duprat, S. (2009). Art and human embryonic stem cells: From the bench to the high street. Stem Cell Research, Volume 2, Issue 2, March 2009, Pages 97-100. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scr.2008.11.003


• G. Hallsworth, A., & Coca-Stefaniak, J. (2018). National high street retail and town centre policy at a cross roads in England and Wales. Cities, Volume 79, September 2018, Pages 134-140. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.03.002


• Gopalakrishnan , S., & Ganeshkumar, P. (2013). Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis: Understanding the Best Evidence in Primary Healthcare. J Family Med Prim Care. doi: https://doi.org/10.4103/2249-4863.109934


• H. Betzing, J., Kurtz, M., & Becker, J. (2020). Customer Participation in Virtual Communities for Local High Streets. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Volume 54, May 2020, 102025. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.102025


• Hewett, D. (2012). High frequency sound propagation in a network of interconnecting streets. Journal of Sound and Vibration, Volume 331, Issue 25, 3 December 2012, Pages 5537-5561. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsv.2012.07.030


• High Streets for All Challenge. (2021, september 12). Retrieved from We are London.: https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-strategies/shaping-local-spaces/regeneration-funding-opportunities/high-streets-all-challenge


• Hubbard, P. (2016). Hipsters on our high streets: Consuming the gentrification frontier. Sociological Research Online,(87(8)).


• Liang, W., Huang, J., Jones, P., Wang, Q., & Hang, J. (2018). A zonal model for assessing street canyon air temperature of high-density cities. Building and Environment, Volume 132, 15 March 2018, Pages 160-169. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.01.035


• London.gov. (2022). High Streets for All | Resources. London: mayor of london. Retrieved from: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/high_streets_for_all_report_web_final.pdf


• LSE. (2021, October 12). London School of Economics. Retrieved from High Streets for All: https://www.lse.ac.uk/cities/publications/research-reports/High-Streets-for-All


• Maliene, V., Fowles, S., Atkinson, I., & Malys, N. (2022). A sustainability assessment framework for the high street. Cities, Volume 124, May 2022, 103571. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.103571


• Motahari Tabar, M., & Hosseini nia, M. (2022). Investigating the policies of the impact of sidewalks on the quality of housing (Case study of Bu Ali sidewalk in Hamedan). Journal of Urban Environmental Policy. doi: https://doi.org/20.1001.1.27833496.1401.2.5.5.8. (In Persian)


• Nanda, A., Xu, Y., & Zhang, F. (Volume 10, Issue 2, June 2021, Pages 110-124). How would the COVID-19 pandemic reshape retail real estate and high streets through acceleration of E-commerce and digitalization? Journal of Urban Management, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2014.03.001


• Ntounis, N., Sønderland Saga, R., Warnaby, G., Loroño-Leturiondo, M., & Parker, C. (2022). Reframing high street viability: A review and synthesis in the English context. Cities, Volume 134, March 2023, 104182, Volume 134, March 2023, 104182. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2022.104182


• Pliakas, T., Egan, M., Gibbons, J., Ashton,, C., Hart, J., & Lock, K. (November, 2016). Do cumulative impact zones reduce alcohol availability in UK high streets? Assessment of a natural experiment introducing a new licensing policy. The Lancet. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32330-3


• Rogers, C. (2013). Boston Complete Streets Design Guidelines. Boston: American Planning Association. Retrieved from: https://www.boston.gov/departments/transportation/boston-complete-streets


• Scott, F., Hyden, S., & Snow, P. (2020, October 22). Innovative strategies to support the long-term sustainability and diversity of London’s high streets, We Made That (urban research collaborator), Hatch (Evaluation), Mariana Mazzucato (Expert advisor), Dan Hill (Expert Advisor), Adam Scott (Expert Advisor. Retrieved from Greater London Authority: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/ggbd_high_streets_adaptive_strategies_web_compressed_0.pdf


• Sheffield. (2020, October 12). Comprehensive support for businesses on all our high streets. Retrieved from Make yourself at home; Retrieved from: https://www.welcometosheffield.co.uk/content/articles/comprehensive-support-for-businesses-on-all-our-high-streets/


• Sheikh Milani, E., Abdollahzadeh Taraf, A., Faramarzi Asli , M., & Saghafi, A. (2022). Evaluation of urban landscape sustainability of Imam Street in Tabriz based on humanistic landscape components (Saat Square - University Square). Journal of Sustainability, Development and Environment, 61-83 (In Persian).


• Shi , Z., Hsieh , S., A. Fonseca, J., & Schlueter, A. (2020). Street grids for efficient district cooling systems in high-density cities. Sustainable Cities and Society, Volume 60, September 2020, 102224. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102224


• SM Hall. (2011). High street adaptations: ethnicity, independent retail practices, and Localism in London's urban margins. Environment and Planning, 84 (7).


• The Lancet. (2016). Do cumulative impact zones reduce alcohol availability in UK high streets? Assessment of a natural experiment introducing a new licensing policy. The Lancet, Volume 388, Supplement 2, November 2016, Page S94. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32330-3


• Vaughan, L., A Dhanani, & Griffiths, S. (January 2013). Beyond the suburban high street cliché - A study of adaptation to change in London’s street network: 1880-2013. University College London. Retrieved from: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1417189/


• Wrigley, N., & Lambiri, D. (2014). High street performance and evolution: Southampton Uni


• Yavari, M., Sheikholeslami, A., & Sasanpour, F. (2022). Investigating the relationships between indicators of the concept of quality in urban open spaces for spending leisure time (case study of Arak city). Journal of Urban Environmental Planning and Development. doi: https://10.30495/JUEPD.2022.694794. (In Persian)