Journal of Urban Studies on Space and Place

Abstract Concepts such as historical rupture, functionalism, international style, and standardization are all features of modernism. In general, the built environments according to modernism are alien to the existing context, and this alienation led to a fundamental critique of modern architecture and urban planning. With the advent of postmodernism, the need to pay attention to the field in different dimensions was emphasized by thought from different fields such as history, culture, philosophy, linguistics, environment, psychology, and phenomenology. But contextualism needs to be more carefully recognized, especially in relation to fields such as semiotics, semantics, and structuralism, as well as approaches such as traditionalism and ecology, which are its theoretical frameworks. Due to its various origins, the return to contextualism has been accompanied by changes in attitudes, dimensions, principles, and methods since the 1960s. The present study, by reviewing the influential ideas on contextualism in urban planning and architecture, seeks to identify the impact of various movements, approaches and paradigms in various fields in the period from 1960 to the present. The method of the present study is descriptive and by describing the ideas of contextualists in architecture and urban planning as well as related and progressive disciplines such as philosophy that are the source of the ideas of these two mentioned disciplines, it categorizes three main and distinct groups. The notion of contextualism has been investigated in closed and related fields to architecture, urban planning, and urban design such as philosophy, linguistics, and social studies. Three distinct categories are identified, the first is most influenced by the philosophy and linguistics of French thinkers; The second category, focuses more on history, culture, traditionalism, and ecology, and the third category, according to history, tradition, indigenous culture, and ecology, strives to coexist with the environment and converge with the principles Sustainable development has tried.

Abstract In recent decades, the pedestrian bridge has been proposed and used as a serious option among the movement facilities in the transportation system of Iranian cities. This research aims to study the use status of pedestrian bridges from the point of view of the Isfahan 7th district citizens. This research is of applied type and in essence Based on the method is a descriptive-case and analytical method. For data collection, the field method in the form of a questionnaire and for data analysis, descriptive statistics and one-sample t-test, one right-tailed average and one left-tailed average test were used in the SPSS software. The findings of the research indicate that the Isfahan 7 district pedestrian bridges in terms of locating and location, design and urban landscape, geometry and function, aesthetics and a number of security indicators are in an unfavorable condition. In general, from the point of view of users, paying attention to human centeredness in the hardware and software dimensions of pedestrian bridges leads to the optimal use of this facility by pedestrians.

Abstract Modernism has played an important role in the development of human life in technological dimensions, but its aterialistic view has made cities and urban spaces face basic challenges in social, cultural, environmental and spiritual fields. Therefore, paying attention to the quality of spirituality in the construction and measurement of urban spaces is an important step in dealing with these challenges. Therefore, the aim of this research is to understand the dimensions of the quality of spirituality in urban spaces and evaluate it in some urban spaces of Isfahan. In the qualitative part, the literature of the subject has been explained by a systematic review. In the quantitative part, the votes of two groups of elites (51 people) and citizens (400 people) in order to rank the perception of spirituality from 22 selected spaces of Isfahan city based on the Likert scale were analyzed using a questionnaire and using Friedman’s test to rank the perception of spirituality. One-way analysis of variance has been used to compare the perception of the sense of spirituality in the respondent group. According to the scores of two groups of elites and citizens, regarding the level of spirituality in the urban spaces of Isfahan, Jame Mosque scored the highest and Bazarche Hassan Abad scored the lowest. Also, among the types of space, “Cemetery” has received the highest score in terms of spirituality. Therefore, the two important cemetery of Isfahan, Takht Foulad Cemetery (the public tomb and the tomb of religious and cultural celebrities) and Golestan Shohada were selected as case study to conduct in-depth interviews with citizens (21 people) and the interviews were analyzed by thematic analysis. The results indicate that silence, solitude, peace, Islamic architecture of buildings and monuments, the integration of nature and natural elements with the tomb, the visibility of the sky and the vastness of the area; Also, the mental dimensions of the space, including the sense of remembrance, the sense of separation from the world, the connection with divine saints and religious elders are among the most important factors in creating spirituality in these cemetery.

Abstract Today, for various reasons, new criteria are used for the division of neighborhoods, which are significantly different from the historical divisions of these neighborhoods. In the meantime, it seems necessary to know the factors and elements that distinguish and determine these urban boundaries. In order to achieve the desired urban neighborhoods, it is necessary to observe the quantitative points of urban planning, but it is also important to observe the opinion of the people regarding their neighborhood and the boundaries of that. Historical neighborhoods in the past had specific boundaries, but these boundaries were not defined by physical barriers and modern fences; rather, various natural factors or passages, alley have shown its local signs. On the other hand, the awareness of the residents and their belonging to the neighborhood along with other social and environmental factors, not only formed the identity of the neighborhood; rather, it also determined its scope. The purpose of writing this article is to know the indicators and criteria for the division of historical neighborhoods in the city of Isfahan and to determine the influencing factors on the division of neighborhoods using documents and the statements of local residents. The results of face-to-face interviews with nineteen knowledgeable residents present in the neighborhoods led to the formulation of two general categories of natural and artificial factors (which were separated into environmental and social types); which will be explained in this article by mentioning a case example for each factor.

Abstract Natural factors are one of the most important and vital elements of the city, where water and its supply and use play an important role in the formation and prosperity of the city. Due to the large surface area of Iran in hot and dry climate, the presence of water and its various effects in Isfahan was one of the factors that persuaded Shah Abbas to choose this city as the capital. Zayandehrood and its water supply networks have had a significant impact on the physical, functional and semantic structure of the city. Besides its roles in agriculture and irrigation, it has improved the environmental qualities in the city and created a sustainable place in the urban structure. What is being studied in this article is the investigation of the role of water and its manifestations in physical, functional, environmental systems and especially semantic system of the Safavid city which has led to the formation of a garden city. For this purpose, the historical books and travelogues of the Safavid period and the theoretical foundations of Isfahan Urban School were first explored in order to achieve different features and roles of water in the structure of the city and its people’s lives. Then, by a comparative study of the components of sustainable place, it was concluded that the design and application of water element in Safavid Isfahan increased some of the sustainability indices as well as enhancing the constructive qualities of urban spaces and ultimately provided a context for making the sustainable place.

Abstract  
 
Neighborhood identity can be affected by two types of factors: Physical and non-physical (social) factors. Each of these factors have their nique impact on the identity of a place or a neighborhood. Understanding the relationship between factors and their effect size might lead to a more effective planning in order to improve neighborhood identity. The main goal of this research is providing profound perception of physical and social factors effects on neighborhood identity. However, it is not possible to put all factors in a research. So, we have selected critical factors through field work, which includes neighbors’ relationship and security as social factors and neighborhood landscape, safety, and accessibility as physical factors. This research is based on a quantitative analysis of 100 questioners by using SmartPLS software. Sample size was determined by employing a Cochran formula. It emerges that, all factors havesignificant effect on neighborhood identity except for safety.