International Journal of

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Housing is the second need after food for human beings. Since the housing crisis began with the increase in population, respective governments were forced to construct houses for a large number of families. Ignoring the qualitative aspects of these houses has caused social and cultural harm. Therefore, designers need to pay more attention to the quality of housing and living environments. The main objective of this study is to find the most important factors that affect the quality of low- income housing. In order to achieve this goal, the first stage of the research was to undertake a systematic review of the literature and interview the residents. The housing environment factors were classified in four categories: environmental, functional, formal and semantic factors. In order to give priority to the factors, a questionnaire was distributed among 15 experts (according to the Delphi technique, two rounds of surveys were taken). In the first round, some factors were removed and a new category was added. In the second round, experts gave priority to the factors. Once the data was collected, the next stage was to analyze it. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 18 SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). The results obtained - based on the weighting of each factor - showed that some factors, such as interior space function, volume, relationship with nature, safety and social security are the most effective factors of low-income housing quality.

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Historical fabrics are known as a national heritage and treasure which are full of spiritual and human concepts. However, we are witnessing that many of these historic districts are being forgotten, abandoned and destructed as the emotional relationship between human and its residing place is fading out. Sense of place is a concept which focuses on the emotional and internal relation between people and their environment. Sense of place consists of three dimensions, namely: place identity, place dependence and place attachment. This research is trying to identify the most significant components regarding the sense of place. It is assumed that by improving these components, a higher level of sense of place is achieved in historic fabrics. These components could also help urban designers and architects that contribute to the historic fabric of the city. Qualitative content analysis methodology was used to elicit the sense of place components from 175 studies. Screening of the systematic reviews and extraction of information on included studies was performed using a validated framework. Finally, the Delphi method is used to find the most related components of the sense of place in historic districts. The results for the physical factors show that the most important attributes are “valuable landmarks and fabric”, “form and physical characteristics”, “communal spaces and public gathering places”, and “visual harmony and unity of the facades”. The results for the set of activity factors show that experts were generally reliable in their responses. The mean value for “events in place” is 4.94, which indicates that experts perceived this attribute as the most influential determinant. Other important attributes are “social activities and interactions”, “proper roads and pathways”, “legibility and identification”, “land use and functional diversity”, and “accessibility and permeability”. In the meaning category, “vitality and happiness” is the most important attribute to evaluate the sense of place in the historical fabrics. “History and originality of the place” is then ranked second, and “aesthetic, beauty and arrangement” third. In the individual-social category, “memories and experiences of place” scored the highest followed by “cultural, religious and ritual ceremonies”, “mental imagery of the place”, and “awareness of historical values of places” (mean value of 4.24).

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Nowadays, many urban parks are underutilized due to changes and developments of cities, parks location, inappropriate inner conditions of parks, and other factors. Besat Park in Tehran is located in an urban district where people have fewer recreational choices other than going to parks. So, the issue of underutilization in this park might lead to so many other problems. This research is aimed to identify and prioritize the effective factors which can improve the visitors’ number of Besat Park. Field observations and interviews with Besat Park users were used in this research. During the observation process, three main factors were scrutinized including activity, access, and legibility. Behavioral mapping was applied to observations in 18 parts of the park which occurred at 6 different times in various seasons. Behavior mapping recordings were based on people's age, gender, and activity. Also, a questionnaire was set up covering the three main factors investigated in behavioral mappings. The results show that activity as the main important factor had negatively affected the level of presence in Besat Park. Even on large scale, the incompatible land uses inhibited neighborhood resident’s interaction with the park edges. Inside the park, despite the lack of legibility and impermeability of some routes and districts, only the ones which had other issues in terms of activity, access, and other sub-factors were vulnerable to the mentioned problems. Generally, the factors affecting Besat Park use could be prioritized based on their level of influence respectively as activity, legibility, and access.