International Journal of

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As a common space, urban entrance is the first place that introduces a city to its visitors and it is imprinted in the memory of people. This study aims to provide a detailed analysis of physical development and activity patterns along the main entrance of Rasht, Iran. Utilized data in this research comes from a questionnaire survey through which 707 land lots along the main entrances were studied. A number of statistical methods including nonparametric test of Kruskal-Wallis and crosscorrelation analysis were used to analyze the collected data. Findings indicated that entrance axes in Rasht present a low density pattern, in the form of single row shops with ‎sporadic low rise buildings and uneven distribution of activities mainly by auto-‎related shops and services.‎ dala aeatsysy aaaaataD‎ a significant difference in the development of physical elements such as density of land lots, lot size, building age, quality of structure and land use/activity pattern among the main entrances. Data results also showed that density of development along the entrances is associated with land use type and ownership. Moreover, the data showed that the age ‎of a building is correlated with ‎quality of structure, land use type ‎and ownership and quality of ‎structure is related with land use type and ownership‎. ‎ Adopting a number of urban planning approaches such as density increase, encouraging mixed land uses, and employing local architectural styles in building design could enhance the exterior outlook, increase the land value, expedite investments and eventually improve the economy along the entrance axes.

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The condition that varieties of cities including Iranian cities are confronted makes the creation of successful public space a necessity. It is clear that for creating suitable public space first we should understand the influencing factors on space and simultaneously solve and improve the problems through understanding the environment. For achieving the factors that influence the success as a main goal of this research, important theories of the successful public space such as White, Montgomery, Jacobs, Gehl, Carr, Oldenburg and the experience of the famous international institutes are reviewed. finally a model for space evaluation based on place game model of PPS institute was presented. The main method of research because of its experimental-theoric orientation for identifying the most influencing factors on success of space is testing theory Method. In order to verify theory the Correlation Test is used. At first based on place model, place game checklist of PPS institute and theoretical framework presented in this paper, the factors influencing the success of public space are categorized as comfort-activity-access- socialability dimensions. By means of deep observation, questionnaire, Llewlyn Davies's scale and field survey techniques data was collected to complete the data requirements of the place evaluation model. In order to spatially analyze the success level at Imam st, interpolation model of GIS software was used. The result showed that Abresan Street is the most successful section, Saat, Mansoor and Golestan sections were followed respectively. The results of investigation about the theory in our case study (Imam Khomeini street) show that between following factors: comfort-activity-access- socialability, factors of comfort and image are the most important condition for place success.

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Functional and structural changes of regional system are ongoing spatial changes that form patterns of spatial organization, depending on dominant regional forces and factors. Spatial structure of West Azerbaijan province experienced significant changes during 15 years; thus, the present research aim to investigate the manner of spatial distribution of two variables of population and activity, and correlation of these variables with spatial structure of the province during the years from 1996 to 2011. Quantitative method was employed for this aim and urban rank-size index was used to analyze settlement pattern of West Azerbaijan province; Kernel density and Moran method was used to analyze population data; general and local Moran data were used to analyze activity data; and regression method was used to see the degree of correlation between these variables. The results showed that spatial structure of west Azerbaijan was monocentric in 1996 while the of spatial distribution trend of the population and activity indicated decentralization tending toward clustered spatial pattern during 15-year period of time, due to high correlation between the given variables. In other words, some kinds of decentralized convergence took place. Such trend would change the spatial structure in West Azerbaijan province and needs to be properly oriented in the future planning of urban and regional development.

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A safe neighborhood encourages the residents to lead a more physically active lifestyle. A lack of physical activities elevates the risks of various health condition, most profoundly obesity and cardiovascular diseases. This paper presents the development of a questionnaire aimed at measuring the safety factors associated with physical activeness of the residents in urban Tehran neighborhoods that has been tested and validated through pilot study, industry recognized validity tests, and expert review. The questionnaire has six research constructs linked to five specified research indicators. It is available in both Farsi and English, and back translation has been done by field experts to ensure its accuracy in representing the intended measurement. This questionnaire is expected to assist urban developers and managers in improving the safety condition in urban neighborhoods of Iran to promote physical activeness.