Ali Hosseinpour; Darioush Moradi Chadegani; Shirin Toghyani; Elham Nazemi
Abstract
Introduction: The cultural landscape since the 1990s was introduced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an interdisciplinary subject, and formally was determined on the agenda of the organization’s member communities, while since the 1920s, ...
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Introduction: The cultural landscape since the 1990s was introduced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an interdisciplinary subject, and formally was determined on the agenda of the organization’s member communities, while since the 1920s, many scholars have studied and published the related theories. Human ecology is concerned with the relation between human and their environment and is closely linked to the cultural landscape and has the dual function of simultaneously realizing the promotion of cultural landscape values and improving human ecology. Human ecology theorists since 1907 AD have been trying to improve the relationship between human and the environment by doing research on cultural, social, and economic issues. The purpose of this article is to explore transformations of the cultural landscape over time and its continuity in interaction with human ecology that can be implemented in a planning process to promote cultural landscape. Material and methods: The type of research in this paper was descriptive-analytical and its methodology was based on historic structural research. The time frame of this research was from 1908, when the first use of the cultural landscape took place beyond the realm of art and painting, until 2020 –the year of this research. Reviewing texts related to theoretical, technical, and experimental frameworks of the cultural landscape and human ecology, and applying documentary analysis, based on historic-structural analysis and comparative analysis, the common fields of the cultural landscape and human ecology were organized in a sequence of cause and effect relations based on time. In this research, the evidence (especially historical evidence) as the research material led the researcher to answer the question “What was it?”. This research method was historical-adaptive that evidence was interpreted with a "contingent and probabilistic" (versus algebra) view of cause and effect and used synthetic explanations. Data and information that were required for this research were historical and qualitative evidence and were gathered from four paths (1) primary texts and sources (2) secondary texts and sources (3) current texts (4) recovered texts. Results and discussion: Findings of historic-structural analysis of cultural landscape showed that it is transformed and evolved from “product of nature and humanity” to “representation of the diversity of the relation between human and nature to display unique methods of sustainable land use, properties resulting from the constraints of the natural environment, and mental interaction between human with nature”. Theorists' concern in international experiences is the awareness of individuals and communities to diagnose and describe cultural landscapes in their country and attempt to register them globally in order to protect and enhance the values of the cultural landscape. This can be achieved through “cultural resources management”, which replaces “protection of cultural heritage”. While human ecology, with common substantive with cultural landscape, focuses on interactions between human and the environment in order to inform individuals and communities of the devastating impact of some human actions on ecosystems and cultural landscapes. Scholars in this field of knowledge seek to find solutions to improve the relationship between human and nature, while at the same time researchers and professional activists in the field of the cultural landscape are focused on identifying and describing cultural landscapes. On the other hand, referring to the importance of process-oriented planning and decision-making, attention to the role of actors as well as the need to emphasize the uncertainty principle, the interdisciplinary of the cultural landscape and human ecology concepts, transformations and complexities of natural environments, and anthropogenesis, “strategic planning” approach, and in particular “contingency planning”, can establish a substantive and process link between these dual knowledge domains. Conclusion: The results of this paper proposed a model of contingency planning related to the cultural landscape and human ecology, with a focus on the historical study and periodic description and analysis of evidence, suggesting a two-step process with two levels (1) documentation and programming and (2) sharing, and six steps (cognition cultural landscape values, identifying cause and effect relations, analyzing the impact, developing response strategies, developing evidence-based contingency plans and sharing contingency plans related to cultural landscape values among key actors). In the first level of this process, cultural landscape values are identified and described using surveys and field observations, and then simultaneously analyzing impacts and developed response strategies by analyzing the substantive of purposeful interviews about the cause and effect relations of each of these values. In the second level, reverse the trend of decreasing cultural landscape values and promote them by proposing evidence-based contingency plans related to the cultural landscape values and sharing them among key actors.
Newsha Akbari; Shirin Toghyani; Alireza Andalib; Mahmood Mohamadi
Abstract
Introduction: Today, urban decay is a grave problem in metropolises. Despite the rules and regulations passed by the lawmakers to protect areas affected by the phenomenon, and in the face of all years-long regeneration, faults and flaws in the laws have hindered the perfect implementation of the desired ...
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Introduction: Today, urban decay is a grave problem in metropolises. Despite the rules and regulations passed by the lawmakers to protect areas affected by the phenomenon, and in the face of all years-long regeneration, faults and flaws in the laws have hindered the perfect implementation of the desired objectives. Given the importance of the issue, urban renovation and reconstruction are the strategies adopted to resolve the problems of the urban fabric. A novel approach in tackling the problem, regeneration facilitates the social and economic revival as well as spatial restoration of the fabric. The aim of the present study is to identify and prioritize various aspects of regeneration of the urban decay for the purpose of legal planning. Material and methods: The present study is classified as a basic research in terms of the objective, and qualitative and quantitative methods were used to conduct it. Grounded Theory was the approach selected for the qualitative part, while the documentary research was carried out using content analysis and meta synthesis. The research population is comprised of experts, scholars, and university professors in urban planning. Data were collected through documentary research, opinions, definitions, and in-depth open-ended interviews. A total of 35 individuals were interviewed for the purpose of this research. Qualitative data analysis, coding, and identifying the frequency of the codes extracted from interviews were done using NVivo. Then, the heirarchies were decided using AHP method and Expert Choice progra along with paired comparison questionarre. To this, Sirus Neighborhood in Tehran was selected as the case study according to the valuation of criteria based on the issues the neighborhood is faced with. Another reason for this choice was that it had been selected as the pilot location to carry out the regeneration objectives. Conclusions and discussion: "Physical regeneration”, "social regeneration”, "environmental regeneration”, "urban managemnet regeneration”, and "economic regeneration” were extracted from the qualitative analysis as the legal components of resilience in the process of urban decay regeneration. Meanwhile, considering social complications and the influence of the community on the neighborhood indicated that establishing ties between the neighborhood in question and other neighborhoods of Tehran and their residents is the prerequisite to the realization of regeneration objectives in the historical area. Improving the social condition in the neighborhoods with greater sense of attachment can be materialized through the improvement of social indicators, increase in the quality of life and sense of satisfaction, preventing immigration, and eventually, providing better development platforms. Meanwhile, given the importance of urban management in urban development, a holistic, integrated, and inclusive approach which draws upon social and financial condition of the residents and preventing trivial actions in housing sector can help to achieve the regeneration objectives in the improvement of resilience. Conclusion: The findings indicate that planning to improve social indicators must be the highest priority of lawmakers in order that the improvement in development platform can facilitate the realization of regeneration objectives.
