Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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Urban identity is one of the major challenges of new towns, the lack of which leads to a lack of solidarity and social participation of citizens to achieve urban development plans. Ignorance of subcultures and geographical location and climatic characteristics and diminishing attention to the dimensions of urban identity and urban social life based on original values ​​and indigenous identity, especially in the process of preparing development plans and the resulting inconsistency and uniformity in new towns, not only appearance. It has created an unfavorable and unfamiliar environment for the residents, but it has affected all aspects of social, economic and environmental life in urban communities. On the other hand, urban spaces in these cities do not evoke an identity for their residents due to the incompatibility of its functions with human needs and the lack of human needs according to the demands, desires and preferences different from other cities. This leads to discontinuation or basically no formation of the roots of the connection and connection of residents with the environment and as a result with each other, as well as the occurrence of adverse effects such as insecurity, irresponsibility, boredom and indifference. Hence, new towns that are not very old and whose inhabitants are generally born elsewhere and have different cultures from each other, to create dynamism and vitality and to avoid becoming a dormitory city, dry and barren. The spirit and context for social solidarity and the production of memories in a collective environment must be able to draw their own distinct identities. Therefore, recognizing the identity factors of new towns, the extent to which these cities have relevant factors and strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing each of these areas can have a significant impact on preventing the identity crisis in new towns. The present study was carried out in order to achieve the above goals and with an analytical-explanatory approach. In this regard, 70 indicators for measuring and evaluating urban identity in the new town of Hashtgerd were extracted by extensive analysis of global and domestic studies and special local conditions of the new town of Hashtgerd. And has been documented. The data collected through a questionnaire with a sample size of 516 people and distributed by cluster sampling in 12 districts of the city, using factor analysis to determine the final factors explaining the identity of the new town of Hashtgerd And the ranking of the studied areas has been analyzed based on their desirability in relation to urban identity factors. The results show that 12 factors in total explain about 60% of the identity of the new town of Hashtgerd. The most important of these factors is the factor of "memory and feeling of dependence on place" with an explanation of about 8%. Also, 4-5 districts of Mehr housing areas and 1-4 districts with historical backgrounds in the city have the worst and best status of identity desirability among the districts of Hashtgerd new town, respectively. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses and opportunities and threats of identification in the new town of Hashtgerd have been analyzed and summarized through strategic environmental analysis. Research findings show that physical qualities are only one dimension of the experience of place and the importance of social communication that takes place in places should not be neglected. So that attachment to the place can be considered based on the participation of people in the place, the level of employment in social networks and cultural interactions. As the establishment of social interactions in urban spaces, it is possible for the individual to make sense of it. Thus, attachment to the place develops with the growth of positive interaction of people and their social adaptation in the place, and how the person is present in the place with others is a strong factor in the person's decision to stay in it. In this regard, people may even be looking for places where people with similar characteristics in terms of class, ethnicity, religion, economic group, lifestyle, education, income, how to raise children and the same race. But while homogeneity encourages meetings and increased interaction with physical and social places and thus promotes attachment to that place, heterogeneous social places are also an opportunity for people to experience togetherness and rich and free social interactions. On the other hand, the research findings show that in the study of urban identity, knowing the place is not enough, and this is an emotional state that arises from important events in one's life and the context of creating and developing the process of identification with a particular place. Also, people develop their attachment to the place based on their expectations, which are based on their previous experiences of similar places and their cognitive process, on which their satisfaction with the place depends. Satisfaction in place also depends on this knowledge and factors such as facilities, place fit with performance and context, stability, visual characteristics, management, economic value of the place, residents' perception of similar units and the social context of the place. The presence of people in the process of creating a place also makes them feel better about that place. This leads to attachment to the place, development of social connections, preservation of historical roots, feeling of peace and security in the place.

Keywords: Urban Identity, New Towns, Hashtgerd, Factor Analysis, Spatial Analysis.

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