Analysis of Factors Affecting the Creation and Promotion of Sociability in Public Spaces in Different Scales of Tehran City (Case studies: Two Neighborhoods and an Area in District 7 Tehran)

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Art University of Tehran

Abstract

Tendency to the mechanized life, the widespread presence of various means of transportation and the change of city image due to the dominance of vehicles in urban areas, the segregation of people from public spaces, neglecting of social cultural values and the identity values which is hidden in the public spaces, inattention to the maintenance and improvement of community life in the former decades has led some public spaces to lose their importance and role in different urban scales. Creation of public spaces at different urban scales in recent decades has been an attempt to meet the needs of the human community to the public spaces. The presence of people in these spaces leads to the sociability of public spaces which is a factor for space success. Now, similar scales, lack of criteria for success of public spaces and lack of criteria for sociability of space have lead to emptiness and rejection. In this viewpoint the identification of the creation and promotion of sociability in public spaces is necessary to prevent the falling off public spaces at different scales. In this regard, the question is what the factors affecting the creation and improvement of sociability public spaces are and whether public spaces close neighborhood and regional scale is necessary or not. The aim of the leading research is to express the effective factors in creation and promotion of sociability in public spaces considering the different scales of public spaces of Tehran.
To meet the expressed purpose, firstly studies have been conducted for the concept of public spaces, sociability and the sociability of public spaces. Moreover some criteria for evaluation of sociability in a conceptual model in three phases of sociality, physical and activity have been developed. Seven criteria for physical dimensions, five criteria for social dimensions and two criteria for activity dimensions were selected to evaluate these aspects. For measuring the criteria, two public spaces of Sohrevardi neighborhood and Dabestan and Andisheh Park have been selected. This study is among the qualitative and quantitative research. Methods In this research is descriptive – analytical since it describes and investigates the understanding of sociability in the public spaces and factors in creation and promotion of it.  The research is Analysis because it is requires analysis of various factors of sociability in public spaces and in parts of the research was used analytical method. In the main part of research, field investigations was conducted through use of case studies. In order to meet the assessment criteria and meeting the hypotheses and questions of research, observations and quality analysis, use of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (done by SPSS software) have been done. The data collection tool in this research was questionnaire, observation and presence in public spaces, respectively. The questionnaire is set to measure the criteria and indicators of sociability in public spaces and answer questions and hypotheses of research. Observes and presence in space by the researcher continued in several days at different times of day and in all the spaces. The population study comprises all residents of Dabestan and Suhravardi neighborhoods. Questionnaires distributed among the people in the area who are a resident of the neighborhoods. The sample size in this study that is based on the Devas table at 95 percent, with 10 percent of sampling error in selected 100 samples. In each of the spaces of Dabestan neighborhood, Suhravardi neighborhood and public spaces 100 questionnaires was distributed of which makes a total of 300 distributed questionnaires.
 The result shows that public space of the area with less access and farness has been more agreed than public spaces by more residents of two neighborhoods and has the most sociability. Also the obtained result shows that paying attention to sociability criteria during planning and designing of spaces creates adjacent spaces which survive in different scales.
Public spaces in different scales have their own role and function and it is essential for these spaces at different scales. Lack or shortage or non-functioning space on a scale will impose other measures of space to other spaces that has to be accepted by other spaces. Design and planning of public spaces based on the dimensions of successful public spaces in various scales can prevent this issue. There should be spaces in various scales in order to attract people according to their status, tastes, needs and etc who want to select their desired space and attend it. Not only improper space function in local scales causes force for people to use the space, but also provides the opportunity to abandon these spaces. Hence it is essential that various aspects of space design be considered in order to carry out their role in various scales.
 

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