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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This study analyzes the post-globalization reconciliation in architectural ideologies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). UAE experienced an unprecedented boom in urban development starting from the later half of last century mainly due to the unparallel economic growth in their history. This brought in star architects around the world who contributed in designing large scale buildings there. Considered as the globalization in architecture, this trend produced some exceptional stand out buildings boasting of dazzling philosophical back stories. However, after the initial burst, there has been some noticeable evolution in the ideologies. The concept of globalization faced the pressure of localization. There have been a significant number of studies on these new buildings. But they mostly talked either about the philosophies of the star architects or about the mesmerizing architectural and engineering details. Only a few research have been done on the reconciliation and evolution of the ideologies through time. This study attempted to draw attention to certain ideological evolution that have been evident by analyzing certain large scale new buildings. Socio-semiotic theory have been used as the analytic method, by which, hermeneutic interpretation was drawn after investigating the expressive and explicit architectural elements of the buildings. Categorical and purposive sampling have been used to select the precedents. Data was collected through archival records, books, and various electronic resources. After rigorous investigation, this study found several ‘localization’ ideologies significantly reacting to the initial ideology of globalization. This study concludes that though this kind of reaction may not be an unheralded one, however, the grandness of those new buildings has given the ideologies a new dimension. It remains to be an interesting question where this ideological transformation will head to.