Document Type : Research article
Authors
1
Department of Urban Design, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Art, Tehran, Iran
2
Department of Urban Management, School of Urban Planning, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22059/jurbangeo.2022.337256.1646
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
Cities increasingly face shocks, including severe natural or manufactured disasters, which can lead to casualties, injury, and material, economic or environmental damage. In the theoretical literature of urban planning, strategies such as resilience have been proposed to solve the crisis and the resulting problems so that a resilient city can prepare, recover and adapt to shocks and tensions. To evaluate the degree of resilience and improve its quality, so far, indicators have been presented that sometimes cannot adapt, analogize in all cities and maintain efficiency over time. For this reason, ISO International Standards for Sustainable Cities and Communities (ISO 37120) and (ISO 37122) and then in completing them, integrated the standards of resilient cities (ISO 37123) that aim to track and monitor the progress of cities towards resilience and organizing in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Sendai Framework to reduce the risk of crisis. This is an applied development research during which ISO's international standards for resilient cities and communities have been implemented to survey Moghadam neighborhood of Tehran municpality district 17 in terms of conformity with said standards and also provide executive approaches to promote the resilience of the neighborhood. For this purpose, in addition to preparing analytical maps of the space organization based on the dimensions of resilience in the GIS environment, the desired resilience indicators have been prepared in the form of semi-structured questionnaires and interviews and the required data have been collected. The statistical population of the study includes urban management, specialists, and experts in the field of crisis management. Thus, the resilience status of the study area based on standard indicators (ISO 37123) in governance and urban planning dimensions has been tracked, and using quantitative and qualitative research findings, appropriate solutions to improve resilience in the Moqadam neighborhood have been proposed.
Extended Abstarct
Introduction
Cities are increasingly facing shocks such as extreme natural or human events that lead to crises that should be considered. Crises can have different causes and effects and be classified and introduced accordingly. Considering the growth and expansion of urbanization in today's world, as well as cities becoming more vulnerable to crises, a resilience strategy has been proposed, which can be used to deal with crises and prevent problems caused by them. Resilience is introduced as the ability to "Bouncing Back," and a resilient city refers to a city that is able to prepare, cope, recover and adapt to shocks and tensions and, finally, continue its growth process. However, achieving resilience requires conditions in all social, economic, institutional, environmental, etc. dimensions, and by creating more of these conditions, a more resilient city can be built. As mentioned, resilience is very broad in its concept and dimensions. Based on this, various indicators have been presented to evaluate resilience levels, which sometimes could not adapt, compare in all cities, and maintain efficiency over time. Therefore, the ISO organization has developed “The International Standards of Sustainable Cities and Societies (ISO 37120, 37122)” and “Resilient Cities (ISO 37123)” as Integrated with the aim of tracking and monitoring the progress of resilient cities with “The Sendai Framework” to reduce the risk of crisis and sustainable development goals.
Methodology
This is applied development research in which the resilience of Moqadam neighborhood, 17th district of Tehran, has been tracked in dimensions of compliance with ISO international standards for resilient cities and communities (Urban governance, Urban planning, and Housing). For this purpose, in addition to preparing analytical maps of the space organization based on the dimensions of resilience in the GIS environment, the desired resilience indicators have been prepared in the form of semi-structured questionnaires and interviews and the required data have been collected. The statistical population of the study includes urban management, specialists, and experts in the field of crisis management. Thus, the resilience status of the study area based on standard indicators (ISO 37123) in two dimensions of governance and urban planning has been tracked, and using quantitative and qualitative research findings, appropriate solutions to improve resilience in Moqadam neighborhood have been proposed.
Results and Discussion
The results of the research show "Average" resilience of the neighborhood in the dimension of "Urban Governance" and "Weak" resilience in the dimension of "Urban Planning And Housing" (vulnerable structures in the face of high-risk hazards, residential buildings that do not comply with regulations and construction standards, lands with non-porous and impervious floor coverings and the lack of providing essential services with an approved business continuity plan) are the priorities for action to improve resilience. Also, according to the evaluations, attention to the "Urban Planning and Housing" dimension is given priority, and it is expected that in case of a crisis, if the indicators of the governance dimension are not addressed and not improved, its status will be reduced to "Weak".
In the dimension of "Urban Governance", we can expect to solve many problems related to inconsistencies in updating crisis management plans by approving the integrated urban management law and clarifying the hierarchy of organizations and institutions. Also, to improve the "Frequency of Updating Crisis Management Programs in the Last 5 Years" index, updating and implementing measures should be considered more seriously. By using the existing potential capacities (extent of services and "Durability and Safety Forces"), the basis can be provided to improve the status of the indicator "Percentage of Essential Services of The City, Covered in a Continuous Program" without considering the current status of the indicator. The weakness of the "Percentage Of Public Meetings Held In Connection With Resilience In The City" index has caused institutions to be reluctant to hold classes and meetings, which has resulted in the reduction of the relevant budget. With education (especially at a young age) based on the help of non-governmental organizations or platforms such as the internet, it is possible to increase the participation rate in this matter and improve the status of the index. The absence of an "approved business continuity plan" directly causes a shock to the residents in times of crisis. Therefore, by categorizing jobs, it is necessary to create this plan and announce how to operate and provide services in times of crisis. In the dimension of "Urban Planning and Housing", there is no public risk zoning map at the neighborhood scale, and the only available map is at the scale of Tehran city. Preparation of this map and updating other data will increase transparency and efficiency and ultimately improve index and resilience. "Lands with porous and permeable floor covering" is one of the most alarming indicators. Considering the current situation and the serious lack of green and open spaces in the neighborhood can be addressed from other surfaces such as roofs and facades of buildings. Due to the time-consuming nature of this work, it is possible to take advantage of civil measures to control surface runoff and floods. Also, constructing a parkway on the upper shell of the Tehran-Tabriz railway tunnel can significantly improve the condition of this index. The old and dense buildings of this neighborhood have also weakened its resilience of this neighborhood. Therefore, actions should be taken to improve its situation so that the shock is not aggravated during the crisis. Using the high-density feature of this neighborhood makes it possible to take advantage of the consolidation and speed up the operation by reducing the costs of retrofitting. Utilization of volunteer forces and facilities and incentive schemes as a driver for this purpose is a priority.
Conclusion
It is suggested to develop a comprehensive and complete program with the participation of all people (including residents, NGOs, experts, officials, etc.) so that by recognizing and prioritizing the problems and necessary measures, collaborative solutions for each dimension can be presented implemented. This program determines the institutions in charge of different emergency scenarios, available resources, their allocation, etc. After preparing and compiling this plan and regulations, the institutions and the urban management must consider the risk in their affairs. In order to achieve this, it is possible to use plans, guidelines, and executive regulations related to the issue, holding classes and educational campaigns using volunteers, etc., to improve the neighborhood's resilience.
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