International Journal of

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Despite negative perspectives on their consequences, gated communities continue to spread in cities due to structural reasons such as globalization and economic neo-liberalism. Hence, there is a need to seek for a way of achieving a balance and make these communities livable. Due to agreement with economic market perspectives, livability principles might offer a solution for mediating the social consequences of gated communities. This survey aimed to examine the physical factors influencing social livability of gated communities and identify the degree of their prominence. To collect the data, four gated communities in Tehran were selected through cluster sampling. An analysis of 258 questionnaires and our observation of the physical features of the gated communities indicated five physical features affecting social livability of gated communities. The results showed that mixed uses had the biggest effect on the social livability of gated communities followed by mixed housing, accessibility, walkability and sociability respectively. Although it might be impossible to put a halt to the expansion of gated communities in the short run, attempts can be made to attract different classes of people to these communities through mixing different uses and prevent from the fragmentation of gated communities. Well-connected and walkable streets help many daily activities occur within walking distance promoting the security of the neighborhood. Designing sociable public places where everyone is welcomed without any type of exclusion or limitation increases social bonds within gated communities which in turn promotes resident’s sense of community.

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Changing and repurposing existing buildings for their continued use was quite common in the past and buildings deemed to be structurally safe were adapted to meet new functions and needs. In modern conservation theory, Adaptive Reuse is an important means of preserving cultural heritage. The main questions asked is what are the priorities and shortcomings of adaptive reuse theoretical references within interior architecture based on comparative study with Nara Document parameters? The research method in this study is of a qualitative, with logical argument as a strategy. The priorities were studied and then the most important weaknesses and drawbacks of these approaches to Adaptive Reuse were analyzed in a comparative study with the Nara Grid by 32 semi-structured interviews with experts in the fields of Architecture, Interior architecture and conservation. The results show four main Adaptive Reuse priorities extracted from the reviewed literature: Host Space Function, Programmatic Approach to New Use, Technical Requirements and Design-oriented strategies and solutions. These theoretical priorities do not negate each other; in fact, they are rather complementary. However, if one of them gains more importance in the process it can lead to many losses. Of their most important disadvantages, the following are worth mentioning:  A physical outlook and a lack of attention to intangible and soft values, a lack of attention to the meaning and characteristics of functions of the building in the past, ignoring the human presence and its needs, ignoring architectural details and interior architecture, lack of interdisciplinary research, and lack of adequate strategies in line with building values. It seems like the issues mentioned above could be avoided and redeemed through an emphasis in conservation policy on fixed feature spaces, semi-fixed feature spaces, and informal spaces in interior spaces, as well as considering human needs and social sciences in the redesign process, and following each priority and approach in the redesign process accordingly.