Journal of Researches in Islamic Architecture

Social sustainability is one of the controversial issues which has far-reaching implications for the realms of architecture and urban design. In this respect, Joubareh Neighborhood in Isfahan, considered as the oldest historical location of the city, is of considerable importance. Despite the various values of this neighborhood, its historical texture has been deteriorating in recent years. Accordingly, recognition and setting a set of social sustainability indices may play a major role in conserving the historical values of this neighborhood. Since Joubareh is being depleted of its native residents replaced by non-native ones, the utmost endeavor must be made in order to conserve the historical values of this neighborhood encouraging the native residents to stay. This research aimed to identify those social sustainability indices in this neighborhood in order to encourage the native residents, who have a strong sense of belonging towards their neighborhood, to stay so that the deteriorating trend can be reversed. Joubareh is in fact the oldest location of the city and in the vicinity of which are there several significant monuments, like Atigh Gathering Mosque. So far, extensive research has been conducted on social sustainability in the housing sector. Concerning historical textures, similar research has been done only scantily. Which social sustainability indices in the historical texture of Joubareh must be applied? How do these factors and variables interact with each other? The methodology is quantitative and the data were gathered by surveying. Questionnaires were distributed and analyzed in two stages. In order to analyze data, SPSS Software was used and the One-sample test and the Friedman test were used to assess and prioritize the variables. In the first questionnaire, the sense of belonging of the residents in Joubareh was studied in terms of gender, occupation, and age of the respondents. The sense of belonging among the tradesmen was stronger than that of the women and of other occupations. Similarly, in terms of age, the elderly showed a stronger sense of belonging than that of others. Generally, the aged male shopkeepers and the aged housewives had a stronger sense of belonging than that of others.

Also, in the second questionnaire designed based on the needs of the aged housewives and the aged male shopkeepers, certain factors were taken into account for social indices such as the living quality index (respecting the individuals' privacy and peace), the quality of open spaces in the neighborhood, caring the historical features and revitalizing the lost identity and the quality of social interactions among the neighborhood's residents. The results indicated that the dimension of social interactions is significantly correlated with living quality as well as the quality of open spaces. By the same token, the dimension of social interactions is significantly correlated with the quality of open spaces in the historical textures. Likewise, the quality of open spaces and the dimension of historical textures are significantly correlated. In addition, the quality of open spaces is significantly related to historical texture. Finally, there is not a significant relationship between social interactions and historical textures. To the residents of Joubareh neighborhood, who feel a sense of belonging towards the neighborhood, the social sustainability indices, in terms of priority, include the living quality, the quality of open spaces, historical texture, and finally, social interactions. In brief, the results indicated that the residents of Joubareh neighborhood, including the elderly, both housewives, and the aged male shopkeepers, have a strong sense of belonging towards their neighborhood. The social sustainability indices for the residents were, in terms of priority, the living quality, the quality of open spaces, historical texture, and finally, social interactions.