Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

---

A rising demand for housing has persuaded governments to provide more housing units, significantly for the less privileged classes of the society, and several methods have been tried. Mehr Housing Program is the latest effort in the recent years for mass housing production in Iran. The immense impacts of implementation of this program has had wide spread effects on the cities of the country. Studying this wide-spread project requires proper mechanism and measures. And without a doubt referring to the endemic architectural and urban planning methods would provide the proper basis, on which one can make valid criticism. Accordingly, the present study is an effort to explain and classify these methods and values, which have been neglected throughout Mehr Housing Program.
The research method in this study is based on comparison. In this paper, the authors have first reviewed the publication by the experts in this area to extract these endemic measures, and based on this theoretical framework the endemic and organically grown urban fabric of the seaport of Khameer is studies and compared with the Mehr Housing project implemented in its vicinity.
The findings of this research show that the implemented housing project can be criticized by the measures of Locality, urban planning process, the meaningful relationship that it has with the context, economical equilibrium, development competitiveness, urban identity, architectural and urban landscape aspects and the social coherence. For these shortcomings in the project there are certain solution in the endemic urban logic, and the negligence of these solutions have contributed to the current state.

---

Urban renovation is a strategic issue in Iran urban development, and it is considered in many urban documents. The deteriorated areas of cities may cause to a variety of social and economic problems for their inhabitants. Living in such areas, may deprive residents from opportunities (such as access to educational space, access to health services, and sense of belonging to a good neighborhood), and so, distort their human dignity. For this reason, urban planners should try to define goals and strategies for renovating urban deteriorated areas. In Tehran, the comprehensive plan (approved in 2007) has identified strategies for the renovation of urban deteriorated areas. In terms of economics, the comprehensive plan of Tehran proposes a "No Cost" renovation strategy which means the renovation process should be realized with the municipal incomes from inside of deteriorated areas (without other incomes of municipality which are gained from rich areas of the city). Is such a strategy based on human dignity? This is the question of this research. In other words, is it consistent with the concept of human dignity to provide the budget required to support renovation in deteriorated areas through the taxes of from the place of renovation?
Since human dignity is a relatively complex concept, and there may not be a complete consensus on the definition and criteria for its measurements, this paper focuses on the views of one of the major thinkers in this area. Sayyid Musa al-Sadr can be a good reference for defining the concept of human dignity, because he has books, speeches and even certain social attempts to address the concept of human dignity. According to the humanitarian and Islamic context of his ideas, this paper, by explaining the views of Sayyid Musa al-Sadr, has tried to present a theoretical framework for measuring human dignity in urban development programs. Then, based on this framework, this article evaluates the economic strategy of Tehran's renovation. In order to evaluate the urban renewal strategy in Tehran's comprehensive plan, this research has conducted a semi-structured interview with two groups of experts: First, the experts of the Tehran Center for Urban Studies and Planning (as the conductor of Tehran Comprehensive Plan), and the second, the experts of the Tehran Renovation Organization (as the responsible organization for urban renewal). The interviews proceeded to a theoretical saturation (a total of 15 interviews).
Research findings show that human dignity can be measured by seven criteria: "maintaining and promoting unity in society", "creating opportunities for progress for all human beings", "considering people equal, except for superiority in piety, endeavor and science", "dealing with people's affairs", "responsiveness of all people to each other", "the responsibility of all citizens towards each other ","human freedoms" and "institutionalizing the empowerment of the disadvantaged". According to these criteria, this paper shows that the economic strategy of "No Cost Urban Renewal", which has been emphasized by the comprehensive plan of Tehran, cannot be based on human dignity.

---

The concept of human dignity means honoring the essence and existence of man as God's highest creation. This concept can also be spatially interpreted in urban planners' programs and interventions. For example, it would seem to be possible to distinguish between neighborhoods who provide higher levels of human dignity for their residents than those who do not meet this criterion. Old and traditional neighborhoods of Iranian cities, may have weaknesses in meeting the new expectations of residents because of infrastructure degradation and changes in urban needs. However, they are more attractive than new neighborhoods yet because of their respect to some qualities. This study aims to answer the question that what are the criteria of human dignity and have the newly built neighborhoods (case of Hakimieh in the west of Tehran, Iran) succeeded in preserving human dignity at least as much as the old ones (the case of Iran Street neighborhood in the central historic context of Tehran)?
Accordingly, this paper is developmental comparative research. The definition of the criteria of human dignity is based on the opinions of Muslim scholars, as well as the works of non-Muslim scholars. Data collection has also been done through the archival and field survey methods. In this framework, some questions have been formulated to form a semi-structured questionnaire to measure each criteria of human dignity (derived from the provided theoretical framework). In each of the two neighborhoods, 100 questionnaires (a total of 200 questionnaires) were completed. The sample size was estimated using Cochran formula and random sampling. It should be noted that the two neighborhoods had similar conditions in terms of land prices and income levels, but they were differed in time of constructions.
The results of the survey show that the criteria of human dignity as a characteristic of the desirable Islamic city in the traditional and old neighborhood of Iran Street have been realized more than the new and modern neighborhood of Hakimieh. Findings show that the Hakimieh neighborhood is not far from the traditional Iran Street neighborhood, in terms of physical facilities and services (measures of intrinsic dignity such as "facilities for education" and "level of well-being and infrastructures"). However, according to spiritual values of dignity (such as "unity" and "participation in charities"), Hakimieh is significantly weaker than Iran Street neighborhood. As a result, it may be possible to claim that purely physical approaches to urban planning (such as providing services per capita) have failed to generate sufficient human dignity in the newly formed neighborhoods. Future studies can first replicate this assay in different neighborhoods of Tehran and other cities of Iran. Secondly, they can evaluate the programs and human dignity in them: programs such as comprehensive plans, renovation plans, and other interventions in the residential contexts.

---

One of the biggest strategic harms and mistakes that a society may suffer is the mistake at the level of dreams and social horizons. In such a way that there is a contradiction and inconsistency between the dreams and ideas that are for a social structure, for example, the "ideal form of the city" and the dream and ideal that is chosen for the whole social life and society is formed around it. The more society tries and spends for that heterogeneous structure, the more it becomes practically incapable and far from its goals and ideals. Therefore, this article, by depicting the favorable future situation of cities, has tried to direct the wishes and dreams of citizens and city managers about the city (and in principle society and life) and according to public acceptances and norms, which is interpreted as culture. To draw and achieve a better future and show that in contrast to the current style of urban planning in the country, which is influenced by the modernist model of the West, one can think of values such as "productive home", "constructive and thoughtful interaction with nature", " Brotherhood-based social system, "land price reduction", "spatial justice and the elimination of segregation", "family-based planning", "large housings", "mosque-led planning" and "neighborhood scale ". The idea of "Zistshahr" (livable city) is an attempt to achieve these values. This proposed model is presented in the form of bio-living complexes and according to the components of indigenous styles as well as the desirability and teachings of Iranian-Islamic culture. The design of the Zistshahr is an attempt to redefine the pattern of construction in newly established towns and settlements, so that it includes a large and productive residential units and provides other urban services in a way that, in addition to provide the needs, empowers families and the provides possibility of formation of the environment by the residents.
However, the realization of this idea requires feasibility studies. The four main issues around which feasibility studies are conducted are: the issue of land and its scarcity, the issue of water and energy supply, the issue of construction costs, and finally the issue of legal capacity.
Findings show that in terms of land supply, the idea of Zistshahr can accommodate a population equivalent to the entire country in an area of about 2% of the area of Iran. In terms of water and energy supply, there are solutions for sustainable urban design, which are explained in the article. Technical and executive costs will be equal to the Mehr housing projects (governmental housing projects in Iran in 2010s) for each residential unit with the help of the stages of construction, the use of more appropriate construction patterns and the use of participatory architecture, with the difference that the total area of the arena and lords of each unit in the city is about 5 to 15 times larger than Mehr housing units and with the help of mechanisms to eliminate and reduce land prices (similar to the methods used in Mehr housing and land supply model in the industrial towns experiences in Iran in 1980s), the design of the Zistshahr model can be more economical, sustainable and more logical than common patterns in urban planning in Iran. In addition to reforming the pattern of newly established cities and towns, it provides a platform for reverse migration to villages and solving the problem of imbalance and centralism in land management, and also plays a role as a driving force for reforming existing cities and villages.