Investigating the role of urban improvement policies in the physical changes of Masuleh city

Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A.)

Field: Geography and Urban Planning

Abstract

The revitalization plan or the city restoration plan actually fulfills the task of predicting the way of development of the existing phenomena to continue the life of the people of the city based on the knowledge of the life process of the city. In other words, the urban revitalization plan - in the existing conditions and more common experiences - comes with the help of the evolutionary process of the city's history. If we consider the knowledge of the development of the city and the conclusions that can be drawn from it as the existential philosophy of the city and the set of real conditions of its life and survival, we will always feel in need of that root, and this feeling will be stronger in front of cities that have a richer culture. The role of urban improvement policies in revitalizing the city of Masoleh, which is one of the historical and ancient structures in Gilan province, is important by preserving its originality and introducing it as a historical example in our country. In the preservation and maintenance of historical buildings and old tissues of the city, which are considered among the cultural treasures, there is a discussion about values. In this research, while analyzing the existing conditions of the historical city of Masuleh, proposals and solutions for improvement and revitalization are presented based on intervention theory and improvement policies. Urbanization has been associated with excessive physical expansion and unbalanced population settlement in urban centers. The population movement in the city centers, the emergence and spread of the phenomenon of informal settlement mainly in the outskirts of the cities, as well as the integration of the rural contexts located near the big cities with the urban context have caused serious problems in the spatial, functional and social structure and organization of the cities. The central areas of the old cities have become stagnant and dilapidated due to the changes and neglect of the city management. Many of these structures have become destinations for immigrants and low-income renters with the departure of their old owners and residents.

Ignoring these structures and destroying them is the destruction of capital that has taken years to increase in value, and this issue is not compatible with any of the principles of sustainable development. On the other hand, these tissues have now become a natural capital specific to this land. Therefore, they create an opportunity that will turn into an opportunity for business and sustainable profit if you pay serious attention to them and make the necessary investments on them. (Shahabian, 2016, p. 22).

Therefore, achieving balanced, balanced and sustainable urban development, using the physical, economic and social capacities available within the legal limits of cities and providing a balance to population settlement and preventing the excessive expansion of cities (internal development) and also providing the possibility of healthy, safe and standard living for a significant part of the urban population who live in disorderly and dilapidated contexts; It is one of the goals facing the planners. The current research is related to the city of Masuleh, which faces significant limitations in terms of many evaluated indicators. Problems such as uneven width of the road network, unsuitable asphalt pavement, severe wear and tear of buildings, flooding of roads during rains and other problems are vulnerable and due to the speed of developments in other parts of the city, it has not been able to adapt itself to modern urban developments, other economic, cultural and social problems have also added to its problems. The present research aims to prevent the process of deterioration and destruction of the fabric by physically organizing this city and to solve some of its problems by reviving and planning in terms of physical and social empowerment. In this way, he provided the ground for reviving and organizing the mentioned fabric and by adapting it to the current facilities and conditions, he gave a gift of life to the residents of this neighborhood. Based on this, the first chapter includes the generalities of the research plan, statement of the problem and its importance, necessity of the research, research objectives, research questions, research hypotheses, research methods and stages and research process, problems and limitations of the research, definition of concepts and words, and the background of the research. The framework of the second chapter is set as follows. is assigned..

In the second part, various scientific experiences and examples of implementation and organization and empowerment in different countries and selected cities from Iran have been studied.

In the third part, the developments of recent years in Iran and the process of planning and organizing and policies in the old urban contexts in Iran have been discussed. It is related to the investigation and analysis of the context of Masuleh city and it also deals with criticism and evaluation. The fifth chapter: which is the last chapter of this research, examines and evaluates the hypotheses, draws conclusions within the framework of the research hypotheses raised in the first chapter, and finally it is finished by presenting some suggestions.

Chapter One

Research Plan

1- Research plan

1-1: statement of the problem

The history of urbanization in our country has a very long history. Iranian cities (and of course some villages) have valuable textures due to their unique architectural features. Usually, several important activities take place in urban contexts, the main ones being residence, business, traffic, etc. is  These textures are formed according to climatic, cultural, and social conditions, and the characteristics of each region make them different from each other. The transformation of textures and basically urban development in Iran took place in the Safavid period and continued in the Qajar period.

Dilapidated textures form a significant part of the area of ??many cities in our country, which, due to their specific problems, have gone out of the scope of urban life and have become problematic parts of the cities. In addition to physical issues and problems, these tissues have also degraded the social, economic and cultural dimensions and qualities of the city and urban spaces and make the human presence in the urban spaces face a problem or hinder. Therefore, the erasure of collective memories and the decline of urban life, which leads to the loss of vitality and vitality of the fabric, is considered one of the consequences of the decline of quality indicators in the urban spaces of these dilapidated areas. Making the right decisions and choosing the appropriate and appropriate type of intervention in such contexts, which also improves the quality of urban spaces in these contexts, seems necessary in order to restore the identity and urban life.

Experiences of different countries show that the improvement and restoration of urban contexts separately and independently from historical buildings and as an urban element, living and dynamic, had never received the attention of restoration congresses until the Second World War. The first international seminar that clearly paid attention to the restoration and protection of urban tissues was the "Gubino" Congress in 1960. In the following years (1975), the compilers of the World Charter of Amsterdam called for extensive changes in the legal standards and executive regulations in order to be able to reconcile the old physical spaces with the modern living space.

In Iran, according to the historical background of the use of clay and mud in Iranian architecture, covering moss and lichen and various types of grass plants on the roofs of buildings in different regions of the country such as Azerbaijan, Gilan and Mazandaran, the roofs of mountain houses and villages are used. It has been said that a clear example is the houses of the historical city of Masoleh, where the roofs of the lower houses act as the courtyards of the upper houses.

The city of Masoleh is one of the cities of Iran and Gilan province, which is located in the mountainous area of ??Foman city, from the north and northeast to the city of Masal and its suburbs, in the south it is limited to the heights and summer resorts of Zanjan and in the west to the heights of Khalkhal city. The center of the city is connected. The Masuleh complex was built in such a way that due to the high slope of the land and the lack of flat land, it would be the answer for its residents. The stair-stepped shape of the city, which is stretched along the mountain slope to the south and along the topographic lines of the land, responds to the daily activities of the city of Masuleh. This city consists of four main neighborhoods, all of which are formed around a four-story market that is the heart of the city. This shows the fact that the body of the market and its economic life was the main criterion in the formation of the whole city.