Stratification of urban areas in terms of urban vitality indicators (case study: Karaj)

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Department of Human Geography, Kish International Campus, University of Tehran, Tehran

2 Department of Human Geography, Faculty of Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran

10.22059/jurbangeo.2023.348982.1737

Abstract

Vitality is the meaning and concept of the level of comfort and convenience in a place and the enjoyment of being in that place, vitality is the quality of the form of urban space and it causes the improvement of the quality of the environment of public urban spaces. Vitality contributes to the physical, mental, social and personal development of residents. The elements of vitality are places and people, the territory and scope of vitality is the use of places, spaces and objects of the environment. People are the core of life. The purpose of this research is to investigate and analyze factors and elements affecting urban vitality in Karaj city. The type of research in terms of its purpose is the type of applied research with a descriptive-analytical nature. The data of the research includes the census data of the statistics centre and the field questionnaire that was investigated in the 10 districts of the Karaj metropolis. To analyze the information, specialized software and multi-criteria decision-making models have been used. The findings indicate that among the regions, region 7 has the first rank of urban vitality with 75% having good condition. The results of subjective indicators showed that Neighbourhood 10 of Region 7 and Neighbourhood 5 of Region 9 have a high level of urban vitality, neighbourhood 2 of Region 4 and Neighbourhood 1 of Region 6 have a medium level and Neighbourhood 5 of Region 10 has a low level of urban vitality.
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Responsiveness-based design and planning emphasizing the maximum use of environmental capacities to meet users' needs implicitly cause a targeted improvement of environmental quality. As the environmental awareness of contemporary man has expanded and the platforms have become more diverse, many challenges are raised in the field of environment-oriented in the field of infrastructure quality and service provision. Urban developments and new developments in cities should be interpreted with integrated conceptualization. The conceptualization of interpretive flexibility in the planning and designing of public spaces in the city is used as an interdisciplinary perspective in urban space design to open and discuss its connection and potential as an approach to strengthening social cohesion and inclusion.The general definition of flexibility is that it can create places with new forms of meaning and be used for different groups to strengthen its coherence and multidisciplinary inclusion in terms of design and planning of space and body. On this basis, the concept of flexibility is proposed as a principle in the context of design and planning due to its wide range of effects on background phenomena. The history of such a role can be seen in the diversity of users' needs. In such a way, it is impossible to express the specific time and area of the need to pay attention to this concept. This is in line with Oldenburg's theory of "social public spaces," in which being in public space, communicating with people and the environment through observing the streets, sidewalks, squares, and parks of the city is a necessary step for people as a part of their social life. The meaningfulness of the design of the artificial environment was considered. In any case, in the contemporary era, on the one hand, at the same time as the quantitative and qualitative increase of human environmental awareness, there is no longer any phenomenon in the eyes of contemporary man arising from a unique aspect and range of factors. On the other hand, his life needs in the individual and collective dimensions have seen a high diversity, which has led to the formation of multiple semantic domains of past flexibility.
The meaning of flexibility in such an interdisciplinary platform and basic design refers to the concept of understanding and responding quickly and efficiently to environmental changes. Such a holistic definition for this broad field of environmental design means the implicit acceptance of the role of scale in the meaningful domain of these concepts. On a macro scale, it means making design options to increase the presence, participation, and power of choices of users of the environment in participatory urban planning and design methods, and on a small scale, it means making design options to increase spatial quality and, as a result, the quality of activities. The daily activities of environmental users are through selection against the "dominant space." Flexibility at different scales is crucial for dimensional optimization, shaping, and structuring spatial features, leading to improved performance of space components and spaces.
The development of the concept of "flexibility" from various studies in metropolitan to micro scales, such as interior architecture, allows it to pass the discourse of responsiveness to provide a broad approach to environmental design in which different values, interests, and priorities are prioritized. As a result, the issue of flexibility in environmental design has been raised as a multi-dimensional field in the design and planning of the basic environment. The breadth and complexity of this concept have made the researchers of this field deal with it in one or more ways, and it has been avoided to provide a comprehensive framework about the nature and structuring processes. The current research presents a structured view of flexibility in architecture and urban planning with an environmental approach.
 
Methodology
The methodology to achieve this goal is to use the macro research method and achieve a comprehensive framework by combining categorized interpretations. In such a way that by sorting and categorizing these concepts and bases in a new way, he has found a new level of theoretical findings, which will be a suitable answer for the gaps in scientific knowledge and scientific methods created in this field. In this context, the research method "thematic analysis" has been used with a qualitative approach and the use of library resources. Also, to overcome the breadth and complexity of these concepts and the multi-layer networking of concepts in this research method, artificial intelligence has been used in MAXQDA research assistance software.
 
Results and discussion
In the meantime, attention should also be paid to the fields of influence and application of the results of this research because designers refer to flexibility as the creator of environmental qualities, including dynamism. Also, since flexibility, along with the principles of readability and adaptability, affect the lifestyle and behavioral patterns of the audience of environmental design in architecture and urban planning, it will also be effective in dealing with the challenge of complexity in environmental design factors. One of the key questions for achieving research goals on this issue is how flexibility in environmental design impacts the relationship between flexibility and scale.
 
Conclusion
The most important finding of this research suggests that first, it requires a focus on the conditions under which the processes of perceiving human abilities and discovering the needs of the human audience can manifest. The theoretical framework arises from a comparative approach between design disciplines. These conditions are independent of the final state of the design product, and strengthening the environmental capacities will lead to a direction and an area that includes environmental flexibility. By responding to new situations, the construction of the space and the body within a space building can be adapted to various configurations. Even though the environment may remain constant, the designed place will continue functioning as a strong living system over time.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific

Keywords


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