Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

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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.

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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.