The role of organizing worn-out fabrics in the sustainable development of Ardabil city (case study of Ali Qapu neighborhood of Ardabil)

Academic Thesis for Master's Degree

Field: Geography, Urban Planning Orientation

Abstract

Sustainable development is one of the concepts that has been receiving serious attention in international forums for several decades due to the negative and sometimes irreparable effects of development plans. It can be said that improvement and modernization are in harmony with the goals of sustainable development. Meanwhile, the city of Ardabil is one of those cities with its ancient historical background and having religious, cultural, environmental and tourism values. It is impossible to ignore the deterioration of the central and middle parts with an area of ??about 536 hectares and the isolation of its valuable spaces and collections. In the present research, using the analytical and research-library method with a questionnaire design with the aim of identifying the indicators of sustainable urban development and investigating the extent of implementation of the plan for the improvement and reconstruction of the dilapidated tissues around the tomb of Sheikh Safiuddin Ardabili, which is located in the Ali Qapu neighborhood, we have achieved results that, first of all, paying attention to the element of participation as one of the important tools in organizing the dilapidated tissue in the direction of sustainable development is essential. By analyzing the questionnaire and analyzing the indicators using software EXEL and EXPERTCHOICE, the most important solutions for achieving sustainable development in the dilapidated neighborhood of Sheikh Safi (Ali Qapu) include the following: participatory planning, social justice and education to residents in order to improve the social level, attention to the socio-economic characteristics of residents in planning, job creation to eliminate the unemployment of the neighborhood residents, a sense of trust and cooperation between the people and city officials, a comprehensive approach to the renovation and improvement plan, attention to the skyline of the neighborhood, new constructions should be Part of the continuity of city traditions and urban environments, paying attention to the hierarchy of spaces and accesses, paying attention to the security of open urban elements. Paying attention to the mentioned cases can lead the organization of the dilapidated neighborhood of Sheikh Safi in the direction of sustainable development.

Keywords: sustainability index, dilapidated neighborhoods, sustainable city, public participation, Ardabil. It becomes the balance and disturbance of the urban landscape. which helps to erase collective memories and decline of urban life. Based on this, organizing the valuable and historical fabric of the city due to the values ??hidden in it and paying attention to its worn-out fabrics can be revived in improving the quality of the environment and the vitality of the urban space that it had in the past. The increase in urbanization and the emergence of environmental problems in the last decades of the 20th century have made the sustainable development of cities the priority of experts and thinkers of urban and architectural issues. With the daily development and urbanization of human life, concepts related to sustainable development have entered this area, and the sustainable development of the city is the product of new views on social, spatial and environmental justice towards the city.  Sustainable development is that which meets the needs of people today, without destroying the ability of future generations to achieve their dreams and needs.  It should be noted that sustainability is a set of situations that last over time and development is a process during which sustainability can happen.  The existence of a strong relationship between urban planning and the creation of a sustainable economic-social development framework has a great impact in this field. This research tries to find out its hidden and unknown angles by knowing the issues related to the dilapidated (texture) of Ardabil city and the old context neighborhood of Ali Qapo and its detailed introduction. In the following, using strategic planning techniques and the principles and application of the principles of sustainable development, it will identify the problems and problems of this context and finally provide logical solutions based on strategic planning and principles of sustainable development to solve these problems. Many traditional fabrics that were once the pride of the cities have been abandoned for more than fifty years. Almost all the population of these areas have been displaced and the historical, cultural and social heritage of different neighborhoods have either become extinct or are in the process of extinction. Only a few of the buildings that are barely standing are left as a reminder of past architecture and urban planning. However, there have been sporadic movements in recent years in the improvement and restoration of valuable buildings.However, the sensitivities have become less and less, and a lot of mental immunity has been created among both the officials and the people. Comprehensive plans, preferential plans, and regional regulations have failed in their intended goals. In the central areas and old neighborhoods of the cities, not only the transition from tradition to modernity has not been realized, but due to the stubborn resistance of these areas in front of the manifestations of modernity, practically no improvements and restorations have taken place. As a result, the consequences of design and construction regulations have become a big obstacle, leading to the increasing erosion of traditional fabrics (Rabi, 2012, p. 102).

Lack of responsible management that can protect these fabrics. To coordinate with the rapid structural and new functional changes based on sustainable development in cities, brings them into the bottleneck of lack of capability and non-adaptation to new needs. For this reason, these tissues have not only lost their original and native population, but due to the unwillingness to invest in their improvement and modernization, it has provided the ground for the settlement of immigrants (especially rural immigrants) and low-income groups who inevitably live in the cheapest urban areas (Rehban, 2018, p. 4). Today, the dilapidated urban fabric in most cities of the world and Iran has become one of the serious challenges in urban planning and management. which imposes a lot of cost on the municipalities every year. Most of the old cities of Iran, including the city of Ardabil, have dilapidated parts that need to be renovated and improved in order to be efficient.

For a detailed analysis of the problem, we chose Aali Qapu neighborhood of Ardabil city as one of the old neighborhoods that has a relatively dilapidated texture as the place of study. Baft old neighborhood of Ali Qapo is located in the center of the city. In order to achieve the needs, goals and appropriate methods of organization, it is first necessary to scrutinize the main features and issues of the old fabric of the city, which has the Ali Qapu neighborhood in its heart. This neighborhood has issues such as the physical wear and tear of Baft, the narrow width of the roads, the lack of attention to the participation and cooperation of residents in the implementation of the approved improvement plan, the culture of Baft residents, the economic problems of Baft residents and so on. which has given rise to other conflicts. In particular, the unequal treatment of urban management in providing facilities and services has contributed to the deterioration of this texture. This research tries to understand the issues related to the worn-out (texture) of Ardabil city and the neighborhood of the old texture of Ali Qapu and its detailed introduction to find out its hidden and unknown angles. In the following, using strategic planning techniques and the principles and application of the principles of sustainable development, it explores the issues and problems of this context and finally provides logical solutions based on strategic planning and principles of sustainable development to solve these issues.

The main research questions

What are the main problems of the worn-out urban context of Ali Qapoi neighborhood in Ardabil?

Solutions to solve the problem of this context using the approach of sustainable development principles to organize the contexts Does it exist?

1-3- The importance and necessity of research

Due to the passage of time and the lack of necessary investment in maintenance, worn out fabrics face special features, which include the following. Lack of access to the interior, lack of suitable infrastructure facilities, environmental problems and high levels of pollution, lack of leisure facilities, poverty and deprivation, vulnerability to earthquakes, low services per capita, high population (high population density), low density of durable buildings, insecurity and social problems (Andalib, 2015, p. 2). Moradaz refers to wear and tear, inefficiency and reduction of the efficiency of a tissue compared to the efficiency of other urban tissues (Riieh, 2013, p. 8). These textures have become a problem for decision makers, managers and people of historical cities. In these contexts, the hidden cultural and civil values ??of the country are placed in the context of the inability of the context to adapt to the needs of new life (Rabi, 1383, p. 21). Smallness: Urban blocks that have more than 50% of their plots with an area of ??less than 200 meters. Impenetrability: city blocks where more than 50% of their passages are less than six meters wide. Instability: city blocks where more than 50% of their buildings do not have a safety system (Hanachi, 1382, p. 151). By examining the worn-out and problematic urban fabric and their commonalities and differences from each other, four different types of these fabrics with completely different natures can be distinguished. 1- worn out old texture (valuable and worthless) 2- worn out middle texture 3- worn out new texture 4- worn out rural and marginal texture.